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Journey to the East: 5 Keys to Successful Global Development

Journey to the East: 5 Keys to Successful Global Development. Speaker Introduction. Michael Li Co-founder, Kabam Inc. General Manager, Kabam China. Kabam Overview. About. Founded in 2006 Top grossing F2P social and web games #1 top grossing iOS and #2 iPad game

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Journey to the East: 5 Keys to Successful Global Development

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  1. Journey to the East:5 Keys to SuccessfulGlobal Development

  2. Speaker Introduction Michael Li Co-founder, Kabam Inc. General Manager, Kabam China

  3. Kabam Overview About • Founded in 2006 • Top grossing F2P social and web games • #1 top grossing iOS and #2 iPad game • Games in 16 languages and 100+ countries Investors

  4. Kabam Overview San Francisco, CA Headquarters Austin, TX Luxembourg Beijing 450 Employees

  5. Kabam China • Established 2010 • 70 people • Kingdoms of Camelot: Battle for the North iOS & Android • The Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle-earth iOS & Android

  6. The Story of Kabam China

  7. Once upon a time… • Late 2009 Kabam releases its first game on Facebook:

  8. And it grows…

  9. So what do you do? Oh, but so is everyone else… (>_<)

  10. How about China? • Good engineering talent • Strong familiarity with F2P games • Asia as future growth region • Favorable cost structures

  11. Early Beginnings • May 2010: Beijing office opens • First project: Viral Apps on FB • Why? Combat rising CPU costs • Cant engineer viral apps • American pop culture doesn’t make sense in china

  12. Lets help wherever we can! • Second project: • Use China team to augment game teams in the USA • Flash Minigames!

  13. Lets help wherever we can! • Second project: • Use China team to augment game teams in the USA • Flash Minigames! • Cross continent communication is hard • Ensure the value proposition is understood before developing • Good Flash practice nevertheless

  14. Our first real game • Third project: • Take a game that is not profitable in the USA and see if it can be turned around in China.

  15. Our first real game • Third project: • Take a game that is not profitable in the USA and see if it can be turned around in China. • s • Good practice but…. • A non-performing game in the USA is still non-performing in China • Not an effective use of resources

  16. Enough Practice • Lets try to make our own game • Two +1 games, one flash, one HTML • Mike arrives to inject founder culture and spearhead mobile experiment

  17. Survive Thrive • HTML game launches but struggles, eventually cancelled -- core team members move to help mobile project • Flash project launches, decently successful • Mobile project launches • Flash game is moved back to the USA

  18. 5 Key Learnings

  19. 1. Start Small • Sensible risk taking • Don’t bite off more than you can chew • Time for learning is key • New team, new tech, new processes • Discover your strengths & weaknesses

  20. 2. Be Prepared for Failure • Failures will happen • Make sure you learn from them • Be patient! • Hold post mortems • Keep high performing teams together, their next project will have a better chance of success

  21. 3. Concentrate your Expertise • Focus! • Going to a mobile only platform was beneficial • Clear mission and objectives for the entire office • Learning velocity increased • Easier sharing of wins, gotchas, tips & tricks

  22. 4. “Local” Experts • Making a global hit means having local experts • Local “local” experts • Bi-cultural, bi-lingual producers • Art Director • Market “local” experts • Live Ops / Community • Customer support

  23. 5. Satellite not Separate • Having someone from headquarters is greatly beneficial • Culture • Experiences • Processes • Connections

  24. Questions? Michael Li General Manager, Kabam China

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