With abundant growth opportunities and involvement of multinational corporations, the track for mobile game development is lighted up. Asian countries are listed as toppers when it comes to playing mobile games throughout the globe.
A lot of mobile game development companies worldwide focus on the Asia-pacific market to pluck the fruits of their labor. Unfortunately, every release wouldn’t make it right away. Here, we are discussing about the top factors that hinder a mobile game from going viral in a foreign soil.
1. Failure to Plan Ahead and Do a Market Study
Every business ‘s success is the result of devising its own unique strategic plan and the effort taken towards its proper implementation. Each market will have its own peculiarities. The possibilities in each country can be largely varied. International promotion is a lot of hard work in itself.
You should study each market that you are planning to target individually. The tradition, language, culture, social acceptability, etc. will be different from country to country.
Public preferences may depend on factors like the additional gaming peripherals, existing trend for the type of game, cost of the similar products available in the market and much more. For e.g., in some countries there could be a greater demand for single platform games and in many others the preferences may alter.
So you should thoroughly evaluate the scope for your game’s survival in the new location. Analyze whether you are aiming for an already saturated market. Get an understanding about the budget at hand and decide if simultaneous release to numerous markets is a viable and profitable option.
2. Earlier the Better
Mobile game development cost is an important factor that affects profit. The most adopted formula of maximizing profit is to think of ways to cut down cost. One way is bringing to the table a plan that could accomodate localization from the beginning stage in development. The coding can be done from inception taking steps that will reduce bug fixing and modification later.
Localization is not just about translation of the language content. Everything from costumes to food to culture should be localized as a part of adapting the game to target the customers of a particular region.
3. Teaming Up with the Local Channels
The major part of the success of your game depends on the marketing strategies that you build. The markets on the opposite corners of the world can highly contrast with each other. If you aim for a neighboring country, it might be possible to take some advantages there, as too many similarities in the distribution channels may be found.
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It is easier said than done to study and devise all the necessary strategies that could concord with the unknown market demands in a new place. So, most international companies partners with local residents or companies who know how to play the game well and emerge successful.
4. Pricing Your Game
Once you’ve got your game adapted for localized distribution, the next thing that comes to your mind would be “PROFIT”. The common mistake that game development companies or single developers commit is pricing the game based on their country’s standard.
When the targeted country has a lower currency rate and per capita income, what you price could be way over the top for gamers to afford. The end result would be dissatisfied users and negative ratings. So when you aim the overseas market, your monetizaton model should be a fair one.
5. Testing Challenges
Even though you have got years of experience in testing mobile games, you could just stumble when it comes to testing adapted games. The nature of different languages are different. Sometimes, mere translation of a game to any other language with a long sentence structure can badly affect the UX. So, it is necessary to test the game all over again after localization on different devices.
The games should also be tested for compatibilty with additional accessories that are foreign to you, but popular in the targeted country. But as aforementioned under the heading “earlier the better”, localization is not just about translating the contents. Conformance to content regulations and recognition to cultural differences are important aspects that should be considered for scrutiny.