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USA 2018Video Coverage

Natalie Portier: Succeeding With Mobile Games for Kids | Casual Connect Video

March 10, 2018 — by Catherine Quinton

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Succeeding With Mobile Games for KidsMobile gaming for kids is one of the fastest growing sectors of the gaming industry, now worth $2.2 billion. Not surprisingly, many of us may want to participate in this market. But when you start, you quickly discover there are tremendous challenges, including specific regulations for children’s apps, promotion and monetization.

Natalie Portier, Mike Arkin, and Mike Hines at Casual Connect USA 2018, photo by Emily Baker

At Casual Connect USA 2018, Natalie Portier presented a session designed to help you by the name of Overcoming Pitfalls of Launching Kids Apps. Natalie is Chief Operating Officer at the ad mediation company Appodeal. They joined this rapidly growing company at its beginning, and is using their ten years of experience in business operations and tech development in fueling their passion for innovation and quality game development.

In this session, Natalie brought together insights from successful publishers of apps for children, legal experts and marketing agencies to help developers avoid pitfalls and succeed with the mobile games they offer for children. To learn more about the opportunities and pitfalls in mobile gaming for kids, be sure to watch this video of Natalie’s session at Casual Connect.

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For more about Natalie’s insights and career, see this exclusive article from Casual Connect Europe 2017 in Berlin.

Asia 2017Video Coverage

Kirill Lazackovich: Education and Entertainment Should Always Be Together | Casual Connect Video

December 2, 2017 — by David Radd

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Try different ways, at first do as much as possible by yourself. - Kirill LazackovichClick To Tweet

How do you become a kids app developer? At Casual Connect Asia, Kirill Lazakovich shared his story about two non-developers who started creating kids apps as a side project and became successful. He shared what their secrets, vision and statistics throughout the project.

Asia 2017Video Coverage

Nicole Seymour on Creating High Quality Content for Preschoolers | Casual Connect Video

November 26, 2017 — by Catherine Quinton

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Respect your team and treat them like they are a key part of the process because they are. - Nicole…Click To Tweet

As an emerging early learning digital brand for children, Pacca Alpaca has a lot to teach about how their small production company developed this premium brand, launching with apps, then videos and onto various platforms. Join Nicole Seymour, Creative Director and Executive Producer, as she describes the challenges and the successes, adjusting objectives based on outcomes, and looking to the future as the brand evolves, all within the exceptionally competitive and crowded children’s media market.

Europe 2017Video Coverage

Tarush Agarwal: How Partner Networks are Advancing the Industry | Casual Connect Video

July 23, 2017 — by David Radd

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Listen and understand motivations, build strong relationships, and find balance and compromise. -…Click To Tweet

As the dynamics of app stores change, what does that mean for developers and business models? At Casual Connect Europe, Head of Business Development at Toca Boca, Tarush Agarwal, highlighted how the company is leveraging partner networks and utilizing a diversified business model in order to reach new consumers across the globe. Afterall, for developers searching for creative solutions and to add value for their customers, developers should “Think global at a local approach to do global deals”, Tarush said. “We want to be where consumers are”.

Europe 2017Video Coverage

Juliet Tzabar: Plugging Kids in to Mobile Education Apps | Casual Connect Video

April 21, 2017 — by David Radd

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Creativity is a muscle and you have to keep flexing it! - Juliet TzabarClick To Tweet

Transmedia is an entertainment super-system that enables children’s favorite characters to travel across media platforms and it’s now an audience expectation in children’s entertainment. How do you approach this daunting expectation? At Casual Connect Europe, Plug-in Media’s CEO Juliet Tzabar shared how the company approaches IP for kids games across platforms. In Juliet’s talk entitled Approaching Transmedia in Children’s Entertainment, Juliet observed that “Kids love to play as THEIR preferred characters”. For more details of how Plug-in Media tackles transmedia, tune in to Juliet’s full session below. Please note that there were some technical difficulties during the session which effected sound quality.

Europe 2017Video Coverage

Clark Stacey: Taking Advantage of Licensing | Casual Connect Video

April 9, 2017 — by Catherine Quinton

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Clark Stacey presenting at Casual Connect Europe 2017.

So you’ve made it! Your game is a success, and now you’re thinking of taking that success farther. Could licensing the game for consumer products be a good move? What are the advantages? What pitfalls do you need to watch for?

Clark Stacey is a person you might want to ask. Clark is Co-Founder and CEO of Wildworks, a developer of games for children, based in the US and Amsterdam. WildWorks IP Animal Jam has grown to become the world’s largest online social network for children. In 2016 they extended Animal Jam to include toys, consumer products and other media.

At Casual Connect Europe, Clark discussed what they learned from this process and how to position your game and your development teams to succeed with licensing. One important takeaway from his presentation is that connections back to your game can be more valuable that the product royalties. But equally important, “Don’t assume that because a company is big they know what they are doing.”

For more insights into the licensing process watch the video of Clark’s full session at Casual Connect.

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To read more about Clark Stacey including a lecture from Casual Connect Europe 2016, see this exclusive article.

Europe 2017Video Coverage

Bjoern Bergstein: The Best Monetization Model For Your Game | Casual Connect Video

April 2, 2017 — by Catherine Quinton

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No matter how good the games you develop, unless they turn a profit, preferably the highest possible profit of course, your games can’t succeed. So how do you best monetize your games? Bjoern Bergstein would be an excellent person to ask.

After studying Game Design and Game Production at Games Academy Berlin, Bjoern founded and ran his own game studio for a short time. Bjoern then joined Tivola Publishing GmbH, a company highly experience in games for families, and is now Head of Games, responsible for all in-house development.

Bjoern Bergstein speaking at Casual Connect Europe 2017, photo by Lera Polska

At Casual Connect Europe, Bjoern discussed the three monetization models: Premium, Freemium and Free-to-Play, and the pros and cons of each. The final decision about which method will be best to use depends on many different factors, so this is a complex decision. During Bjoern’s session Monetization for the Whole Family – The Long Way to Find the Right Monetization Model, Bjoern described Tivola Publishing’s journey to find the best model for their company and the insights they gained, as well as sharing helpful examples. To succeed as a new company he suggested “Don’t try to compete or copy big players.” Instead, find your own niche, “use the niche and be good at it.” To learn more, be sure watch the full video of Bjoern’s session.

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To read more about Bjoern Bergstein including a lecture from Casual Connect Europe 2016, see this exclusive article.

Tel Aviv 2016Video Coverage

Alexander Nasonov: Why Free-to-Play is the Future of Children’s Apps | Casual Connect Video

April 1, 2017 — by David Radd

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Art is unpractical, but still is the most valuable thing in our life. - Alexander NasonovClick To Tweet

Premium kids apps sales have decreased drastically: even using Dinotrux or Shrek didn’t help Fox and Sheep to achieve planned sales volumes. Bobaka’s Green Riding Hood as well didn’t sell well even through it was named iPad App of the Year by Apple in 2015. Why out? Transform your creation into a free-to-play children’s educational service with episodic content and parents-friendly microtransactions, suggests Alexander Nasonov, co-founder and executive producer at Bobaka in his Casual Connect Tel Aviv session, explaining it on the case of Green Riding Hood. 

Europe 2017Video Coverage

Maurice Wheeler: Seeing Children’s Needs Through Adult Eyes | Casual Connect Video

March 31, 2017 — by David Radd

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Children aren't just small adults, they have extremely different motivations and reward mechanics. -…Click To Tweet

Every time you think you’ve “cracked it” with what children are into, you attend a workshop or focus group and they do something and confuse you again, admits Maurice Wheeler of Little Big Partnership. Maurice also notes we become less creative as we grow up, so the Little Big Partnership is focused on helping other businesses make sure they are creating something that will work with kids and their families. “With digital devices children get quickly the result they could be proud of“, Maurice comments in the Casual Connect Europe lecture below. 

Europe 2017Video Coverage

Robby Yung: Delivering the Power of Brands to Kids Apps | Casual Connect Video

March 29, 2017 — by David Radd

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Kids are a loyal audience. - Robby YungClick To Tweet

Kids games in the app store has some of the most diverse content and business models in the game industry. There are many ways to break into this market whether it is by freemium or subscription services. Robby explained that “Today there is a limited content with Premium in the kids category… Other categories have surpassed the premium category, like the subscriptions platforms”. Developers need to keep in mind that apps for kids need to not only be fun. Join Robby Yung, CEO of Animoca Brands, in his session The Complexities of Creating for the Kids Category during Casual Connect Europe 2017 as he describes the positive side of working with brands. “Kids are a loyal audience” after all and “Working with brands can be very exciting even for the development team” were just some of the wisdom that Robby brought during this session. For more information, see his full session below.

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