Most gaming companies focus on English-speaking countries such as the US, UK and Australia. These markets offer high LTV and easy localisation of social games. Consequently, we are suffering an exponential growth of user acquisition costs that only the biggest publishers can afford. Small and medium-sized developers should look for new niches, markets or innovative game mechanics. This helps reduce user acquisition costs and generate enough revenue to sustain their business.
Most social games revenue comes from developed countries. However, great business opportunities exist in new frontiers such as South Africa, Asia and Latam. Through localisation, companies can establish themselves as trusted brands in these markets.
Localised games relevant to the local market are more likely to attract players than European/US casino-style games. Achieving a truly “local” game experience requires starting from scratch. You need local experts with the expertise and contacts to push you as a trusted brand.
Latin America situation
Furthermore, Latin America recovered from the 2008 crash even faster than some developed countries. We are constantly seeing news about the exponential growth of countries such as Mexico, Brazil, Chile and Colombia in combination with a technological revolution that only benefits our sector.
- Android and iOS devices completely replaced Symbian in the last two years. Most of the population now plans to switch to a smartphone in the following months. Brazilians proved to be highly social users by completely replacing Orkut with Facebook. Brazil now ranks as the country with the second most Facebook users after the US.
- Moreover, the payment method barrier has already begun to break. Most families have credit cards but prefer methods like “Boleto Bancario” or prepay cards. This psychological fear also happened in Spain and other European countries a few years ago.
- Surprisingly, there are families who are accessing optical fiber or high-speed bandwidth for the first time.
- There is a high demand for media partnerships, white-labels and collaboration.
Perhaps the conversion rates are not as high as in the developed countries. However, we have seen similar ARPPUs in certain countries so it is not a question of no monetisation. It’s all about the cultural barrier of online payments. In fact, we have found players who had never made an online payment until they played our games.
Many people think of Latin America as a single market. In fact, Latam consists of 33 culturally different countries, plus a “whole new continent” named Brazil. The Portuguese-speaking country is by far the largest gaming market in Latin America.
The Latin America opportunity is clear: an emerging market about to explode and only brands which have made enough awareness could make profit.