How can a mobile game remain successful for over a decade? ZiMAD CEO Dmitry Bobrov, who has been running the company for more than 10 years, has tried to answer this question in the 10th episode of Games and Names, an industry podcast launched by AppMagic in partnership with WN Media Group.
Speaking with AppMagic VP of product Stan Minasov, Bobrov shared details about the maintenance and ongoing development of the flagship puzzle game in ZiMAD’s portfolio — Magic Jigsaw Puzzles.
For example, here is the studio’s approach to LiveOps:
- Knowing the specific needs and even real-life interests of your core audience (mostly women, with the most loyal audience being over 50 years old, who don’t like competition and don’t want to feel stressed);
- Working with player motivation and implementing elements that support brain training and encourage users to play together with their children and grandchildren;
- Constantly working on new features that are unique to the genre and difficult for other companies to replicate, including custom-shaped puzzles and an in-game social network where players can share their photos.
ZiMAD is also always adjusting its monetization strategy for Magic Jigsaw Puzzles by implementing new tools such as subscriptions, which not only unlock all the content and remove ads, but add unique features not available to other players. Although subscriptions were only recently introduced, they already account for “more than 70% of all payments in the game.”
Bobrov discussed other aspects of keeping one game successful and relevant for more than 10 years, as well as working with world-known IPs like Disney, Marvel, and National Geographic. You can watch the full episode below or listen to it on: