Recently we had the opportunity to interview Ilyon Dynamics, one of the leading casual mobile game developers in the market. You probably know them as the owners of the Original bubble shooter game, which is one of the most popular casual games currently on the market. On Google Play Store, Bubble Shooter currently has over 100 million downloads and a score of 4.2 users with over 560 comments. We asked Ilyon some questions that many of you will probably find interesting, and here is what they had to say.
How did everything start?
It all started in 2013 when four friends decided to create a mobile version of the famous Bubble Shooter game. A game that has been played over billions of times on the web.
How many people were included in the making of your first game?
Typically four team members built it to Android et iOS.
How many people work at Ilyon now?
More than 150 workers.
Bubble Shooter, your worldwide success, has generated over 100 million downloads on Google Play alone. It is one of the most downloaded games on mobile devices in general. Can you share the ingredients for the success of this game?
Of course. A combination of love for the game, attention to detail and very attentive to users. We continue to add new content, measure vital parts of our game (crashes and ANR), and monitor user satisfaction (reviews, ratings, retention and engagement).
In addition, before adding new features, we consult our teams to ensure that it is a real added value for users.
After adding the feature, we are releasing it in stages and continuing to monitor user satisfaction and the critical metrics mentioned earlier.
Can you share the number of players right now across all platforms?
Our company has over 700 million installs and millions of gamers play daily.
The game is always updated regularly. How long do you plan to post new content?
We try to update the game at least once a month.
We heard that you have a pet friendly office. Exotic animals Unicorns, manticores, dragons?
No unicorns or dragons, but a bunch of pop dolls and furry four-legged friends?
What are you working on at the moment?
We are focusing on several exciting casual titles - Match 3, Tap 2, and Bubble Spinner. For example this new title - Island explosion
Can you tell us about where you plan to go in the future? A particular genre?
We still focus on casual games, but we are trying to diversify our portfolio with more games and add new features. For example, social activities, competitions, quests and a few other surprises that will be revealed during this year and next!
Any advice for small independent teams who have just started working on their first games?
- Love your game (if you don't like playing it then don't it will take a big chunk of your life)
- Start small and iterate (don't invest too much in a new game. Create the minimum viable product (MVP), see if it achieves relevant retention and engagement metrics, then add additional content.
- Plan your monetization (during the initial phase of the game, you should know what your monetization strategy is - IAPs, static ads, rewarded videos, etc.), as a large part of the flow and economy of the game will be affected. .
Still, don't invest too much time into your monetization at this point, it will take a very large chunk of your time and might not really indicate whether your game will be profitable or not.
There you go, if you are thinking of making your own games, listen to the advice of the big boys. They didn't get there by sheer luck, but by strategy, dedication, hard work, and in their own words - loving what you did is the main ingredient.
We thank Ilyon Dynamics for taking the time to answer our questions and look forward to seeing what they have in store for us in the future.
