Slides by Don Sim, CEO of influencer agency Madeviral (1500 infulencer in Souteast Asia with 850M followers). Shown on conference Pocket Gamer Connects Hong Kong 2019. Published with author's permission. More about the conference here: https://medium.com/@maxon/17-factoids-on-mobile-games-trends-from-pocket-gamer-connects-hong-kong-2019-1ac8379b1803

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www.madeviral.co
Game Marketing
By: Don Sim
CEO Madeviral
don@Madeviral.co
+66 972577424
SEA market insights and how not to waste
your precious marketing dollar

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www.madeviral.co
A Little Background Info about Myself
8.5 years in the mobile gaming industry in SEA
• CEO of Daylight Studios (Dev) – 2011 to 2017
• CEO of Quest Drop(Publisher) – 2014 to 2017
• CEO of Madeviral (Media & Marketing) – 2016 to present
Don Sim
CEO & Co-founder
Madeviral

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www.madeviral.co
Introducing the Madeviral Media Network
Hardcore Game Media in SEA
>3 million unique users
• Top 3 in TH
• Rising Star in ID
Madeviral Game Influencers
>1,500 Influencers in SEA
>850 million followers

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www.madeviral.co
MADEVIRAL OFFICES IN 7 COUNTRIES
OPERATIONS OFFICES SALES OFFICESHQ
SINGAPORE THAILAND INDONESIA MALAYSIA PHILIPPINES SOUTH KOREA CHINA
DON SIM
CEO
ZACK SCHWARTZ
COO
Chanon
Ops Manager
Robby
Ops Manager
Syed
Ops Manager
Alvin
Ops Manager
Christine
Sales Manager
Randy
Sales Manager

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www.madeviral.co
Madeviral Influencer Marketing
Madeviral Game Influencers
>1,500 Influencers
>850 million followers
Entertainment Videos
Let’s Play Videos
Live Streaming Videos
Social Media Shout Outs

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www.madeviral.co
GAMEFEVER Media Products
SEA’s Top Hardcore Game Media
Gaming Editorial
News/Reviews/Trailers
Specialized Game Video Content
Game Database
Microsites + Combined App
Game Conference in BKK

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www.madeviral.co
Featured Clients

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www.madeviral.co
Humbly Presents
Madeviral’s SEA Mobile Games Market Insights
Disclaimer: What I am sharing today is just a summary of what publishers
should know and do before entering the SEA market

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www.madeviral.co
SEA Mobile Games Market Size
Mobile gaming market in SEA is the fastest
growing in the world for 3 years running
(*+29.1% YoY)
Annual Revenue generated from
Mobile Games only in SEA in 2019:
*3.3 Billion USD
*Data is referenced from the Newzoo Mobile Games Report 2019

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www.madeviral.co
If the SEA Mobile Game Market is 3.3Billion
Dollars Where Can They Be Found?
Thailand
Vietnam
Indonesia
Malaysia
Philippines
Singapore
881M USD
660M USD
550M USD
440M USD
440M USD
330M USD
Estimated Annual Revenue (USD)
2019 Total: 3.3B USD
2020: 4.27B USD
2022: 5.51B USD
(Assuming +29.1%YoY)
Data estimates based on independent data collection across publishers in SEA conducted by Madeviral

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www.madeviral.co
Top 20 Grossing Ranks Across 5 SEA Countries
Singapore – Strategy x4 & MMORPG x4
Malaysia – Strategy x5
Thailand – MMORPG x7
Indonesia – Strategy x5
Philippines – Strategy x5 & MMORPG x5
Ranks were extracted and analyzed from App Annie’s Top Grossing Chart Data on 12th July 2019
Top Game Genres By Country
(Based on number of appearances in the Top 20
Grossing Ranks of each country)
MMORPG + XX仙侠 – 19 + 4 = 22
Strategy – 21
MOBA – 7
Battle Royale – 7
Casino – 6
Top 5 Game Genres in SEA
(Based on number of appearances in the Top 20
Grossing Ranks across 5 countries)

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www.madeviral.co
Top 5 Grossing Genres in SEA
Ranks were extracted and analyzed from App Annie’s Top Grossing Chart Data on 12th July 2019
Battle Royale x 6
MOBA x 6
MMORPG x 4
Strategy x 3
Card Battle x 3
Top 5 Game Genres in SEA
(Based on number of appearances in the Top 5 Grossing Ranks across 5 countries)

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www.madeviral.co
Top Grossing Games in SEA by Genre and by Rank
Top Battle Royale
Garena
Free Fire
Top MOBA
Moonton
Mobile Legends:
Bang Bang
Top Strategy
Lilith Games
Rise of Kingdoms:
Lost Crusade
Top MMORPG
X.D. Global
Ragnarok M
Top Casino
Zynga
Zynga Poker
Ranks were extracted and analysed from App Annie’s Top Grossing Chart Data on 12th July 2019

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www.madeviral.co
How much $$$ can I make in SEA per month?
Data estimates based on independent data collection across publishers in SEA conducted by Madeviral

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www.madeviral.co
Humbly Presents
How to not waste precious marketing dollar
Disclaimer: The following is Madeviral’s general recommendation based on our years of
experience launching games for our game publisher client into SEA
Every game is different should therefore require a customized campaign

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www.madeviral.co
We estimate that 25% of that 3.3B
revenue generated will be spent on
marketing in 2019
How will most game companies spend
that 825M USD of marketing dollar this
year?
#SpoilerAlert:
Its ridiculously cost inefficient but lets
fix this problem starting NOW
Taken for non commercial purposes
from Google Images

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www.madeviral.co
The Most Common Questions Publishers Ask
How much should I spend on marketing
my new game launch in SEA?
How should I distribute
my marketing budget?

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www.madeviral.co
How much should I spend and how should I distribute
my marketing budget for my new game launch across 6
countries in the first month?
MOBA
MMORPG
Card Battle
Strategy
Battle Royale
Impossible right now
3 to 5M USD
1 to 2M USD
2 to 4M USD
1 to 2M USD
Impossible right now
1.5 to 3M USD
500k to 1M USD
1 to 2M USD
500k to 1M USD
Game Class AAA
Short Answer: It Depends.
Game Class AA Game Class A (or Indie)
Impossible right now
100k to 200k USD
50k to 100k USD
100k to 200k USD
50k to 100k USD
Here’s the longer answer (1/4):
Take Note: Budgets listed here are for 6 countries in SEA

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www.madeviral.co
Game Genre Analysis: MMORPG Game Class AAA
Here’s the longer answer (2/4):
Marketing Mix Breakdown by Country and Type
Digital Marketing:
Average CPI Costs (estimated based on
significant media buying on FB)
SG: 6USD, MY: 2.5USD, TH: 1.5USD, VN:
1.7USD, ID: 1USD, PH: 0.5USD
Average CPI: 2.2 USD
Assuming we are hoping to acquire 100k
paid users in each country:
2.2 USD X 6 X 100,000 = 1.32M USD
Influencer Marketing: Videos and FB posts
SG: 130k USD, MY: 80k USD, TH: 100k USD,
VN: 30k USD, ID: 30k USD, PH: 50k USD
Total: 420k USD
Out of Home + TVC Marketing:
SG: 400k USD, MY: 200k USD, TH: 300k USD
VN: 200k USD, ID 200k USD, PH: 100k USD
Total: 1.4M USD
Grand Total: 3.14M USD

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www.madeviral.co
Here’s the longer answer (3/4):
PR Costs for 6 SEA countries
Pre Registration or CBT phase: 10K USD for 6 countries
Game Launch Phase: 10K USD for 6 countries
Total: 20k USD
What happens after the 1st month?
How about PR? Yes or No and How much?
MMORPGs tend to spend way too much for continued marketing.
Since the 1st month was a big splash, it is important to cut down
marketing budgets following the launch month to ensure you are
able to sustainably generate profits
Rule of Thumb: 20% to 30% of your 1st month’s Revenue to ensure
profitability

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www.madeviral.co
Here’s the longer answer (4/4):
What happens after the 1st month?
Digital Marketing:
Spend enough to keep DAU increasing slowly daily but slow down
once CPI costs rise too high
Influencer Marketing:
Have influencers produce content once every month. Begin using
Live Streaming if it makes sense for your game.
OOH + TVC:
After the first month, target only major holidays: Xmas, Lunar New
Year, Local Holidays, Game anniversary, Major Game Update etc

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www.madeviral.co
Final Tips
• LOCALISE YOUR GAME!!
• Thai – TH, Vietnamese – VN, Bahasa Indonesia – ID, English – SG, MY, PH
• Once Digital Marketing in SEA becomes too expensive to sustain
• Switch gears to other kinds of marketing (influencer, OOH, TVC etc)
• Consider your game’s performance in earlier launches in other countries when planning your
marketing budget. If its not a winner in CN, JP and KR, it won’t be a winner in SEA
• AAA games require a large marketing push at the beginning (being conservative will result
in weaker branding for your game thus, resulting in higher CPI prices and lower
monetisation
• AA or A games should not be spending large marketing budgets even at launch (You might
never make that money back)
• Please do not assume that marketing methods in other countries will definitely work in SEA
• SEA is not China or Korea or Japan or US/EU. Its really significantly different..

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www.madeviral.co
THANK YOU, Q&A Time!
Shameless Plug:
Honestly though.. 15 mins for this talk is wayyyy
too short to really share how to enter SEA
don@madeviral.co
hint hint ;)
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