NaturalMotion
Company
Documents about NaturalMotion
Long development cycles are putting off video game investors
The video game industry is currently undergoing a painful financial correction following a period of post-pandemic over-investment that fostered unsustainable budgets and unrealistic growth expectations.
- The gaming industry is facing a financial correction due to a misalignment between traditional venture capital models and long, multi-year production cycles that lack early-stage performance indicators.
- Investors are increasingly deterred by the industry's reliance on legacy titles, as 92 percent of current sector revenue is generated by games older than six years.
- To mitigate high-risk, massive-budget development, major publishers are adopting agile strategies and leveraging artificial intelligence to optimize workflows and reduce prototyping costs.
Company culture at NaturalMotion
NaturalMotion’s approach to cultural transformation centers on the premise that organizational culture is a learned behavior that can be actively shaped, refined, and scaled.
- NaturalMotion improved internal health survey scores by nearly 20 points over a two-year period by transitioning from fragmented team dynamics to a unified studio culture.
- The company successfully increased its Glassdoor rating from 4.0 to 5.0, resulting in recognition as a top workplace in the UK.
- Leadership utilized a structured six-step change management process that prioritized accountability by assigning specific owners to address identified obstacles in communication, collaboration, and environment.
Engineering success: The CSR Racing 2 story
The development of CSR Racing 2 by NaturalMotion serves as a case study in scaling a successful mobile franchise through iterative design, technical refinement, and a commitment to player-centric live operations.
- CSR Racing 2 achieved global market dominance upon its June 2016 launch, reaching the top-grossing racing title position in 126 countries.
- The game utilizes a 'digital collectible' model that drives high engagement, with the average player owning 16 cars and top users collecting over 1,400 vehicles.
- NaturalMotion scaled the franchise by leveraging four years of quantitative and qualitative data from the original CSR Racing to inform the sequel's development.
FTUE: Dawn of Titans
Dawn of Titans, a build-and-battler strategy game developed by NaturalMotion and published by Zynga, represents a high-stakes mobile title that underwent an extensive two-year soft launch period.
- NaturalMotion and Zynga utilized an extensive two-year soft launch period for Dawn of Titans to prioritize long-term retention and technical polish.
- The game features a hybrid gameplay loop that integrates traditional base-building with tactical, hero-led combat using disposable units and powerful 'Titan' characters.
- The first-time user experience employs a scripted loss during the tutorial to demonstrate the strategic necessity of Titans in overcoming difficult encounters.
FTUE: CSR 2
CSR Racing 2, developed by NaturalMotion and published by Zynga, represents a significant evolution of the original drag racing franchise.
- Zynga prioritized long-term player retention for CSR Racing 2 by utilizing an extensive year-long soft launch period to refine the game's mechanics.
- The FTUE incorporates controlled losses to force engagement with the vehicle upgrade system, ensuring players understand the core progression loop early.
- CSR Racing 2 employs a dual-currency model and energy-based fuel gating to regulate play sessions and drive monetization through time-saving mechanics.
Monetizer: Clumsy Ninja
Clumsy Ninja functions less as a traditional competitive game and more as a gamified Tamagotchi experience, leveraging NaturalMotion’s proprietary character animation middleware to create an intelligent, physics-based digital companion.
- Clumsy Ninja functions as a physics-based, single-player 'Tamagotchi' experience rather than a competitive game, relying on NaturalMotion’s proprietary animation middleware to drive engagement.
- The title achieved significant market success, reaching the number one download spot and entering the top 20 grossing charts in the U.S. following prominent promotion from Apple.
- The game utilizes a dual-currency model of gold coins and premium gems, with in-app purchase price points ranging from approximately £2 to £21.
Monetizer: CSR Classics
CSR Classics, developed by Boss Alien and published by NaturalMotion, functions as an expansion to the original CSR Racing, utilizing the same rhythm-based drag racing mechanics while shifting the focus to classic vehicle restoration.
- CSR Classics utilizes a dual-currency model of soft cash and hard gold to drive monetization, with top-tier hard currency bundles priced at approximately $100 for 16,500 units.
- The game mitigates friction from pay-to-skip mechanics by framing wait times for upgrades and deliveries as thematic shipping or customs delays.
- Monetization is anchored in psychological triggers like reciprocity and scarcity, starting with an initial soft currency grant to normalize shop interaction before introducing real-money purchases.