Interactive Ontario Discoverability Report: Ontario

Key insights

7 takeaways

01
Studios interviewed identified a typical estimated discoverability spend of approximately $30,000 for an IDM experience, with larger studios spending significantly more.See it on page 21
02
49% of Ontario IDM companies have no more than 5 full-time employees, which limits their capacity to dedicate staff to insights.See it on page 7
03
Citing Veria.ca, the report notes the importance of uncovering insights about a core consumer group first so the appeal of the game will not be diluted.See it on page 8
04
Most store platforms offer limited consumer insights, and the report states that attribution tools exist for mobile apps but not yet for more closed store platforms.See it on page 11
05
Uken reported that on average user retention is 10% after 30 days from the download of its mobile game.See it on page 11
06
Impossible Things secured over 300 stories in press, including Fast Company and BBC Canada, by creating custom pitches for each major target.See it on page 28
07
The report states that a Gameloft-linked cost per user acquired is lowest at launch, when the most significant support is happening.See it on page 27

Summary

Interactive Ontario, a not-for-profit trade association for Ontario's interactive digital media (IDM) industry, commissioned Laura Mingail to investigate marketing and discoverability of Ontario IDM products. The research drew on in-depth interviews with studio leaders conducted throughout the second half of 2019, along with several IDM funders and discoverability agencies. The report is organised into four areas: insights, strategic relationships, spending, and marketing and communications tactics. It cites over 9,000 new games released on Steam in 2018, and it notes that 49% of Ontario IDM companies have no more than 5 full-time employees. The report argues that insights are needed at all points of the product lifecycle, and notes that while some mobile platforms offer rich insights, other store platforms offer significantly less. On spending, the studios interviewed identified a typical estimated spend of approximately $30,000 for internal and external discoverability costs for an IDM experience. Ontario Creates reported average IDM project discoverability budgets of $52,520, while the Canada Media Fund reported campaigns ranging from $2,000 to approximately $50,000.