F2P Campus (Free To Play) is an accelerator that maximizes the chances of success for video game development teams. In the summer of this year, another edition of the Campus was held in Vitoria-Gasteiz, where some experts gave interesting talks.

One of them was Gerard Fernández. Fernández is one of the most qualified experts in the videogames industry in Spain. He founded Microjocs and then worked at Digital Chocolate. In 2013, however, he founded Omidron, a company that develops free video games. Throughout his career, he has encountered successes and failures. Therefore, he took the opportunity to talk about the mistakes made by each startup in the industry.

 

Human capital is one of the pillars of any company in the industry. At different times, Gerard has created different companies and has grown close to his friends, but time has shown that finding the right talent is crucial. It is not only good to have great people, or people with great skills, who do not know how to fit into a team. The selection criteria and techniques must be in place to be the best possible team and to carry out the project in which you have more confidence, with the ability to manage people and groups.

 

Those who work in the industry are dedicated to making games, not machines. Technology is important, but it is important to choose the best technology for each project and not waste months developing a technology and then playing video games. The main video game development technologies have a great team to create and improve tools that developers can use, and they will always do better.

 

Gerard Fernández made it clear that innovation should not be abandoned, but 90% of successful video games are copies of developments, adaptations or other existing games. That is why it is sometimes more effective to focus on improving existing models.

 

The free-to-play model is based on metric deficiencies. You need to earn money with games, users must be retained and, therefore, the work must focus on designing features to improve those factors.

 

Investors and advisors are not the same. Investors are important, but they are only investors and are trying to find the best possible return. In addition to good investors, there must also be good advisors to guide, help and direct.

It is not a hobby, it is a business.

If you are an avid video game fan and have fun doing what you do, you are in luck. But hey, you're starting a business now. You must dedicate time and resources to develop your business, make contacts or attend events. Have fun too, but keep in mind that starting a business is essential and a profitable business.

 

Although you're good at it, you don't know everything. You must be aware of what is good and what is not. Ask for help in those areas that you do not master, seek the advice of consultants and investors, delegate and gather the best talent to work in areas where you are not an expert.

 

It is the basis of any business with a fingerprint. Once you have a playable game, try it. Stop adding features and improvements and discover what users say. There are many tools to test prototypes and if you do it in different countries, you will also get more complete comments.

 

The F2P Free To Play Campus program is open to videogame development teams around the world. Participating organizers must believe that their team and their project are among the five best teams requested to travel to Vitoria-Gasteiz for three months on campus to work on their game (accompanied by accommodation and travel expenses).

At F2P, they are focusing on the Free-to-play business model, which is becoming an important game monetization strategy. Using a free business model to create a game that can be successful in the market, experts from around the world come together to help.

Every aspect of creating a game is very challenging. The organizers are veterans in the gaming industry, so they will be happy to help with any type of problem: product and game design, live operations, marketing and communication, art management, engineering, production ... They will try to cover all the basics to maximize your chances of success.

 

www.f2pcampus.com