GTM insights from a crypto app/game launch
GC ALPHA 75
MARKET TALK
GUILDS IN FABLEBORNE
Last week, we released more information on how Guilds will work inside of Fableborne. A new meta game for Fableborne that will attract different types of players and (new) capital. Let’s go through the design:
Guilds will run their own 17-day season inside Fableborne S4, meaning S4 itself will last longer than Guilds will
The design creates a shorter, high-intensity window of competition with multiple peaks of engagement, without fatiguing players and forcing them to be dialed in for the entire season
The new feature will introduce two new currencies: 1) Guild Valor and 2) Guild Glory:
As players compete in events and rank on the leaderboards, they will collect Guild Valor. They’ll use Valor to open Guild Glory chests, which output a randomized amount of the currency
The Chest mechanics introduce variability and reduce predictability. And also create highly engaging moments for players, e.g., “I just need 245 Guild Glory to hit the top 100 of the leaderboard”
There are two (main) roles within the Guilds’ system:
Guild Member: Play → collect Guild Glory → climb leaderboards → win $POWER
Guild Founder: Found a Guild → set a Guild glory share (per player) → buy diamonds for members → expand Guild → climb leaderboard → win $POWER
Members and Founders have two different roles, coming with different strategies for them to maximize their potential winnings:
Players need to strike a good deal and trust that their Founder will back them with Diamonds (hard in-game currency used for progression)
Founders need to strike good deals and find players who have either shown their skill in the past (in S1 → S3) or can prove it otherwise. The founder’s interest will be to find the largest ROI on his Diamond spend
How Guilds function also creates (optional) sub-roles. A whale, for example, can strike its own deal with a Guild Manager to attract players, manage them, and allocate Diamonds in exchange for a split
Guilds will have two leaderboards, which will rank players based on their Guild Glory: 1) Solo leaderboard and 2) Guild leaderboard
Both small and larger guilds (max. 50 members) will be able to compete and secure a share of the rewards, because of the importance of the solo leaderboard
The prize pool will grow based on player spend, as 70% of all webshop spend (excl. Power Chests) will return to it. This mechanic was inspired by Cambria S2, in which we all saw how the prize pool reached $1.5M, because of the alignment of player incentives
A self-scaling loop of more hype → more spend → prize pool growth. This makes for a strong incentive for players and guilds to bring in players, compete, and spend. Naturally, it’s also very marketable
Previous seasons of Fableborne have already demonstrated the game's competitiveness and players' natural desire to share their accomplishments. With the addition of Guilds, I foresee this viral effect (K-factor > 1) only being amplified
LEARNINGS FROM FDF’S LAUNCH
A little while ago (in September), Caleb went on the Safary Club podcast to talk about FDF’s launch and GTM, an insightful conversation with lots of takeaways. Even though it’s a bit late (and I frankly lack new topics to talk about), here are my favorite ones from this interview
On streaming and clipping:
Caleb talks about how FDF’s partnerships model, which focused on streaming (+ clipping), is a much richer piece of content than a written post
One, because it actually shows a creator is engaging and (hopefully) enjoying the app. This is a much more aligned model between the product, creator, and viewer
It also reminded me of a quote from Dith in response to what makes Gigaverse’s creator program successful:
“The first thing that makes it easy for them is that they actually play the game”
Two, streaming creates shareable derivative content through clips
Third, there are a lot more collaborative content opportunities with streaming. This type of content also has more viral potential
On messaging:
FDF made the messaging as simple as possible: “pick good players, get rewards”. The message captures the loop and appeal of the app, and so makes it easy to understand how it works (onboarding becomes easy)
The team also focused on its positioning as a second-mover by leveraging the stories of the rise and downfall of Sorare and NBA Topshot, emphasizing why they failed and how FDF is different.
Furthermore, FDF tried to capture nostalgia by speaking to the audiences that were onboarded through these apps back then
Nostalgia can be a strong emotion, and emotions are a strong factor in virality. “A lot of builders forget this as they chase things like attention and followers. But I personally believe emotion should be the primary goal for your marketing” ~ Lamboland
On KOL spend:
FDF’s marketing budget focused on “high signal” (influential) KOLs. Essentially, the top 15 people on the timeline who others listen to and can move the opinions of others
It’s not always about making the biggest blast, but the signal of that blast
On maintaining attention:
To capture attention, you need a good product in the first place (“an idea that stands out and generates its own buzz”)
Secondly, your app needs to be designed in a way that captures momentum, which helps to increase and maintain attention
To add, this is what Caleb said on Sidelined: “The most powerful thing is (financial) opportunity in the space, so we kind of mechanically built that into the system to how we launched players...”
Overall, some great learnings and takeaways on marketing and GTM that can be applied to the launch of any crypto game/app
ON THE RISE
Disclaimer: None of this information should be taken as financial advice. My writings only represent my personal opinions. DYOR + I will hold some of the assets mentioned in this newsletter.