FRVR has created more than 60 puzzle, sports and social games, bringing fun, captivating experiences to millions of people instantly. The Lisbon-based developer puts a large focus on player experience, using Instant Games to reach a wide range of audiences and growing ad monetization through Meta Audience Network.
We spoke with Chris Benjaminsen, Founder of FRVR, about how the company continues to partner with Meta to grow its games.
[Meta] Why did you start working with Meta Audience Network and Facebook Gaming?
(Chris Benjaminsen, Founder of FRVR)
Originally, FRVR was focused on distributing games on an open web—so anything you can play on a browser. Then we moved players to a mobile app via an app store. And to gain access to even more players, we worked with Meta to build Instant Games. Our aim was to monetize with ads, while prioritizing and safeguarding the player experience. We took our game Basketball FRVR to the Instant Games platform—and achieved a 35% return on ad spend.
From there, Meta has gone on to build a good monetization infrastructure, which has provided a major opportunity for a company like ours. Meta has redefined what it means to be a distributor.
[Meta] FRVR puts a lot of energy into the player experience. How do Meta solutions support this?
(Chris Benjaminsen, Founder of FRVR)
What drives our focus is how we speak to the player and build games that are native to their environment. The unique thing about Instant Games is that people are playing games in the social context that they have already chosen. For example, a person can send someone an Instant Games invitation in a Messenger conversation and they can start playing. FRVR uses that context to flourish.
Originally, user acquisition was about pulling people from somewhere where they were already having fun and forcing them into an app store; the player is unlikely to want to be taken away, so it is a costly transaction. On Instant Games, we bring the game to the player.
[Meta] What is your focus when you are building for in-app monetization on Meta Audience Network?
(Chris Benjaminsen, Founder of FRVR)
We have specific KPIs we're looking at—the most important one is retention. We find that we can introduce advertising without having a negative effect on retention, as long as we don't overdo it.
It's up to us to build games with longer-term retention. It allows us to get to a higher value per player on the Meta platform due to all the other features that we can integrate, such as the social mechanics and the ways to distribute the game. What’s more, Meta has some of the best tools for analytics and data deep-diving—both for acquisitions and for understanding the revenue flows.
[Meta] So the key for your monetization strategy is putting the player first?
(Chris Benjaminsen, Founder of FRVR)
We spend a lot of time on monetization but mostly in terms of gaming capabilities that we can introduce, such as in-app purchases on Android. What drives our long-term success is making really good products that matter for our audience. Once you have done that it's a hundred times easier adding monetization to a product that is already successful in terms of engagement and retention.
For example, Worlds FRVR is a social-first real-time multiplayer product. The long-term retention on it is really high, which is because we invest in building a good game. There’s not a lot of actual gameplay experience but people stick around because they are playing and chatting with their friends—it is a social experience.
"What drives our long-term success is making really good products that matter for our audience. Once you have done that it's a hundred times easier adding monetization."
[Meta] What is FRVR’s approach to in-app advertising? For example, how do you use rewarded video?
(Chris Benjaminsen, Founder of FRVR)
We found that, in some cases, showing more ads does not necessarily lead to more money. We try to optimize the balance between the highest value per user with the lowest possible advertisement pressure.
Rewarded video requires you to build better games. To convince a user that they should either do a micro-transaction or see a rewarded video, you need something that the user perceives as having some level of value. We believe that when a user chooses to watch an advertisement, rather than that advert being forced on them, it creates a better social contract.
[Meta] Do you have any advice for developers?
(Chris Benjaminsen, Founder of FRVR)
Build better content. Build games that are more social and better able to take advantage of all the beautiful features that someone like Meta has created. Almost all our focus is about significantly expanding and improving the FRVR catalog to take advantage of the Meta platforms.
[Meta] What are you looking forward to for the future?
(Chris Benjaminsen, Founder of FRVR)
The player should be able to control where they play a game. We want to have the same game available for everyone—and that includes those in the metaverse. We want our gaming experiences to be interchangeable. For example, we already have Mini Golf FRVR, but it would be great to also have a 3D version for people with headsets and a 2D version for those that don’t, but who still want to participate. That interconnectability is what is going to make the metaverse and VR experiences so compelling. We are very much looking forward to building content for that space.
"We want to have the same game available for everyone—and that includes those in the metaverse."
Learn more about how FRVR works with Meta to deepen the player experience and monetize with rewarded video, from this success story. Then, get strategies to Supercharge Your Game growth here.
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Meta Audience Network les permite a los desarrolladores y editores de apps brindar una excelente experiencia del usuario y, al mismo tiempo, hacer crecer su negocio de manera sostenible. Con millones de anunciantes de todo tipo alrededor del mundo interesados en Facebook, los editores pueden expandir el alcance de sus apps, mantener el interés de los usuarios y monetizar a nivel global.