Game developer Fincon used the Facebook SDK for Unity and mobile app ads to create a success with their RPG title Hello Hero.

The Story

Hello Hero is a fast-moving, 3D, social role-playing game created by South Korean developer Fincon. Players assemble a group of unlikely heroes ranging from the traditional (knight in shining armor) to the inexplicable (a cactus that plays guitar) to earn rewards, compete with friends, and battle evil enemies in arenas and dungeons.

The Goal

Fincon launched Hello Hero on iOS and Android in 2013, targeting a male audience of mid-core and hardcore gamers age 13 to 45. To give its game a broader, universal appeal outside Korea and allow for multi-platform gameplay, Fincon created a version of the game for Facebook on desktop in January 2014.

The Solution

Rapid development with Facebook SDK for Unity

Facebook SDK for Unity provides a write-once, complete-everywhere experience across the gaming platforms of Facebook desktop, iOS, and Android. Publishing Hello Hero to Facebook was a fast and straightforward process -- using the Facebook SDK for Unity, a single Fincon developer created Hello Hero for Facebook desktop in only two days. Fincon completed its QA testing for both mobile and Facebook Desktop Hello Hero in one week.

Following the launch of Hello Hero on Facebook Desktop, Hello Hero subsequently experienced a 30% increase in revenue. In addition to generating more revenue, another benefit to launching Hello Hero on Facebook desktop was retention. Overall player retention increased by 31% after the release of the game on Facebook.

Integrating payments

Using Facebook Payments, Hello Hero players can buy Carats, which allow them to purchase randomly generated rare to legendary heroes, stamina, energy, boosts, and gold, among other options. After the launch of Facebook Payments on the Facebook game, buying in the game was easier, and the average revenue per paid player increased by 25%.

Integration of payments with Unity 3D is a simple set up that requires configuring the backend system to accept requests. In Fincon's case, the Hello Hero development team implemented payments for Facebook Desktop in a single day.

Growing base with Facebook advertising solutions

While the Hello Hero player base grew substantially with cross-platform distribution and social sharing on Facebook, the developer also used targeted advertising. Fincon used a variety of Facebook advertising solutions, including Mobile App Install Ads, Desktop App Install ads, and Page Post Ads. Fincon’s goal was to drive installations on both desktop and mobile on a mass, global scale and encourage its existing mobile players to play the desktop version.

The ads showcased compelling, recognizable visuals from the game. Fincon was able to achieve personalization at scale by generating creative artwork tailored to each market on Facebook to speak to different target audiences. For example, it used Muay Thai game characters in its Thai ads but used different creative for Canada and the US.

This strategy paid off: Hello Hero acquired more than 1.2 million monthly active players across desktop and mobile in 5 months. The game is now offered in 150 countries around the world, with 60% of players in Asia, 33% in the Americas, and 5% in Europe.