Ask the Experts #1- What is the Spending Depth of a Game?

YOU ASKED

Hi, I have seen your employees use the phrase “spending depth”. Please, can you explain the concept? Thank you very much.

Answer from our Expert:

We define spending depth as the lowest amount of money effectively spent in-game to progress to the endgame. Successful free-to-play games are expected to be played for years and need to withstand many payments (usually from highly engaged players) throughout the progression.

To calculate spending depth you need to:

Identify the most effective way to progress through the game

  • Define what items and currencies the player needs to obtain

  • Calculate the total value of these items and currencies

  • Find the most effective way to purchase them

Spending depth tends to only cover part of the in-game content. Skins are a good example of this as they are not usually needed for in-game progression.

Spending depth also needs to cover discounts and special offers. If you design the spending depth to be X and then offer a 75% discount, the actual spending depth will be only ¼ of X.

Example spending depth of top-grossing games:

  • Empires & Puzzles more than $400 000

  • Clash Royale above $15 000

Michal Minarik, Head of Game Design & Monetization

SuperScale

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