12. Management

12. Management

Define people, budget, timeline, and risk from a project management perspective, including long-term operational planning.

12.1 Team & Roles

• Organization Chart: Departments (Design, Engineering, Art, QA, Operations, Data).
• Key Stakeholders: List of System Owners and Leads.
• Outsourcing & Partners: Scope for Content, Art, Audio, and Technical Services.

12.2 Detailed Schedule

• Milestones: Prototype, Alpha, Beta, Soft Launch, Global Launch.
• Deliverables: Playable content, technical stability targets, and data goals per milestone.
• Version Cadence: Thematic planning for major updates (referencing industry standards like Genshin Impact or Tencent's live service models).

12.3 Budget

• Personnel: Costs broken down by role and development phase.
• Procurement & Services: Engines, SDKs, Cloud Services, CDN, Monitoring tools.
• Marketing & UA: Ad spend, User Acquisition, Branding campaigns.
• LiveOps Budget: Funds for events, new assets, and ongoing content production.

12.4 Risk Analysis

• Design Risks: Unproven mechanics, numerical balance issues.
• Technical Risks: Performance bottlenecks, network stability, platform certification.
• Business Risks: Market competition, policy changes, platform rule shifts.
• Organizational Risks: Key personnel turnover, cross-team collaboration friction.
• Mitigation: Probability, Impact, and Response Plan for each risk.

12.5 Localization Plan

• Scope: Target languages and regions.
• Coverage: Text, Voice, UI adaptation.
• Compliance: Culturalization (religion, symbols, legal restrictions).
• Workflow: Batching, Lock dates, and Regression testing for localized assets.

12.6 Test Plan

• Types: Functional, Performance, Compatibility, UX, A/B Testing.
• Phases: Tech Test, Closed Beta (CBT), Open Beta (OBT), Launch.
• Bug Management: Triage process and priority definitions.
• Feedback Loop: Collection methods (Community, CS, In-game reporting).

12.7 LiveOps & Events

Plan the operational rhythm early, referencing best practices from long-term service games.

• Event Types: Holiday events, Version events, Permanent recurring systems.
• Cadence: Daily, Weekly, Monthly, and Major Version cycles.
• KPIs: Acquisition, Reactivation, DAU, Monetization (ARPPU), Sink efficiency.
• Pipeline: Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) from concept to live deployment.

12.8 Data-driven Iteration

• Linkage: Integration with metrics defined in Sections 3.9 and 9.9.
• Evaluation: Post-launch review cycles and data-informed decision making.
• Kill Switch: Criteria for sunsetting or reworking underperforming systems.

12.9 GaaS Service Blueprint

Long-term planning for Game as a Service.

• Seasonal Calendar:
  • Season duration and theme rotation logic.
• LiveOps Cadence:
  • Standard templates for Daily, Weekly, and Monthly activities.
• Community Engagement:
  • Events, KOL/Influencer collaboration, UGC incentive programs.
• Crisis Management:
  • SOP for server outages, critical bugs, and PR crises.

12.10 Retention Strategy (3B Model Application)

• Day 1-7 Goals:
  • Applying the 3B Model (Section 3.11) to retention interventions (Push notifications, Gifts, Recall campaigns).
• Long-term Retention:
  • Designing social bonds and sunk cost mechanisms.

12.11 Marketing & Landing Page Assets

• Landing Page Requirements:
  • Visualizing Unique Selling Points (USPs).
  • Funnel design (CTA placement, Lead magnets).
• Creative Assets:
  • Specs and direction for Ad creatives (Video, Static).
  • App Store Screenshots and Preview Video scripts.

12.12 User Research Methodology (OST)

• Opportunity Solution Tree (OST):
  • Collecting user Pain Points.
  • Transforming Pain Points into Opportunities and validating via Solutions (Experiments).
• Feedback Loop:
  • Community Feedback → Dev Adjustment → Public Announcement.

12.13 Success Metrics for Serious Games (Category Specific)

• Behavioral Change Metrics:
  • Habit formation (e.g., streak retention, real-life application).
• Learning Outcomes:
  • Quantifiable assessment of knowledge or skill acquisition.