How does Voodoo's prototyping work

In many ways this question follows on from my previous one. Acting on the suggestions I got there I decided to write to a few games publishers anyway. This is just Day 3 - one turned me down saying their current focus was a different kind of game. Most of the others are yet to reply. From Voodoo I got what looks like an automated reply

To test the retention and CPI of your game, you can use our dashboard. This utilises iOS to gather game data and is more financially rewarding!
Please connect to our Dashboard (http://publidash.voodoo.io) using this information:
We recommend you follow our Hyper-Casual game guidelines to sharpen your skills. Review the Testing Checklist at the bottom of the dashboard, as well as the step by step instructions. All integration links provided are Unity native.
When you test a prototype on the market, Voodoo will pay for a marketing campaign lasting about 4 days.
You will be notified when we start testing.

I have to admit to not quite understanding what this means - I am an old hand at all sorts of programming but this is my first foray into the games market. Reading between the lines they seem to be offering to test the waters with a panel of testers they use in order to assess the potential for the game, what is liked/disliked, user retention etc.

However there are many things that are not clear to me

1. They talk of using iOS since it is financially more rewarding. I don't get this - surely there are no rewards at this stage
2. They mention Unity - although I am using Unity for another game the one I have submitted to them uses Flutter. Does that pretty much rule out Voodoo?
3. They mention paying for a 4 day marketing campaign. Does that imply that at the point where I submit the prototype I will have to stop discussing things with other publishers - should any of the others reply.

I'd greatly appreciate any help here.

 

This is only a guess since we can't see what they're asking you to integrate, but it sounds like they have a go at actually monetising your game and measuring the results, then make a decision based on that. It's probably the best way to get useful results, as it'll measure real-world performance.

Have they said anything to that effect? Have you agreed to anything to that effect? This isn't a question we can answer based only on what we've been shown. And it's straying towards territory where you might need to check with a lawyer.

 

Thanks. The information I give above is the full text of the email - shorn of the login details they provided. Real world testing for user retention etc sounds like just the right thing to do to assess how a game is likely to fare. Perhaps there are others on this forum who have experience publishing with Voodoo who might be able to put a context around this.

 

I have spoken to a number of hypercasual publishers, but not Voodoo so far. It looks like they want to do a test of the game's market performance.

It looks as if they want to do a test release. This commonly involves you releasing the game through your account. They will pay for adverts to gain enough users to be able to see if it meets KPIs. This will include CPI (to see if they can they get users cheaply enough) and D1, possibly D7 (to see if they can keep the users long enough to make more than they cost).

Typically they will want exclusivity on the app for a period, which is reasonable if they are spending money, although the length of the period might not be. You should find some legal agreement somewhere. This exclusive period probably means you can talk to other publishers, but not take any action with them.

 

Thanks. I guess if I log in using the creds they send me I will find a stack of legalese etc. What bothers me a bit is that it seems like an automated message. So apart from the form I filled up the test run they want to do is based on no knowledge of the app itself - I can tell from my serverside database events that they did not take it for a spin. If they do it as a matter of course for everyone who writes to them it does not strike me as being too serious. Or do they do an initial sifting based on the information provided in their "Submit your game" form?

 

They are the only company I have heard of doing it that way. I suppose they must find it cheaper to put some money into testing each game instead of employing enough staff to look at every game.

 

Voodoo's testing is good and the conditions are fine. Just go through with it. You aren't bound to anything regarding your app until you decide to push it or not. I can't talk about it but it's all explained when you try to push your title, right before you do so.

 

Yes, that is almost certainly the case. It also has the benefit of getting something that is closer to real user assessment - though if they are using their own private panel it is unlikely they will be representative of the mass market. In any case I will post back here once I have fully understood what they are offering.

 

It is almost certain the private panel is for monitoring app statistics, not selecting users. All the hypercasual publishers go to great lengths to gather representative numbers.

 

What panel are you talking about, @TillCity? I don't see a panel mentioned in the email message at all, it's from your "reading between the lines".

 

He's talking about the dashboard. At the time of his post, he was confused about its purpose. I'm guessing he's figured it out by now.

 

Gotcha. I was interpreting "panel" as "a group of people", as that's how it's used in the OP.