I have an update on Pearls of Atlantis, a mobile game published by Legacy, hopefully of interest to both fans and mobile game developers. But first, a bit of history.

As described in this blog post back in October 2022, Legacy first launched Pearls after a two year development process. Since then, we have been adding features, improving the UI, redoing the flow of how players access the different game modes, and trying everything we can think of to improve retention and monetization.

So how is Pearls of Atlantis faring out there in the hyper-competitive world of casual puzzle games?

It’s taking longer than expected to gain our footing, for sure. Before Pearls, Legacy never developed a FTP game; luckily, our long time development partner, Alder Games, had relevant experience. Through trial and error and a crash course in game analytics, we’ve had some success and some continuing frustrations. Let’s start with the good news first (because that’s how I roll).

• We have massively improved the gameplay in Pearls since launch. The puzzle play has always been awesome and unique, like an upside down bubble shooter with physics. The main changes in the game are related to all the new gameplay that surrounds and supports the puzzle play—multiple new events, like Score Challenge and Bottomless Trench, more missions and new levels each week, daily puzzles, decoration mode, etc.

• We have increased the channels of distribution and platforms on which Pearls is available. The mobile versions are available in the iOS and Android stores, the FTP PC version is available in the MS store and on Steam, and Switch/PS5/Xbox versions are in the works for later this year. We are in active discussions to expand our mobile game distribution outside the Google Play store and in other countries.
• The game is already cross platform, but here is where our strategy differs from most competitors. We created an HTML5 version of Pearls. We had to limit this browser friendly version to just the puzzle gameplay, for size reasons. Another difference is that it monetizes with ads, not IAPs. The HTML5 game is generating more revenue than we expected, plus there are strategic benefits. First, we are building the game brand with exposure to thousands of new potential customers without onerous UA costs. Second, we have persuaded our distribution partners to allow us to promote the mobile version from within the browser version. and guess what…it’s working! We have definitely improved the quality and quantity of organic users who come to the mobile app stores via the HTML5 game. Third, an important advantage of having a robust HTML5 version is that it opens up additional distribution channels like cars and airplanes, both of which we are pursuing.

• Following common wisdom, we concentrated first on improving our retention numbers. We’ve pulled every lever we can think of at this point, but always happy to take advice if anyone out there has any suggestions?? On the other hand, we have had some immediate and gratifying results from recent attention paid to monetization. The changes in the game have been small so far but have paid big dividends. When expanded across all the new game versions, monetization changes have made a substantial difference in revenue generated. As dumb as this sounds, I wish we would have turned our attention to making money sooner!

Now for the “eh” news.

• I wish that D1 retention was higher. Our retention numbers currently sit at around D1 – 35%, D7 – 17%, and D30 – 15%. When we started this project, I would have been thrilled with D1 35%, but expectations have risen. On the other hand, our D7 and D30 retention is great. It is very clear to us that if a player likes the basic gameplay, they stick with the game. But many of our players come to Pearls expecting a typical match-3 game with mermaids, and that is not what they get. This is why I am so excited about using the HTML5 version to drive customer to the mobile stores. These players know what the game is about because they have already played it.
• I wish more people were playing Pearls. We went through the same frustrating experience of most small mobile game developers, where we wasted too much money on consultants and user acquisition campaigns. Truthfully, we didn’t know what we were doing. Now, we are taking a break from UA ads, but as soon as you turn off the spigot, your DAU freefalls. Our 1,800 active users are growing in number through our guerilla marketing efforts on our website, through customer newsletters, social media and of course the HTML5 game, but I wish we could do more. Maybe soon.

So now you’re up to date on Pearls. If you are a customer/fan, you may be wondering if I would make the same decision again, to spend almost four years on a game that is just now beginning to monetize successfully?

The answer is unequivocally—yes. This is exactly what making games is like these days… an initial launch, constant improvements using data analytics, and persistence. And we have been blessed with the absolutely best development partner in the business, Alder Games, that is equally committed to the game. I love this game, it is a labor of love, and eventually, just maybe, it will pay off.

A 25th anniversary feels like an achievement for any small business, and doubly so if you make and sell video games. As we all know, it’s a volatile business, where distribution channels, hardware platforms, consumer tastes, even business models can change seemingly overnight. Zigging and zagging through more than two decades is daunting, even more so if you are a woman-led business making and selling games.

My career path has closely followed the evolution of Legacy. Except for an exciting 3-year stint as President of HitPoint Games from 2017-2020, I have been Legacy’s CEO since its founding in 1998. I doubt that I would have remained as CEO over those 25 years if I didn’t love games and enjoy all the myriad creative and business challenges.

Legacy’s 25 years in business can be divided into three phases.

1998-2005 – Developer and publisher of simulation games for all ages, e.g., Emergency Room, Zoo Vet, Pet Pals, Moon Tycoon, etc.

2005-2016 – Developer and publisher of licensed PC games with a definite tilt towards women customers, e.g., Law & Order 1, 2, 3, Law & Order Criminal Intent, ER, Criminal Minds, Paranormal State, Ghost Whisperer, Psych, Twilight Zone, Doctor Who, Crayola 1, 2, 3, 4, etc.

2016-2020 – The dominant distributor of casual PC games in Walmart stores

Since returning to the helm of Legacy in 2020, I have focused on building new revenue sources to replace retail, which is declining rapidly (no surprise there). Besides building digital distribution revenue on www.legacygames.com, and porting some of the best hidden object games to console, we are in the process of developing a few new cross-platform games with Hollywood licenses. The challenges are never ending, but so are the opportunities.

It’s hard to summarize 25 years in business, but here are a few learnings hopefully worth sharing.

• Protect your reputation. The casual game audience on PC is relatively small. A bad reputation will matter, and bite you in the rear when you least expect it. This applies equally to individuals as well as companies. We spend a lot of time at Legacy responding to customers, honoring our “satisfaction guaranteed” policy on every purchase. We know that some folks take advantage, and many of our older customers require lots of hand-holding, but it’s part of our DNA to provide the best service we can.
• You become like the people with whom you spend the most time, so choose your friends, colleagues, employees with care. Hang with those who are smarter and kinder than you are. Surround yourself with people of good character who have unique and interesting perspectives, with different life experiences than your own. It makes the journey all the more fun.
• At my age it’s safe to say that almost everyone else lives downstream. Consequently, what I do and say matters, to my employees, family, friends. I try to model behaviors that I think lead to happy, fulfilling, productive lives. It doesn’t always work, but it’s the only thing that ever has.
• Will Rogers said it best. “If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.” My biggest mistakes at Legacy were not understanding when to persevere and when to “stop digging.” There’s no easy answer. When is a project doomed to failure, and when is the D1 retention number you need “just around the corner,” with a few more tweaks? All you can do is continually ask the question, and let your intuition and data direct your decision.
• Accept uncertainty. As Mark Twain said, “Worrying is like paying a debt you don’t owe.” There was a time, about ten years ago, when Legacy could develop a hidden object game based on a TV license and were practically guaranteed to be profitable. Those days are long gone. The vast majority of games on Steam and the app stores have little traffic and less revenue. There are, of course, actions you can take to minimize the risk of becoming a “zombie” app, but there are no guarantees in this business, and I have been surprised many times when a game performs better than I anticipated (Murder, She Wrote) or worse (League of Mermaids). Learn to live with uncertainty and try to calibrate your investment to the potential risk and upside.
• Your best work is done at home, and the fruits of your labor are measured in joy. As a woman in a male-dominated business, I spent years pretending to my colleagues that I didn’t have another life that was more important than the one spent in front of a screen. I’m glad to see that most young parents today are front and center with their family’s needs; they don’t hesitate to ask for time off or alternate arrangements so they can attend a school function, soccer game, etc. I am grateful that I and my colleagues enjoy flexible hours, and wish that everyone could have the same ability to work hard but not necessarily 9-5. When people are on their deathbeds and listing regrets, notice how no one says, “if only I had signed that contract.” They regret not spending time with their family. Don’t be that person.
  
  Saving the best for last. I want to call out a few of the incredible people I have had the pleasure to learn from and work with in the past 25 years. What a treat, to see so many young people graduate from Legacy Games and go on to illustrious careers in gaming. I am particularly proud of the young women I have been able to mentor and who, in turn, have taught me invaluable lessons about game design, UI/UX, trends, etc. Just to mention a few of my very special colleagues…..Amanda Leiserowitz, Magne Booc, Kelly Lallemand, Ting Ting Chang, Constantine Mershchiy, Paul Hake, Patrick Lee, Jesus Uriarte, Charlie Duldulao, Nick Marchesini, Jonathan Cooperson, Jo-Ann Hernandez, Mike Donges, Chrissy Deters, Danielle Green, Stephen Hodniki, Jamar Graham, Ryan Modjeski, Andrew Duncan, Craig Brannon, Matteo Marjoram, David Fischer, Kira Ross Schlitt, Terence Wang, Margaret Wallace, Donald Marshall, Andras Albel and the list goes on and on. To all of you, I am deeply grateful to have shared the journey.
  
  Let’s raise a glass to Legacy’s next 25 years! May it be as fun and rewarding as the first 25.
  
  
  
  

Legacy has been selling casual games on Amazon for a little more than a year.

We sell more than 80 game packs in DVD cases with digital codes. Old school, I know, but you might be surprised to learn how many collectors still like physical product!

About 50% of Amazon customers ultimately come to the Legacy Games website, sign up for an account, and download digital versions of the games, especially if they no longer have a working disc drive or if the game is so large it can’t fit on a disc.

When we launched the business on Amazon back in March 2022, we weren’t sure if this new distribution channel would be successful or not. We knew there were plenty of resellers on Amazon hawking old discs of ours that they bought at Walmart, but we didn’t know if the casual PC games business on Amazon could scale. Plus, we had to learn how to profitably manufacture and ship one unit at a time to customers, rather than mass produce 20,000 units and ship to Walmart, the historical mainstay of our business.

Despite many challenges, our sales on Amazon have grown to $10,000 to $15,000/month in the past six months. (Seasonality plays a big role in sales, with Christmas being huge.)

Currently, you can find 80+ different game packs in Legacy’s Amazon store. The games cover every major category of PC casual games, although the best sellers are almost always hidden object bundles of 5, 10, or 15 games packaged together.

What makes Amazon so challenging?

Legacy has been selling physical products to Walmart for all of its 25-year history so retail is not new territory for us, but Amazon is a different beast. It’s a distribution business, like any other, which means it comes down to operations, costs, and having the right product.

Selling to Amazon involves some of the same types of costs as Walmart, except Amazon has assumed both the role of distributor and retailer; hence they get a bigger piece of the pie. In addition, there are significant automatic penalties on Amazon if you don’t manage your inventory and operations. You are fined for having too much product, penalized in your vendor rating if you don’t ship inventory quickly enough, and lose sales if you run out of inventory… all of which has happened to Legacy when selling on Amazon.

Marketing costs are the real challenge, however.

Legacy spends very little on marketing when it sells games at Walmart. We’re basically marketing to people with our packaging as they walk by the shelf. But marketing on Amazon is another story entirely. It’s complicated, layered, and incredibly easy to overspend and lose money. If you don’t know what TACOS is, and keep it below 10%, you’re in trouble.

Amazon marketing involves many of the same tricks as Google search ads or user acquisition for mobile games. Optimizing your price, copy, and product pages with “A+ content” and key words, using a variety of different advertising vehicles such as sponsored brands and video, retargeting customers, and much more. Not surprisingly, advertising is a huge profit center for Amazon. In 2022, Amazon reported $37.7 billion in revenue from advertising sales worldwide, an increase of over 21% from the previous year. 

So one year into our Amazon experiment, what is the conclusion? Is it possible to successfully sell PC DVD games (with digital codes) on Amazon?

Amazon sales are growing and profitable, and we have more ambitious goals for the remainder of the year. Perhaps the biggest surprise, however, is how our Amazon sales have benefited Legacy’s website and direct-to-consumer business.. We have been able to build critical synergies between our digital business, at www.legacygames.com, our Walmart retail business, and our sales on Amazon.

Best sellers on the Legacy website influence what we decide to manufacture and sell on Amazon and Walmart. (The channels may be different, but the customers are not; they all seemingly like the same games.) More importantly, many customers who initially find our packs on Amazon end up as a direct customer of Legacy’s. Direct customers are more profitable and easier to reach through efficient marketing tools, such as newsletters.

Ultimately, the most important benefit of selling on Amazon may be its usefulness as a source of new customers looking to buy casual PC games. For all its challenges, Amazon provides the largest storefront in the US, which makes it difficult not to have a presence there. Check out Legacy’s store on Amazon and let us know what you think!

Our Bottomless Trench Event is live now! 🤩 Match color pearls as they drop down an endless trench in this unique challenge mode and earn awesome rewards! 🌊⭐ Event ends March 17th.

Play for free on iOS, Android, or the PC version in the Microsoft store. ENJOY!

Despite the fact that Legacy Games will turn 25 years old in 2023, there have been so many changes this year that I like to think of Legacy as a startup business. We’re questioning everything we do, and experimenting all the time. It definitely makes for an interesting end-of-year summary, so let’s get started.

• While our digital store, at www.legacygames.com, is only 2 1/2 years old, it’s working remarkably well. We sold more than twice as many units in November 2022 compared to the previous year!
• At the start of 2022, Legacy had 66 casual game packs to sell. Guess how many we have now? We have a total of 114 game packs, with new ones coming every week. Thanks to our great business partners who trust us to sell their games ethically and profitably. One of our new game packs includes Ancient Aliens, a Legacy Original title, based on the popular History Channel TV show, and of which we are very proud.

• What was just a possibility became reality in 2022. We opened PC game stores on both Walmart.com and Amazon in April and started to sell DVDs with bonus digital codes. Customers can play with or without internet access, with or without DVD drives. Ecommerce sales have grown rapidly since then, increasing approximately 20% per month.

• Also starting in April, in partnership with Amazon, we launched monthly Amazon Prime Promotions. The impact of this monthly promotion cannot be overstated in terms of the increase to Legacy’s website traffic and new customer accounts from all over the world. This caused some long days and nights as our team worked to increase our server capacity. If you noticed some technical issues with our website in the past few months, you now know why.
• In October, we launched our first FTP (free-to-play) mobile and PC game ever! Pearls of Atlantis is a unique game, described by one reviewer as “an upside down bubble shooter with physics.” It hooks you immediately. There is a sharp learning curve associated with designing a FTP game, a crash course in confusing acronyms like LTV, DAU, ARPDAU, CTR, CPM, etc. While there is lots more work to do, the early results are promising, with new features, live events, and game levels planned by our wonderful development partner, Alder Games. Try it on PC or mobile, and let us know what you think!

• We have 15 boxes on the shelves at Walmart stores this Christmas, but each year that business becomes more challenging. COGs (cost of goods) rose rapidly in 2022 and together with supply chain issues caused our retail profit margins to decline. Our crystal ball is a little cloudy about this channel of distribution, so stay tuned for more news in 2023.

So here is the $64,000 question. What can you, our esteemed customers and business partners expect from Legacy next year? Besides more great game packs of course…

1. Our successful cloud streaming partnership with Google ended in October, with the closing of their Stadia platform. We disagreed with and were devastated by that decision. But stay tuned. We’re big fans of streaming technology, which allows customers to play their games on almost any device they choose, and we expect to announce new streaming partnerships in 2023.

2. Legacy completed a 1000-person marketing survey after the massive influx of Amazon Prime customers. They said, by a wide margin, they they would prefer to buy games on our website that are downloadable from Steam. As a result, Legacy will be offering Steam codes on our website in Q1. Look for different types of games, like platformers and action adventure, in our new Steam section, still packaged in our signature game packs.

3. We’ve been watching with interest how browser based online games have improved over the past few years. Newer games offer deeper gameplay, and can be played on a phone or desktop. They are free to the customer, with ads. We certainly don’t think they will replace downloadable games anytime soon, but they offer a casual, quick, and social experience that appeals to a lot of game players. We plan to add some well-curated online games to the Legacy Games website in early 2023.

It’s surprising to me, after 35+ years in the games business, that I continue to enjoy what we do at Legacy Games – finding new and better ways to entertain our customers. And our small but mighty team overcame every challenge this year, with talent, hard work, and grace under pressure. I am grateful to each and every Legacy employee.

I am also deeply grateful to you, our customers and business partners, for your ongoing support. On behalf of the amazing team here at Legacy, may you, your friends and family stay healthy and safe this holiday season. I hope you start the new year recharged and ready for 2023. Thanks for being part of the 25-year story of Legacy Games.

Making good games requires a lot of things…money, creativity, expertise, luck…but most of all it requires patience.  Legacy and its uber talented development partner, Alder Games, have been at work on our new game, Pearls of Atlantis, for more than two years, and it’s finally launched!

But that’s only part of the story. Pearls is just the latest incarnation of this charming mobile/PC game. Ten years ago, Legacy launched the original version of the game (called Atlantis: Pearls of the Deep), described by Gamezebo as “The Best Match 3 Game of 2012”. We still sell the original PC version on our website!

Why did it take so long to create the new game, Pearls of Atlantis, given that the basic gameplay – match 3 with physics – is similar in both games?  Simple answer. Because while the original game focused on match 3 puzzles, the new game includes that plus so much more.  

What constituted a prize winning game ten years ago is no longer competitive given how dramatically the market has changed.

Let’s start with the biggest difference between the games. 

The new Pearls of Atlantis is the first free-to-play game that Legacy has ever created. This style of game, where you can download and play for free, is very common for mobile games, but less so for casual PC games. As the publisher, the only way we make money is if players watch an ad or decide to buy something in the game store that enhances their gameplay in some way, e.g., more “energy” to keep playing, decorations for Atlantis, etc.  

The second big difference between the games is that there are many more things to do in the new Pearls of Atlantis. You can churn through match 3 levels of varying complexity and then play zen mode when you’re looking for a little less challenge. (Both the old and new games offer this.)  However, Pearls of Atlantis also includes a story mode with fun tasks that in turn spawn a variety of powerups that enhance gameplay. 

There is a decoration mode in which you recreate the original beauty of the underwater city of Atlantis. Scoring is new, with leaderboards soon to follow. There are daily and weekly events that challenge you to improve your score and winning chains that result in special currency (shells) you can use elsewhere in the game. And the list goes on.

While the match 3 mechanic is similar in the two games, the gameplay loop is completely different. You play match 3 puzzles in order to earn currency that you can then use in other gameplay modes. The rich story context and multiple modes of the new game, Pearls of Atlantis, provide many more reasons to play and keep playing.

We love Pearls of Atlantis, and think it’s one of the very best games we have ever produced.  Please give it a try and let us know how you think it compares to the original. It’s available for iOS and Android phones. And in another first, it is also available as a free-to-play PC game.  Enjoy!

About six months ago, my colleagues and I decided to launch a new game pack every week on Legacy Games. Given that each game pack includes 3, 5, 10 or 15 games, that decision translated into a big effort for everyone involved. Constantine, our intrepid game finder, had to amp up his search for new games to distribute. Amanda, our project manager, worked overtime figuring out which games can be packaged together and how to merchandise them. Magne, our webmaster, swiftly launched the titles on our website as well as Amazon and Walmart.com.

At the same time, we made a conscious decision to create more Indie game packs. (We consider Indie games to be games from small developers that introduce some innovation and variety into game play.)

The conversation between me and the team went something like this:

ME: At the rate we are launching new game packs, we will run out of hidden object games sometime in 2022. What should we do?
TEAM: Indie games, especially the puzzle ones, are so much fun to play. Why don’t we sell them?
ME: We could, but do you think our customers will like them?
TEAM: Don’t know. Hidden object games are clearly everyone’s favorite, but they’re just a type of visual puzzle, so maybe?
ME: OK, let’s see what happens. Let’s distribute indie puzzle, arcade, platformer, story games… you know, the family friendly ones. And only those games that get excellent reviews on Steam.
TEAM: Roger. Fingers crossed!

Since that fateful day, Legacy Games has been steadily finding and selling more and more great Indie games. Some of my favorites include: Kingdom, Wanderlust: Travel Stories, Lyne, and Evergarden. All of our Indie games get “very positive” reviews on Steam, and Legacy bundles them together with other similar products to create a unique and value-packed collection for our customers.

Two new companies recently joined the ranks at Legacy Games: Curve Digital and Graffiti Games. Both are well known in the Indie community for representing popular, fun and quirky games by great developers. Legacy is distributing Curve’s Human Fall Flat game in Walmart stores, and we couldn’t be prouder. As the first in our new Game Gems line, Human Fall Flat has sold more than 2,000,000 games overall, and is beloved by customers.

And from Graffiti Games, we just launched three of their best titles – Turnip Boy, Blue Fire, and Cyber Hook – on our website. They are funny and fun, combining puzzles, traps, quests, and some of the wackiest heroes ever! And in keeping with our pricing policies, this awesome bundle, worth $50 elsewhere, will be priced at $9.99 on Legacy Games.

Don’t miss out! Stay tuned for more news about our ever-evolving game lineup!

I know what you’re thinking. Not another year-end summary! Yes, it’s true, but I promise to make it quick, and per usual, It’s not all rosy for those of you who enjoy a little schadenfreude.

So let’s start with the negative.

1. As a company, our gross revenues were up, but our profits were down. Despite the fact that we are a 23-year-old company, this year, my first full year back as CEO after a 3 year absence, feels like start up time. We’ve invested in our website, new products, and new platforms, and it’s hit the bottom line.

2. Legacy’s push into indie games, so far, has been a bust. Most of our wonderful customers on the Legacy Games website seem not to be interested in indie games and have voted with their pocket book. It’s clear that if we expect to be successful with games other than hidden object and match 3, we need to find new customers. Moreover, it is increasingly difficult to source new high quality hidden object games on PC, creating a sense of urgency.

Now the positive.

1. The small but very talented Legacy team created an awesome ecommerce website and game launcher desktop app, all with WooCommerce, WordPress and assorted plug ins, something that simply wasn’t technically possible a few years ago. The sales this year on our website went from basically zero to almost 500 units per month.

2. We signed 29 new developers/publishers in 2022, and launched 41 new compilation packs on our website.

3. This Christmas we have 20 products in-store at Walmart, the most ever!

5. We just launched our first mobile game, Pearls of Atlantis, in 4 years!

We’ve made some very strategic product investments this year that will hopefully bear fruit in 2022. We’re both doubling down on our strengths as a company as well as reaching for the stars. It’s somewhat surprising that, after 35+ years in the games business, I continue to get excited about new products, new platforms, new opportunities. I am grateful to still enjoy what we do at Legacy Games – finding new and better ways to entertain our customers.

May you, your friends and family stay healthy and safe this holiday season. I hope you use the holiday break to spend time with your loved ones and recharge your batteries. And thanks for being part of the 23-year story of Legacy Games.