The All Access Pass

Product:  Kim Kardashian Hollywood
Platform: Mobile Game

One of the last major updates we made to Kim Kardashian Hollywood was the introduction of a Battle Pass system to the game. We based our system on the catalogue battle pass system found in Fortnite.

Unlike traditional battle passes where the player earn event points to make progress along a linear timeline of rewards, the catalogue battle pass system turned those event points into a currency that players could use to purchase rewards items from pages of rewards.

The advantage here is that players are given the freedom to get the rewards they want and bypass the items they may not be interested in.

This doesn’t mean players could avoid unwanted rewards altogether. We built in an unlocking mechanics that required players to purchase a specific number of rewards in order to unlock the next page in the catalogue. So those without an All Access Pass would need to purchase more of these lower value rewards than someone who had purchased the All Access Pass.

Although we used the Fortnite model as our base template, it wasn’t a simple as implementing their pass system into our game. Some of the Challenges we faced with incorporating an already existing system revolved around our in-game economy and how we needed to balance the monthly pass event, which differed greatly from what Fortnite had setup for themselves.

Teaching players an new system

One of the biggest UX challenges we faced was how to communicate that this pass system was actually very different than a traditional 2-tier battle pass system, and even different still than what a lot of players knew from Fortnite.

Inbox messaging in game

We solved it by introducing bits of information to the player throughout their FTUE journey and then reinforcing it as they encountered other parts of the system.

Intro popup seen on first entry to Seasons and can be re-triggered player at any time

Our FTUE was not on rails and relied on players exploring the system by themselves. The player did have to connect pieces of the puzzle themselves, but we knew it wouldn’t be too much of a mental leap for them to do so. We had presented the major details they needed to know through popups and inbox messages, and reinforced that simple messaging through UI details and prompts.

Popup when player needs to be reminded on how to earn rewards

Conclusion

Engagement rates for the Pass system were high and we easily achieved our KPI targets in the months that followed including an increase in ARPDAU, Retention and Engagement.

After giving it a try, Forum users were surprisingly positive about feature