For Investors
Current Status
Sparkball is currently on the hunt for investors or publishers to help us make the final push to a monetized release in ~12 months, which we estimate will require ~$2.5M (includes cushion + 4 months of live-service operation)
For additional details:
Key Selling Points (KSPs)
There's three primary KSPs for Sparkball: Unique Fun, Mass Appeal, and Happiness
Unrelenting Fun
"Sparkball offers the highs and lows in the moba experience, but at a fraction at the time spent - that makes it addicting… I logged on for fun to check it out, but ended up playing it the entire weekend with a shameful 40 hours played in 2.5 days."
- Yo HO HO HO (Sweatfest Invitational Champion and SPL Pro Player!)
We're not sure how else to put it - Sparkball is just ridiculously fun.
It's so fun that in spite of unbalanced matchmaking, a healthy dose of bugs, and zero progression or meta systems, we saw 19% D7 across 2,500 players for our Next Fest event. A number dangerously close to the top-tier multiplayer games rumored around 25%. And as we continue to improve FTUE and build actual retention features, we expect this to substantially increase.
And while we briefly touched on it's unique positioning in our Why Save Sparkball?section, it's worth reemphasizing that Sparkball feels unique. It's not just the 10th MOBA you've played this year or another shooter with the same electronic music you've heard 100 times now. The IP, the gameplay, and even the vibe feel like something you haven't felt before - something all gamers are itching to experience nowadays.
In a post-launch survey, Sparkball scored 9.5 out of 10 for 'is it fun?'.
Just come play - you'll see why.
Mass Appeal
In an official playtesting campaign with GameRound, Sparkball scored in the top 10 out of over 400 games in 3 key categories: Gameplay, Replayability, and Recommendation.
And while we're huge fans of those results, there's another result we've even more proud of and it's what we hear more often than anything else "I'm not usually a fan of MOBAs, but this is super fun" (cause we're not really a MOBA!)
We've all been there on a Friday night gaming with the crew and the dreaded question gets asked, "What do you guys want to play tonight?" The shooter friend wants to play a shooter, the party friend wants to play a party game, and the list goes on.
But 91% of players said "This is a game my entire friend group would agree on". In fact, only one player from our first launch event gave a negative review and when asked their main game - "The Sims". We're still figuring out how to capture that audience.
Sparkball isn't competing with LoL, CS, Fortnite, or any other incumbent. It's competing to be their second game (at least to start). This targeting alone puts Sparkball in a completely different position than every other competitive game released since the incumbents have started their domination.
Beyond just genre appeal, Sparkball has seen success with all age groups and all player types. We've hosted competitive esports tournaments with teams like C9, FNC, TL, G2, and more, while in the same week watched father's bond with their kids during a playtest. I've even had the life-fulfilling moment of watching my 2 nieces who are obsessed with Roblox find a new addiction in Sparkball:
Happiness
It's no secret that the overwhelming majority of competitive online games have a tendency to reveal the more... toxic versions of ourselves. And despite us all having that moment of "I'm never playing this stupid League of Legends game again", we usually logged back in the next day.
But what if a competitive game didn't bring out the worst in us?
After our first two Ascension Weekend launches, we surveyed the nearly 5,000 participants and asked simply "Are you happy after playing?" Sparkball scored a 9.6 out of 10.
We've made losing suck less. Here's how:
Match Times
Sparkball matches are only 10-15 minutes long and completely one-sided matches can take fewer than five minutes. It's VERY EASY to just say 'Ah I'll do one more before I go to bed'
You are never completely out of a match
We've seen matches where the team down 0 to 18 in kills won the round (Watch the match here!). Similarly, just because you personally had a terrible round 1 and are behind on gold, you still can play a huge role in your team's success with a single pass or deflection. Players simply don't give up easily in Sparkball because there's no reason to.
Lighthearted IP
There's a massive difference between getting gunned down versus getting knocked out by a giant toilet. From start to finish, the Sparkball experience is meant to simulate playground fun back when we were all Messi and Ronaldo in our backyard.
It's not just our gameplay that feels fresh - you simply have never seen a world or characters like this. After just one playtest, shouting "LET'S PLAYYYYY SPARKBALL" will live in your head for eternity.
Next time you're deep in a competitive Sparkball match and lose at the last second, think about how you're feeling. Did you queue up again?
What's left? (not much!)
Over the last 12+ months, we've dedicated a LOT of time to further developing both the technical foundation of Sparkball, refining our creative vision, and discovering what works vs what doesn't on both a gameplay and GTM level.
With that battle-tested foundation now rock solid, there's only a few key areas we have left:
Content
We need more heroes, more cosmetics, more maps, etc. The majority of funds will be used for asset creation.
Visual Updates and Polish
Our latest build is just a taste of the newly revamped art style that is significantly cheaper and more efficient to produce.
This new level of quality is our standard going forward as we build the content mentioned above.
Quality of Life and Live-Service Features
We've held global tests up to 5,000 players and replayability metrics are incredibly strong even without progression systems, but we're lacking many of the modern features seen in typical live-service games.
Monetization
The simplest way to describe our planned monetization is to compare it to a traditional sport like Soccer.
Sparkball is the sport itself. It's the activity of playing, whether that's in the backyard or in the Premier League.
Sparkadia is the extra-curriculars wrapped around the sport. Teams, merch, commercialization. For us, this takes the form of a comprehensive platform that provides new ways to engage like meta games, gacha pulls, Fantasy Leagues, and more.
Sparkball
GOAL: As many players as possible for as long as possible
Sparkball is planned as a $20 premium title on PC and Xbox (we would kill it on Switch - please call us Nintendo). Every purchaser will receive the first Battle Pass for free AND a free copy to gift to a friend.
Rather than fight for revenue in the treacherous F2P and cosmetic space, Sparkball operates similar to Helldivers 2 and focuses nearly exclusively on generating player goodwill. This is accomplished by being incredibly generous in the value of content you provide to players.
The larger and more loyal our Sparkball playerbase is, the more engagement that feeds into Sparkadia.
Sparkadia
GOAL: As heavily engaged as possible with as much spend depth as possible
Like Bernie, we know that the top spenders are constantly becoming more and more wealthy.
Rather than risk retention by forcing spend depth into Sparkball itself, we instead rely on extra-curriculars (i.e. 'companion apps') to provide the exact type of depth top spenders want. Our first rollout of this philosophy will be in our Fantasyleagues where just like Fantasy Football, players will be able to join paid Leagues to bet against their friends.
With a strong IP and proven mass appeal, Sparkball is clearly the next Pickleball. Prepare to see your parents in Sparkball tennis skirts and your friends discussing the over/under in the Sparkball Pro League.
With Sparkball and Sparkadia combined, we've significantly reduced the risk of a standard live-service launch. We generate heavy revenue up-front while relying on our strong retention and engagement to grow the true money-makers.
This is perhaps Sparkball most important selling point - the potential returns are not that of a standard game release.
Weak Points
One of our core pillars for our community is transparency and that holds true in our business as well. Sparkball is not perfect and if all it took to be successful was a fun game, we'd have already done it.
Historically, Sparkball has struggled with 2 primary issues:
User Acquisition
While Sparkball's feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, we've struggled to translate that into a high player count. For context: Our Ascension Weekend launches saw ~5,000 players with ~$30k spend and Steam Next Fest ~2,500 players with $70k spend. Being unable to sustain consistent matchmaking without dedicated spend and effort has proven a massive challenge.
SOLUTION: Beyond having the budget for a dedicated Marketing team, the GTM lessons coming out of Next Fest feel very solvable. We're confident our new community strategy for organic growth throughout Operation: Solve Sparkball will prove we have a scaleable foundation that just needs gasoline.
Consistency
Our dev cycles tend to alternate between ludicrous speed and Star Citizen speed. We work slowly over a stretch and underdeliver, only to come back completely rejuvenated and deliver a miracle. This has made it incredibly difficult to maintain momentum in both our player base and our investor network.
SOLUTION: We just got out of a slow cycle! But seriously, we've had the privilege of experiencing all sorts of different budgets, deadlines, roadblocks, and even entire studio structures to this point. The foundation is now done, the vision is clear - we know exactly what we're making and exactly who is making it.
Are you Excited Yet?
If so, our full deck along with contact details can be found at http://investment.sparkball.gg
If not, join us for a game night and play a few matches with us. Roostandor! will change your mind.
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