In the latest Gamesforum Faces Behind the Fun, I caught up with the Ted Verani, VP of Business Development at wappier, friend of Gamesforum, master of the conference scene and all round great guy!

HI Ted Verani, Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do? 

I am responsible for Business Development for wappier, an AI-based company that helps improve monetization for mobile apps and games. That means owning all strategic relationships, though I primarily work with mobile game companies. I also oversee our marketing communications.  

What does a typical work day for Ted look like?  

I start early by 5:30am clearing out my inbox, and then usually have my first zoom meeting at 7am. When not in zoom meetings, I will spend time writing and answering emails. My afternoons are meant for more thoughtful work around strategic planning or marketing tasks where I turn off my email and focus my attention on these tasks. I already worked from home before the pandemic so not much has changed, except that I do not travel.  

Are you an AM or a PM person?

I am very much a morning person. This is very fortunate because most of my colleagues and many of customers are in Europe!

We’ve met at so many conferences over the years (and can’t wait to meet up again); how have you adapted your BD role to remote working? 

I think it is good that we are all being responsible and avoiding physical contact, but I do miss conferences. They are a great way to network and find new business opportunities. Like most BD people I no longer travel so have adapted to a life of Zoom conference calls. While virtual conferences have done a good job of replacing the education part of conferences, they can’t replace the opportunity to meet in person. I also miss the serendipitous meetups with folks with no agenda but good information sharing and relationship building. 

How did you first get into the mobile games industry?  

I have worked in mobile technology for many years, but started focusing on mobile games in 2015, when I helped another company pioneer dynamic IAP pricing for mobile games. From there I joined wappier, where we are very much about improving monetization for mobile game developers with Pricing Optimization and Loyalty Programs. Simply put, we help mobile game companies make more money outside of core game play. 

What was your favourite game growing up and what are you currently playing? 

My favorite game growing up was a role playing game Top Secret. I am a fan of the spy genre. My mobile games tend to be more casual games, and my current favorite is Gumslinger. Fun game play, and great visual and audio too.  

What’s the biggest trend you think we’ll see in 2021? 

I think you will see a greater focus on making games that monetize with IAPs over advertising. With iOS14, we are likely to see a fall in eCPMS, so any features or tactics that help drive conversion will be key. For instance, I think we will see increased use of the already popular battle pass type of monetization. Related to this I think 2021 will finally see the decline of hyper-casual.  

What’s the first restaurant you’ll be visiting after lockdown?

Bellota in Oakland, California… Some of the best pasta in the San Francisco Bay Area.  And it may not be the first restaurant, but I am looking forward to going to Different Beat in Athens, Greece. Mostly because this means that I am able to fly again, so will be making a trip to our Athens office.

Don't forget to check out Ted Verani hosting "The Game Developer's Guide to Mobile Game Retention" on Gamesforum On Demand or check out the four essential lessons from the episode here.