One of the problems I find with multiplayer games, especially ones that are just getting out is the fact that they need a seed number of users who are online. Most do not, so they lose attention quickly as people stop checking the game to play. It's why I think companies need money to advertise heavily to get as much of a seed population in beta mode as possible before going critical with release.
Well, I feel that isn't always a good deal for smaller games or games that are starting out. My game is 1 v 1, so it is easier to match players against each other, but that doesn't mean it is easy as the game attempts to gets off the ground. Players expect fast match times, so how do you solve that?
CPU Players. Yeah, I think it is worth adding "bot" players to create a sense of a player base to make sure people stay entertained at the start. Human players have higher priority in matching, so it is a win.
Second problem, people cannot directly challenge each outside of adding each other as friends. This game will not have a friends system, at least not initially. Matchmaking is great, but sometimes challenging random people is too impersonal. Well, I think it should be easy for people to engage random people to challenge them. I also think you can kill two birds with one stone. Recruitment! If people can share challenge links with people who are not in the game, they can spread the word and challenge random people directly, so one would be taking advantage of network effects. If I put my challenge link on Discord, Reddit, IMessage now I get a way to interact with people and challenge them. Everyone's got text message and I fully believe this is the way to do it.
Third, guest accounts. Some mobile games do this really well. Guest Accounts provide a friction-less experience to get into the game immediately. Let people connect their Apple, Google, Facebook, etc. accounts later if they want to claim the guest account. As easy as it is to get people into the game, is as easy as it is for people to bounce away after playing. There's little to no stickiness, but guest accounts are more justifiable in removing if they have not been logged into in 3 or so months unlike a claimed account that may have purchases tied to it. Anyway, a frictionless experience is the goal, just come in and play. Worry about account shit later when you want to purchase.
I have plans to make sure to tackle all of this to spend the least money possible in releasing this and seeing what happens. In fact, the CPU player already works in my game and matches with players. 🇺🇸