DRIVING SUCCESS ON THE PATH TO THE META HORIZON STORE
Ghosts of Tabor
Growing an audience through active listening
THEIR STORY
Generating buzz in a crowded FPS market
Launched in App Lab in March 2023, Combat Waffle Studios and Beyond Frames Entertainment’s Ghosts of Tabor has since grown to become one of the hottest First-Person Shooter (FPS) games in the Meta Horizon Store. Immersing players in tactical, extraction-based combat, Ghosts of Tabor incorporates a mix of player-versus-environment (PVE) and player-versus-player (PVP) combat to bring a fresh perspective on a classic genre.
As a result of intentional and strategic community building, the studio’s user base skyrocketed while fostering a vibrant user community where players interact with each other and the game’s developers on a variety of channels.
THEIR GOAL
Grow community by bridging the gap between developers and players
Like many studios, Combat Waffle wants to increase its user base and build sustainable success. Their approach was different, focusing on user feedback and off-platform engagement. To build an audience within a well-established FPS game genre, Combat Waffle deploys a mix of development ingenuity, strategic post-launch marketing, and user feedback. By encouraging players to playtest, provide feedback, and share their clips online, Combat Waffle made a name for Ghosts of Tabor organically while simultaneously building rapport with its audience.
THEIR SOLUTION
Driving sales and improving gameplay through off-platform engagement
To connect more deeply with its community and engage players on their favorite social platforms, Combat Waffle launched a consistent, multi-channel strategy centered on active participation in its Discord server. This allowed players to interact directly with the game’s developers, creating a fast-paced feedback loop that enabled quicker updates and kept a tight pulse on user sentiment.
Consistent use of platforms like TikTok, X and Instagram offered new players an exciting glimpse into the thrilling, competitive and often hilarious interactions they could experience in the game. Encouraging players to share their own gameplay ignited a flood of game content, rapidly expanding the audience and showcasing what makes Ghosts of Tabor truly special. Combat Waffle’s grassroots approach to content creation involved working with in-house team members rather than outsourcing, which in turn allowed them to utilize insights from their community and ensure the content being produced aligned with their vision and expectations from the player community.
THEIR SUCCESS
Reciprocated engagement, streamlined success
Thanks to the teams’ dedication to building a community through consistent communication, active listening, and an eagerness to share fun content, players have quickly connected with Ghosts of Tabor. Since launching in the Meta Horizon Store, Combat Waffle has experienced a consistent uptick in new players while keeping the experience fresh with new content and add-ons.
$20M+
835K+
210K+
8.7K+
Strive to get your product into the hands of testers as early as possible. It wasn’t until we had an early release in the hands of a few hundred testers that we started realizing some blocking issues in the game’s development. We also recommend profiling constantly during every stage of development, especially as new features are added. This will ensure you can catch performance issues as soon as possible and makes it easier to pinpoint what changes may have caused them.”
Reinaldo Viera
Senior Software Engineer
By giving people an early hands-on experience, we hoped that they would see the game for what it was and enjoy it as much as we do, despite it not being completely polished or finished. Being present with our community and truly listening to feedback is one of our core and fundamental pillars of how we took the game from early pre-alpha and onwards into where we are today.”
Scott Albright
Chief Executive Officer at Combat Waffle
We’re really trying to make sure we’re present where our players are. Keep an eye on your community on your platform of choice vs. sales and retention in the game. If you notice that the bulk of players aren’t present on your main platform, consider adding easily accessible channels like a website with news updates, and make sure to keep that up to date as well. We create content and communicate across most social platforms, but our Discord is the main hub and where our players know they can interact directly with the developers.”
