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store management solution
#ECommerce Development #Dedicated Teams

Comprehensive in-game store management solution for the game development company

As a game developer, Sharkmob had little experience with the actual ecommerce part of the in-game business. While reviewing Forbytes’ expertise, the Sharkmob team found out that their need in store management has a lot in common with the online retailers’.

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About Sharkmob

Sharkmob is an AAA game studio group founded in 2017. In 5 years, they have grown into a global game development enterprise with offices in Sweden and UK. Bloodhunt — the first game released by Sharkmob — was a real success. This free-to-play adventure is based on the well-known tabletop RPG Vampire: The Masquerade.

sharkmob about

Client:

Sharkmob

Location:

Sweden

Service type:

SPA development
API development

Team composition:

1 .NET Engineer, 1 System Architect, 1 Front-End Engineer

  • Ever-growing business
  • 20+ departments
  • International team of industry professionals
  • 3+ game projects at work
  • 2000+ active Bloodhunt players daily
  • 100 000+ Bloodhunt followers on Steam

Scope of the project

Prior to our cooperation, Sharkmob managed their in-game store database manually using conventional tools. The experience was quite tedious and inefficient. They needed a solution that would enable managers to plot sales, compile offers, and promote items.

The more popular the game was becoming, the harder it was for the team to keep management clear and effective. They came to Forbytes with a request to build a solution that would enable managers to work on particular store items and see the general picture at the same time.

sharkmob project details

Our team built a store management tool and an API that connects it with the game’s system. The Sharkmob store management tool has enabled the team to:

  • Plan game seasons;
  • Manage seasons with regard to the items to sell;
  • Manage item order and description;
  • Create item sets and categorize products;
  • Optimize items for a gamer by localizing products.
sharkmob case

Our other task was to facilitate voucher management. Earlier, Sharkmob had to use a third-party service to create, manage, and distribute vouchers. This was taking extra time and increasing the dependency on external stakeholders. Forbytes built easy-to-use voucher management functionality that includes:

  • Voucher generator;
  • History;
  • Analytics.

Our team also made sure that data in the system is updated in real-time. Whenever a game player uses a voucher, it automatically ends up in the system via API.

sharkmob details

Their Challenges

Our Solutions

The client had no proper store management solution that could be easily implemented into their system to add, compile, and sell items in the game.

Forbytes built an internal store management tool for employees to manage entries, entry info, images, and prices depending on the game’s season.

1

Sharkmob wanted their solution to be fully integrated into their environment and protected with the security methods they use across their system.

We added the authentication method used by Sharkmob throughout their ecosystem. Sharkmob got multi-level access to the tool depending on the manager’s role and configuration.

2

The company aimed to decrease the dependency on third-party service providers in voucher management and have their own functionality for this part.

Our software engineers integrated the voucher management functionality into the store management tool. Sharkmob no longer needs to use third-party services to distribute and manage vouchers.

3

Another Sharkmob’s goal was to optimize QA testing in game development with the help of a tech solution.

Our team developed a tool to simplify testers’ work. QA engineers can test, save, and manage changes in one environment, which saves time and creates a more employee-friendly space for getting the work done.

4

Their Challenges

The client had no proper store management solution that could be easily implemented into their system to add, compile, and sell items in the game.

1

Sharkmob wanted their solution to be fully integrated into their environment and protected with the security methods they use across their system.

2

The company aimed to decrease the dependency on third-party service providers in voucher management and have their own functionality for this part.

3

Another Sharkmob’s goal was to optimize QA testing in game development with the help of a tech solution.

4

Our Solutions

Forbytes built an internal store management tool for employees to manage entries, entry info, images, and prices depending on the game’s season.

1

We added the authentication method used by Sharkmob throughout their ecosystem. Sharkmob got multi-level access to the tool depending on the manager’s role and configuration.

2

Our software engineers integrated the voucher management functionality into the store management tool. Sharkmob no longer needs to use third-party services to distribute and manage vouchers.

3

Our team developed a tool to simplify testers’ work. QA engineers can test, save, and manage changes in one environment, which saves time and creates a more employee-friendly space for getting the work done.

4

Technologies we have used in this project

Backend

.NET
ASP.NET Core
SignalR
Entity Framework
AutoMapper
DbUp

Cloud platform

Google Cloud

Frontend

ReactJS
MobX
Ant Design

Cloud orchestration

Kubernetes (GKE)
Terraform
Terragrunt

Continuous integration

GitLab CI/CD

Database

MySql

CDN

Google Cloud CDN

Virtualization

Docker

Other tools and integrations

Online API
Okta

Monitoring/Logs

Google Cloud Logging

How We Add Value

01.eCommerce experience in game development

Sharkmob’s focus industry is game development. Still, their end user’s experience involves purchasing items in the game’s online store. Sharkmob needed a team who would enhance sales processes and build an intuitive management tool. The main challenge for them was the ecommerce development background needed to develop the right functionality. They decided to trust Forbytes’ industry knowledge and experience and got a solution that eases managers’ tasks and organizes management effectively.

02.User-friendly functionality

The tool is for in-house use by managers, sales, and other teams that design and add items to the game’s online shop. We needed to make it convenient for them to navigate the system and see all the needed details about a product with no effort. Our cooperation resulted in a user-friendly tool that enables managers to put items in order, organize all products based on time perspective, and enhance their marketing effort by introducing effective functionality for game season planning.

03.The company's spirit in design

We wanted to make the tool visually appealing. For this, we needed to maintain the company’s atmosphere. In our opinion, the design of the store management tool had to play well with the company’s website and the game’s colors. We wanted the Sharkmob team not to feel like they are leaving their ecosystem when switching from their main workspace to our tool. Our front-end developer emphasized the product’s connection with the Bloodhunt concept by using the dark color palette for UI.

04.Broader look at management

We tried to make the process of online store management more insightful. This was implemented in voucher management functionality. Beside voucher generation and history, a manager can also check voucher and transaction statistics. It allows the team to know how engaging the voucher is, how many people use it, and how effectively a distributor of the given voucher performs. It leads to more informed decision-making in marketing and allows managers to use only effective means of game promotion.

Future cooperation

Today, Sharkmob is working on 2 new projects and keeps scaling. Forbytes is happy to speed up the process of penetrating the market for them. Now, we continue to help their team implement convenience and automation in intuitive tech solutions. Both of us understand the importance of such tools in ensuring quality and offering an engaging game experience for the end user.

sharkmob project

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