Megacool vs. ReplayKit vs. Everyplay
The number one question we get is “How is Megacool different from ReplayKit and Everyplay?” All three services provide an option to record the screen which might make them look similar, but there are big differences under the hood.
Let’s see how each works:
ReplayKit is developed by Apple and the framework is providing screen recording and live broadcasting. There’s no limit to how much you can record of a high-quality video. It’s a simple service and users get the option to save or share the video through the native share sheet. The downside to this is that the file size may be too large for the user to share directly and the user potentially needs to trim away the start and stop recording parts of the scene. Here’s an example of what it looks like.
Everyplay is more advanced and provides a closed social network for the recordings. The focus is on gameplay videos that are 30 seconds — 10 minutes. The Everyplay website will showcase these videos and give a similar experience as when you watch gameplay on Youtube. In our experience, this is the best solution for advanced players. It’s also possible to share the recordings to Twitter and Facebook by linking back to the Everyplay website. But this requires users to sign up to Everyplay and it lacks data insight: you know how many views the videos get, but not whether this feature brings you new users.
Megacool focuses on casual players that want to quickly show the gameplay to friends. The recordings are short GIFs, 3–10 seconds, that show a highlight of the game. This can easily be shared to most messaging channels.
So when would Megacool be the best fit for you? Here’s what differentiates it and why:
Short clips (3–10 seconds)
Generation X, Y and Z can collectively be called “Generation Scroll”. We’re consuming content faster than ever, scrolling quickly through news feeds and messages, which leads to shorter attention span. Content has to be instantly captivating to be consumed, that’s why Megacool is betting on short videos as opposed to longer videos. In addition, shorter videos are easier to share because of their small file sizes.
GIF as a format
The 30 years old GIF format fits perfectly for fast consumption. Even though the format has its limitations, like only 256 colors, it’s supported by most sharing channels and has been widely adopted over the past years. It also loops and auto plays, which makes it great to quickly express what the content is all about as opposed to an image or a long video. Here’s an overview of how you can expect each channel to behave with Megacool’s GIF sharing. With that said, we’re adding support for H.264 / MP4 as it becomes more adopted.
Automatic recording
Have you ever thought: “Damn! I wish I had recorded that” when it’s too late? With recording buttons exposed to the players, it’s hard to remember to hit “record” before amazing moments happens in the game. With Megacool we’ve focused on removing friction for the player. The game developer decides what, when and how a recording is triggered in a game without the player’s interaction. Everything can happen in the background of the gameplay and the player is served with an option to share the great moment when the timing is right.
Highlight recording
What if you could share only the best moment of the gameplay instead of trimming a video around a highlight? Guess what, you can! Megacool’s feature highlight recording tracks game intensity and analyzes gameplay changes as they unfold to find the most intense game playing sequences and create more share-worthy moments for players and their friends.
Messaging channels
When we started Megacool, we bet on messaging channels being the main driver for sharing and growth, as opposed to traditional social media channels like Facebook and Twitter. We experienced the daily communication shifted away from social networks to closer groups of friends. This bet has paid off as over 60% of all the sharing we see are sent through messaging services, and it converts way better than social media sharing!
Including links with shares
Megacool’s vision is to redefine the whole sharing experience by removing friction and including context. We do this by including a link to a shared GIF so the receiver easily can join the game — both existing and new users. This closes the sharing loop and generates new installs / re-engagement for games. The links are customizable and you as the game developer can add metadata to each link, like a specific scene or action. Once a player presses the link, he or she can be directed into the right place in the game.
Analytics
On the Megacool dashboard you can see the all the shares and the conversions. We break down the analytics to each sharing channel to see which channels are performing better and what you should optimize to increase the engagement and conversion rate.
Player insights
Another valuable aspect is your ability to see all the shared recordings from the Megacool dashboard as they happen in real-time. It’s also broken down into the most popular GIFs based on the engagement they have. These can be great to use in your own marketing campaigns!
Summary
Megacool, Everyplay and ReplayKit each are good for certain kinds of games.
- Everyplay is good for long video recordings where you want to build up a community on their established platform.
- ReplayKit is good if all you want is for players to record and keep their own recordings in a high quality video format.
- Megacool works best for games that are concentrated around short highlights where players want to share it with their existing channels.
Make sure you select the sharing platform that is right for you!
Your players want to help grow the games they love. Make it easy for them by facilitating content sharing and referral programs. Sign up at Megacool to get started!
