Eri's Store

A game store that whisks players from choosing a bundle to the reward they came for, launched with the game on a short runway and reused by two more.

At a glance

Situation: Guild of Guardians was weeks from launch and needed a web store alongside its in-app shop, for better margins and items players could own. No suitable tooling existed, and the runway was short.
Task: As product and design lead, find the fastest path to a complete store and checkout, with bundles players wanted, at prices they'd buy, on a schedule that wouldn't unbalance the game.
Action: Assembled the store from proven parts with the platform team so other games could reuse it, connected it straight to the game, and tested evergreen bundles against monthly drops of tradeable items.
Result: Launched with the game in May 2024. By March 2025 it handled all of the game's primary sales revenue, and two other games had launched stores on the same foundation.

Situation

A store needed, and nothing to build it with

Guild of Guardians is a tactical game: players build a team of Guardians with different skills, take on challenges and compete for high scores. Players own their Guardians outright. They can buy them from the studio, earn them in play, or trade them with each other.

Before launch, the game needed a second place to sell besides its in-app shop: a web store with better margins, where players could buy items they'd truly own. Nothing suitable existed, and the launch date was close.

Eri's Store: bundles of Ascension Seals at three sizes, with discounts on the larger ones. — Eri's Store: bundles at three sizes, with the larger ones discounted.

Task

The fastest path to a store players would use

As product and design lead, I had to find the most efficient route to a complete store and checkout. It had to offer bundles players wanted, at prices they'd engage with, released often enough to keep interest up but not so often that players hoarded and threw the game's economy off balance.

Action

Assemble, connect, then follow the sales

Build it once, for every game

Other games would need the same thing, so I worked with the platform team to build something reusable rather than a one-off. We assembled it from proven parts: a standard e-commerce plugin for listings, Immutable's own account and wallet for signing in and authorising payment, and an external gateway experienced in this kind of transaction to validate and process it.

The e-commerce back office used to manage store listings. — Listings ran on a standard e-commerce back office.

Connecting a wallet, with Immutable's own account recommended first. — Signing in: the game's own account comes first, recommended.

Keep the purchase short

A purchase should feel effortless and get players to the moment they came for. Checkout is one summary and one button, paid in the game's own currency, with the price in dollars beside it.

The payment summary: item, quantity, price in game currency and dollars, and a single Proceed button. — Checkout: one summary, one button.

Follow the sales, not the plan

The store first sold tradeable items in monthly rotations, and revenue came in bursts around each drop. To smooth it out, we built a connection straight from the store into the game, and tested evergreen bundles: the same items sold in-game, not tradeable, at a lower price. They outsold the monthly drops, so design focus moved to them. As bundles grew popular, we added timers and purchase limits to protect the game's economy in the long run.

Result

A store for one game, a foundation for three

May 2024launched alongside the game itself.
Allof the game's primary sales revenue, handled through the store by March 2025.
2 more gamesin the portfolio launched their own stores on the same foundation.