Moomin Move / Japan-only live service

Building the rhythm of a live game

I led and operated a Japan-only free-to-play service through seasonal planning, content delivery, economy tuning, monetization, partner coordination, and long-term product stewardship.

Japan-only product Persistent world Seasonal operations Live economy

Moomin and Snufkin sitting by a campfire in Moominvalley

00 / Japan live-service phase

A Japan-only F2P live game built around seasonal economy

During the focused Japan live-service phase, players explored the real-world map, progressed Moomin friends, collected pets and resources, cooked food, completed seasonal tasks, restored landmarks, and developed a personal valley.

4 yearsFocused Japan F2P leadership

30+Japan content updates managed

JapanMarket-specific live service

Free → F2PProduct transformation

This case focuses on the final four-year Japan F2P phase: establishing a repeatable content cadence, managing 30+ content updates, coordinating external partners, evolving the economy from live performance and analytics analysis, supporting acquisition by a Japanese corporation, and remaining accountable through sunset. Earlier involvement with the product is background context; the Live Ops scope here is specifically the Japan live game.

Japan-only product impact

Strong retention supported deeper monetization.

LiveOps, reward, pass, and store improvements added monetization depth to an already strong Japanese retention base.

200k+Downloads in Japan

3k-15kJapan daily active players across the product lifecycle

57%Japan Day 1 retention

31%Japan Day 7 retention

Japan ARPDAU uplift

+41%

Improvement after later LiveOps, reward, and store updates.

Japan payer conversion

+33%

Improvement after deepening passes, offers, cosmetics, keys, and utility products.

Operational LiveOps

Always on

Maintenance planning, incident response, downtime communication, and player compensation for a persistent multiplayer world.

Context: These are directional Japan-only results from a relatively small player population, and represent the improved late-stage values reached after sustained iteration during the four-year Japan market period. The team did not have enough time, scale, or remaining production runway to validate the same performance globally, run extensive experimentation, or determine how the results would hold with a much larger audience.

My LiveOps management scope

My role in keeping the live game moving.

I worked across planning, rewards, production coordination, operations, analytics, and stakeholder communication during the Japan live-service phase.

Planning ownership

Season structure and economy planning

I planned relay tasks, task rewards, free and paid reward tracks, Super Premium value, seasonal store rotations, offers, and loot-box economy with the wider game loop in mind.

Reward design

Seasonal reward and content planning

I shaped reward sets such as costumes, UI skins, icons, chat stickers, furniture, pets, tokens, Super Tokens, pet food, soap, Super Soap, rubies, and gold so they supported seasonal motivation and long-term progression.

Production management

UI, art, story, store, and localization delivery

I oversaw relay UI and art planning, store text and image updates, story updates, English-to-Japanese translation flow, and social media image and communication needs.

Live service operations

Service health, feedback, and stakeholder alignment

I co-managed update and maintenance emails, player compensation, incident and error handling, survey planning, analytics analysis, and communication with stakeholders and external partners.

Relay tasks Task rewards Free track Premium track Super Premium Season store planning Loot boxes Daily offers Weekly offers Chained offers Personal timed offers Seasonal gifts Countdown gifts Push messages In-game mails Maintenance comms Compensations Player support Incident handling Survey planning Analytics analysis Relay UI planning Store images App icons Loading screens Splash screens Task-list visuals Relay progress visuals Story updates ENG-JP translation flow Social media images Partner communication Stakeholder alignment

Game context

A quick look at the game behind the LiveOps work.

Watch Moomin Move gameplay on YouTube

Moomin Move image showing walking and exploration on the world map — **Walking & discovery**Explore the real-world map to encounter characters, pets, collectibles, and seasonal objects.

Moomin Move image showing the player's personal valley — **Personal valley**Build, decorate, and seasonally transform a persistent personal space.

Moomin Move image showing pets and collection — **Pets & collection**Collect and progress pets that support both active and AFK play strategies.

Moomin Move image showing cooking and food progression — **Cooking & gifting**Turn collected ingredients into food for tasks, progression, and friendship gifting.

Moomin Move image showing teams and shared goals — **Teams & shared goals**Work with other players through team progress, contribution, and social motivation.

Moomin Move image showing walking progress — **Walking progress**Real-world movement supports personal progression, team goals, and seasonal play.

Moomin Move image showing character stories and quests — **Character stories**Quests connect Moomin friends, themed adventures, rewards, and long-term progression.

01 / Operating model

A monthly season activated the whole game

The monthly Season Relay was the central LiveOps force. It created goals across walking and collecting, pets, cooking, map tools, range boosters, social play, and the store, then returned rewards into those systems. Player screen time consistently spiked during active seasons compared with periods without one.

Seasonal Relay Event activation diagram showing how Live Ops connected relay tasks, cooking, shop, pets, exploration, base building, friendships, and supporting systems.

02 / Season content split

New content was divided across free play, paid tracks, and store routes

Each season needed a clear split: free rewards for participation, paid rewards for higher value and acceleration, and shop content for repeatable seasonal spending. Every relay level required 50 points, with 30 unique reward levels in the main track and 10 instant extra levels available through Super Premium.

Free rewardsTasks + free track

Daily relay tasks and the free progression track gave active players base resources, keys, tokens, seasonal utility, special seasonal gifts, and accessible identity rewards.

Premium / Super PremiumPaid reward tracks

Premium increased reward density, while Super Premium added prestige rewards and 500 instant event points: enough for 10 relay levels.

Shop contentLoot boxes + offers

Seasonal loot boxes, timed offers, bundles, and store images created the commercial layer around the season's exclusive content.

30unique main reward levels

50points required per level

Dailytask reset cadence

Rubiescould refresh tasks faster

Moomin Move winter season valley with seasonal decorations and custom items — **Seasonal valley**Season-specific furniture and custom items helped the player's personal space visibly change with the event.

Japanese relay reward progression track with free and premium columns — **Reward tracks**Free and Premium rewards were shown together so the upgrade value stayed visible.

Japanese store showing a winter seasonal loot box priced for one or ten openings — **Seasonal loot boxes**The store layer carried themed rewards, repeat openings, and guaranteed value.

Moomin Move team quest board showing a monthly countdown, team rank, shared quest progress, and rewards — **Supporting tasks**Team, party, and global goals added parallel reasons to participate during the season.

03 / Season activation loop

Relay event tasks turned the season into full-game activation

A new season gave players a reason to touch the whole game again: basic tasks, shop visits, cooking, map exploration, global challenges, team goals, valley decoration, social identity rewards, and premium progression. The result was a multi-layered customization and play loop that supported long-term retention and monetization.

Goal gradient

30-day track

A full-month reward path gave players something to complete every day.

Autonomy

Many speed paths

Play more, reset tasks, use pets and boosters, upgrade kitchens, or buy 10 instant levels.

Identity

Season show-off

Icons, stickers, costumes, pets, and furniture gave social value.

Urgency

Timed choices

Daily resets and limited rewards created pressure without letting players simply buy out everything.

Retention

Progress feeds back

Rewards returned into friendships, teams, collections, valley, and the next session.

Japanese holiday relay task screen showing ingredient collection, cooking objectives, event points, a daily refresh timer, and a 12-ruby task refresh — **Task refresh model**Ingredient and food goals awarded event points, while the timer and ruby refresh supported both daily return and optional acceleration.

Japanese cooking screen preparing seasonal mulled wine — **Seasonal cooking**Food demand increased the value of ingredients, upgraded pots, cooking spaces, timer skips, pet gathering, and booster routes.

Walking step-ball collection screen with daily step progress and step boost — **Walking collection theme**Super Premium could include custom themed skins for the walking bubble collection view, adding seasonal customization value for the Japanese market.

Seasonal character quest requesting an item and showing parcel character-token and XP rewards — **Friendship progression**Gifting and character quests built relationships that unlocked parcels, recipes, furniture, and stronger friend support.

Pass design

Premium and Super Premium turned participation into clearer value tiers.

The free track kept the season accessible, Premium increased reward density, and Super Premium added acceleration plus exclusive identity rewards.

FreeBelong to the season

Useful currencies and summon keys
Exclusive sticker
Accessible lower-rarity costume
Repeatable relay loot boxes

PremiumIncrease reward density

Character tokens and keys
Exclusive icons and sticker
Higher-rarity costume potential
More high-value resources

Super PremiumAccelerate and stand out

Premium-track access included
Super-Premium-only icon and pet
Walking-menu background
500 instant event points

Japanese Premium and Super Premium pass purchase selection — **Two paid choices**Premium sells reward density; Super Premium includes it and adds ten instant levels plus prestige rewards.

04 / Store, loot boxes, and offers

The store lived with the season

Every season, the store carried themed packages wrapped in culturally appropriate color, value, and event themes: season-specific loot boxes, daily and weekly offers, chained offers, and personal timed special offers. Seasonal loot boxes also included items that directly supported the relay event, alongside cosmetic and long-term utility rewards.

IngredientsProgress and cooking

FoodsProgress and friendships

FurnitureValley decor and party

GroomingPet efficiency

Pet foodPet progress

CostumesSeason special content and efficiency

Seasonal loot box contents

The chest mixed immediate relay-event help with longer-term collection, decoration, pet care, and identity value. Seasonal events could also use visible free gift moments, such as a Christmas three-day countdown lootbox gift.

30

rubies for one opening

270

rubies for ten openings

45

openings for the guarantee

Japanese New Year seasonal lucky bag and lucky bundle offers — **Japanese seasonal style**New Year art and culturally relevant packaging supported timed regional offers.

Japanese timed new-player personal offer — **Personal timed offer**A low-entry onboarding bundle matched price, content, and urgency to a new player.

Japanese high-value timed booster bundle priced for a large spender — **High-value spender offer**A short-duration large bundle created a distinct price point for high-intent players.

05 / Supporting season content

Supporting game systems gave the season more ways to matter

Beyond the core relay and store, seasonal support systems added social comparison, team contribution, exclusive identity, decoration goals, team competition, and leaderboards. They made the season visible in more places than the reward track alone.

Winter sports themed Moomin Move seasonal artwork — **Seasonal theme**Visual themes helped each season feel like a distinct event across gameplay, rewards, and communication.

Team board

Contribution

Team progress and team-specific tasks rewarded active seasonal play, while leader-style visibility gave successful players status inside the group.

Party Mode

Efficiency

Acquiring and using seasonal items improved gifting performance, which helped players progress friendships faster.

Collecting events

Competition

Global cooking and collecting challenges let players compete beyond their own progression and made the season feel larger.

Valley decoration

Expression

Seasonal decoration goals and social voting turned player valleys into themed showcases.

New friends + costumes

Collection

Seasonal characters, pets, and costumes created fresh collection goals and reasons to return.

Icons + chat stickers

Identity

Small exclusive social rewards gave players seasonal show-off value in communication and profiles.

Active Valley Party screen showing furniture tasks, Party Stars, five bonus levels, and a level two 40 percent friendship gifting bonus — **Active Party Mode**Furniture tasks award Party Stars. Stars unlock higher party levels, and the active level sets the friendship bonus from gifts; this level-two party gives +40%.

Early tutorial valley with Moominhouse and initial restoration task — **Tutorial valley**The personal space begins as a focused restoration and onboarding environment.

Developed personal valley decorated with winter seasonal content and visiting characters — **Seasonal winter valley**Long-term building, seasonal furniture, visitors, and identity transform the same space.

06 / Live service communication

Operations kept the season understandable and trusted

A live season also needed clear communication outside the core feature loop: push messages, season information, maintenance notices, compensation, player support, and feedback collection.

Season communication

Clarity

Push messages and season information helped players understand what was active, what was new, and why to return.

Season presentation

Visibility

App icons, loading screens, splash screens, in-game relay event icons, task-list visuals, and relay progress screens changed so the season was visible across the full player journey.

Seasonal gifts

Delight

Season-specific gifts were planned around moments such as Christmas, including countdown gifts leading toward the holiday.

Maintenance and incidents

Trust

Maintenance communication, in-game mails, issue handling, and compensation delivery reduced frustration when live service problems affected play.

Player support

Care

Support coordination kept player problems visible and helped the team respond to issues around updates, rewards, and events.

Feedback collecting

Learning

Surveys, feedback, and community signals informed prioritization, live tuning, and future season planning.

Winter seasonal Moomin Move app icon with Moomintroll and Little My — **Seasonal app icon**One example of how the live season appeared before players even opened the game.

07 / Product values and retention

A gentle live game worked because progress felt meaningful

The core fantasy was not fighting. Players helped Moomins, improved the world, cared for their own environment, and helped themselves through walking. LiveOps worked best when it amplified those values instead of replacing them with pure reward chasing.

Gentle purpose

Help

No combat: players helped Moomins, restored places, improved their valley, and made the world feel better.

Beloved IP connection

Care

Season content, stories, quests, and rewards were crafted to feel true to the characters and world players already loved.

Walking with meaning

Move

Real walking advanced personal progress, team goals, and in-game systems, supported by a friendly walking coach and feel-good messages.

Many player identities

Choose

The game supported collectors, explorers, builders, caretakers, team players, and social players through different reward paths.

Social circles

Belong

Teams could become meaningful communities, giving players social reasons to return that were difficult to create through rewards alone.

Long progression depth

Grow

Progression stretched from gentle onboarding to advanced upgrades, premium pets, costumes, furniture, friendships, and super-token systems.

LiveOps matched the fantasy

Season tasks activated walking, cooking, collecting, gifting, valley building, teams, and pets
Rewards felt useful because they fed care, expression, collection, friendship, and future play
Seasonal icons, stickers, costumes, furniture, pets, and backgrounds made each month feel socially present
Character quests and dialogue helped Moomin friends feel more personal as relationships grew

Retention came from multiple meanings

Collectors had new items, pets, costumes, recipes, and seasonal content
Explorers and walkers had map goals and step-based progress
Builders and caretakers had valley, pet, friendship, and party goals
Friendships changed quests, dialogue, unlocks, and parcel help for lighthouse progression
Team players had shared progress, leaderboards, and social recognition

Monetization supported chosen play

The system did not ask every player to value the same thing
Convenience helped time-limited players keep up with the season
Identity, collection depth, care, and social status created different reasons to spend
Acceleration worked best when it supported the play style a player already cared about

Outcome

A live game needs a rhythm the team can deliver and players can anticipate.

The operating model connected content planning, production constraints, player behavior, economy decisions, commercial goals, partner communication, and service responsibility, while still protecting the gentle social fantasy that made players want to return.

Live Ops leadershipContent cadenceEconomy tuningPartner coordination