Scopely’s Phil Williams affords a peek behind the scenes at Monopoly Go’s artistic course of.
“Shock” is a vital factor to the sport’s ongoing success, versus repetitive experiences with a brand new coat of paint.
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Scopely’s Monopoly Go holds the document for the quickest cellular recreation to surpass $6 billion throughout the App Retailer and Google Play.
At Pocket Gamer Connects London, we caught up with the sport’s director of content material design Phil Williams to seek out out extra concerning the function refined storytelling performs in Monopoly Go’s success, the occasions that hold issues contemporary, and the way the sport resonates with gamers throughout a spread of cultures.
Williams shares Monopoly Go’s narrative group has lately grown and continues to rent for extra roles. At the moment, his group sits simply shy of 10 folks.
“My group’s a content material group. We’re type of… I used to be going to say gatekeepers, however that makes it sound too restrictive. Possibly, we’re a supply of data of narrative,” he introduces.
“A few of our designers are vastly skilled within the recreation. They have been engaged on it since its starting. So, they know that background, that growth, how we acquired to the place we at the moment are. All of us come from a deep storytelling background.”
Crew members additionally carry expertise from artwork, animation and advertising and marketing, so Williams doesn’t strictly think about it a story group however a broader artistic, storytelling one.
“That playfulness and that mischief might be the largest storytelling factor that overarches every part we do.”Phil Williams
We ask what function storytelling performs in Monopoly Go when there isn’t an specific story discovered in-game. Williams solutions that the group doesn’t “push” story on gamers, however there’s a sense of “deep” narrative experiences.
“Like, Mr. Monopoly – there’s intentional selections behind his character,” says Williams.
“He’s playful and kooky. He’s acquired a childlike perspective of the way in which he treats his unimaginable wealth. In order that in itself is one thing that basically helps us when you concentrate on a billionaire by way of childlike eyes.”
He provides the instance of a restaurant enterprise imagined with the whimsy of a kid: “A baby would not construct a Michelin-starred, minimalist expertise. They might do probably the most extravagant ice cream palace or construct a rollercoaster of meals. That is what Mr. Monopoly does. In order that playfulness and that mischief might be the largest storytelling factor that overarches every part we do.”
Monopoly Go’s storytelling method is “very a lot present, not inform”.
‘Tis the season
We discover with Williams how Mr. Monopoly’s character and childlike concepts manifest in-game. He ties these elements into Monopoly Go’s seasons, which regularly observe the actual world’s seasons too. Final autumn, for instance, noticed the group take a look at the important thing themes and beats of September, October and November, together with Halloween and Thanksgiving.
“Monopoly Go needs to be a enjoyable expertise, whereas autumn and winter might be type of darkish and chilly, so we needed the thought of being within the heat and looking,” Williams says.
“We talked concerning the Danish ‘hygge’ feeling, which is that feeling of cosiness, heat across the hearth, telling tales. November, particularly within the US, has that feeling of ‘Thanksgiving is coming, the vacation season is almost right here’. There’s plenty of traditions, plenty of household and pals. So it sparked concepts of how we had been going to carry this into our minigames, into our album. It led onto issues just like the anticipation of Christmas.”
He provides that the group goals to maintain the sport “as world as potential”, however does provide you with geo-specific concepts too. A Six Nations marketing campaign themed round rugby, for instance, was well-suited to a European viewers however had much less relevance within the US.
“We talked concerning the Danish ‘hygge’ feeling, which is that feeling of cosiness, heat across the hearth, telling tales.”Phil Williams
Then again, Thanksgiving was deemed appropriate for Europe in addition to the US as a result of, whereas it isn’t celebrated in all places, persons are conscious of the vacation from movies.
“We need not section an excessive amount of, however we do have the chance to do this when it is applicable,” Williams clarifies.
Scopely has a cultural and sensitivity group which serves as an essential useful resource, guaranteeing nothing will get by way of that will be unintentionally inappropriate for a sure market. This group verifies every part, even when it could appear “fully innocuous”, and ensures cultures are handled respectfully and precisely.
“That additionally permits us to consider how we incorporate all of our world viewers into the sport,” provides Williams.
Final yr, Metacore’s Shuhei Watanabe shared tips about hyper-local campaigns and avoiding offensive or ostracising content material in Asia, like tattoos in Japan.
Crossovers, characters and communities
Different Monopoly Go occasions have targeted much less on real-world seasonality and as an alternative leaned into IP crossovers, with massive manufacturers introduced into the social on line casino recreation together with Star Wars, Marvel and Harry Potter.
The Star Wars occasion, for instance, spanned the Skywalker Saga and The Mandalorian, with legacy characters and areas just like the Jedi and Tatooine, themed tokens and signature cube. The Scopely group includes many Star Wars followers, in accordance with Williams, who had been excited by this collab, and so they rapidly got here up with the thought to implement pod racing.
“Proper from the very starting these key conferences with Lucasfilm had been our product leaders – myself representing content material – and advertising and marketing leaders having conversations about how this was going to look, the story we needed to inform, how we had been going to carry these worlds collectively,” he shares. “Then our in-house video company Flamed made our unbelievable belongings.”
In the meantime, advertising and marketing groups labored on campaigns that aligned with the event being accomplished in-game. Williams describes it as a “circle” of conversations: “Something that occurs marketing-wise has that parallel throughout the recreation, so there’s connection. That is one thing we’re undoubtedly constructing on in 2026.”
He additionally remembers his pleasure at Anakin Skywalker actor Hayden Christensen showing in advert spots for the sport: “I used to be fanboying to the max. After we introduced that to the group, only some folks, me included, knew about it, after which simply seeing the reactions internally was wonderful.”
We ask how collaborations like these come about. Williams acknowledges Monopoly Go’s standing as a “large recreation” and Hasbro and Monopoly’s globally recognised manufacturers as key elements. It’s essential that when the group considers potential manufacturers to work with, these companions “actually match” not solely with Monopoly Go’s values, however in the kind of attain they’ve too.
“They must be these type of recognisable, top-tier manufacturers as nicely.”
On the similar time, Monopoly Go’s neighborhood group retains an “ongoing dialog” going with followers to gauge curiosity in potential crossovers. There are model ambassadors who work on Discord and assist keep a relationship with “VIP gamers”, and Williams talks of checkpoints to listen to optimistic and significant suggestions. The group additionally appears at suggestions on Reddit and Fb.
“It’s not nearly questionnaires. It’s about watching, listening to discussions, actively taking part and ensuring we’re listening to what they’re speaking about. It undoubtedly informs our selections,” he says.
“We’re at all times speaking to our neighborhood and Harry Potter is a superb instance of this. It was one of many high voted-for franchises that our gamers needed us to accomplice with.”
“It’s about watching, listening to discussions, actively taking part and ensuring we’re listening to what they’re speaking about.”Phil Williams
Williams provides that not each artistic choice is led by followers, nonetheless, and crossovers aren’t on the coronary heart of Monopoly Go. Finally, the sport has its personal identification.
“We love the chance to do that, and gamers find it irresistible. It is having a extremely good affect. However we need to ensure that our non-IP seasons have the identical love, care and a focus. This would possibly not be one thing that takes away from that core expertise of Monopoly Go.”
The group needs to shock gamers, so tries to provide you with concepts followers don’t anticipate. Monopoly Go’s personal characters may also drive its storytelling – like Lizzie the inventor and Peg-E the robotic’s dynamic; every character brings their very own potential to occasions, however Williams reiterates this isn’t accomplished explicitly.
“There’s nothing the place we are saying ‘right here’s the story behind this and right here’s the narrative and the lore it is advisable to perceive’. However having these conversations, these selections, helps us hold issues grounded and constant. And, it hopefully sparks some enjoyable and possibly even foolish concepts.”
Working collectively
Hasbro oversees every part the Monopoly Go group does. Williams calls the corporate “a superb accomplice”, hardly ever pushing again towards Scopely’s selections, however capable of have enter if desired. He says the 2 firms have a excessive stage of belief and a robust relationship, helped by Scopely understanding the Hasbro model and historical past of Monopoly.
In the meantime, operations inside Scopely are additionally like a partnership. Williams describes collaborative efforts between groups and calls the artwork division his personal group’s “closest accomplice”.
“All the pieces we do, we temporary artwork, however that is not a baton-handing train. We’re type of finest buddies. We do not say, ‘artwork, do that after which I will execute’. We work with them. We’ll temporary concepts after which we’ll have a collaborative backwards and forwards with the artwork administrators and artwork leads and the artists themselves.”
Williams provides that collaboration with recreation designers can be essential, as Monopoly Go goals to introduce new options and experiences with every season. Due to this fact, Williams’ group should work carefully with the sport design group to make sure options match the theme.
He explains that whereas sure festivities come spherical annually, the Monopoly Go group nonetheless strives to shock gamers with every new season – by no means merely launching a reskin of a earlier expertise.
Although Williams can’t reveal any main plans for Monopoly Go’s occasions and seasons in 2026, he does emphasise that want to shock.
“We’ve some enjoyable initiatives coming with some beloved… stuff,” he cryptically concludes.
Final yr, Scopely co-CEOs Walter Driver and Javier Ferreira shared with us the corporate’s “iterate to greatness” thesis which led to $10bn in income.
Scopely might be at Pocket Gamer Connects Summit San Francisco, which takes place on March ninth.
