Fgfactory

Introduce your business and what you do there.

L’Oreal is the world’s largest cosmetics company, present in over 135 countries. As the director of e-commerce and digital innovation, my role spans all of our e-commerce initiatives as well as digital services, new innovation, and other related ventures. 

What challenge were you trying to address with Fgfactory?

Our brand Maybelline isn’t a direct-to-consumer (D2C) brand, so we’re always looking for ways to innovate our website and give consumers a reason to stay and interact with us. We also had a product called Super Stay Matte Ink, which is currently one of our best-selling seasons in the history of the brand. It’s colorful and bright, and the product has done well with millennials, which is the demographic that we’re targeting.

With that in mind, we identified gaming as an avenue that we needed to go after but weren’t playing in. We decided as a brand to develop a mobile video game that would appeal to our target demographic, bringing in Fgfactory for support.

What was the scope of their involvement? 

Fgfactory developed a mobile game to promote Maybelline and appeal to the millennial demographic. When I approached them, I presented the KPIs that we’d hoped to meet along with what we wanted to do. I explained that this was a very new project for us as I had absolutely no experience in gaming development.

They were critical in helping establish which game style we should pursue. We decided on a match-three game, which was the most popular game type among our target demographics. Not only did they design the concept, but the team also did all of the graphics. They developed the game to be mobile-first, working directly alongside our website agency to ensure that what they were building worked within our environment. 

Afterward, they geared us up for launch and were instrumental in helping us localize the game in specific countries. The game is currently accessible through Maybelline’s website, and we’re talking about how we can bring it to life on other platforms like e-retailers.

What is the team composition? 

Aleksandr (Co-Founder & Project Manager) helped me develop the scope initially. From there, we worked closely with a team of four developers, one of whom was a woman. As a female-focused brand, that really meant a lot to us because the gaming environment isn’t always an easy place for women. I really respected that she was so involved in the day-to-day.

How did you come to work with Fgfactory?

We found Fgfactory through a Google search; they were on a list of 30 development agencies. Their team stood out to us because they’d worked on a lot of games for other larger brands looking to meet the same objectives that we were. When I contacted them, they were very responsive and flexible. It’s not always easy for outside vendors to work with a conglomerate brand, but they seemed up to the challenge.

How much have you invested with them?

The project cost about $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We kicked off development in May 2020, and it took about eight weeks to complete everything. Our US team was the first to market and launch the game, so they kept Fgfactory on to update the localization. The game eventually went live in October 2020, though it was ready as early as August.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Since we’ve launched the game, the average time that people have spent on our website has really blown up. People now spend about 24 minutes playing the game compared to the previous average of 1.4 minutes. Clearly, our engagement has skyrocketed. We’ve also seen that our bounce rates are much lower, going from 44% down to 20%. 

On our US website, we serve the game to people who are part of a loyalty program, so we’re measuring customer loyalty. We’ve inserted couponing into the game and are starting to assess the results.

How did Fgfactory perform from a project management standpoint?

Fgfactory had fantastic project managers. They really helped keep me on track through Jira and worked in an agile way. Besides their expertise, one of the benefits of working with Fgfactory was that they were very process-oriented, which I really appreciated. In a big organization like L’Oreal, people will often try to put their hands in a project when that isn’t necessarily the right thing to do since it just drags things on. 

Fgfactory was very clear from the beginning about how we were going to do this project because they had the experience to know what would work best. If I had any questions about what was happening, I could always ask their team and get a timely response.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’ll just say again that it’s not always easy for vendors to fit into a conglomerate like L’Oreal because we expect a lot. Fgfactory had impressive project management skills and was flexible enough to fit into how we worked. They made sure that we were satisfied with the project.

What’s more, their expertise in the gaming space was very valuable, especially since we didn’t have any experience when we started the project. We ended up with a game that was really fun!

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, this was one of the smoothest development projects I’d ever worked on.    

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of Zulko Gaming Limited. We provide real-money gaming that isn’t gambling. We produced the word’s first geolocation cash treasure hunt.

What challenge were you trying to address with Fgfactory?

We built our MVP in the UK and the cost of production was very, very high. There was also a bit of a learning curve for us because we’re in this grey area surrounding gambling and there was a lot of regulation to understand. Originally, we needed a local team that had developed things in the gambling world before. Once we were familiar with that, we took it upon ourselves to find a partner for a better value. We needed a team that could do everything in Unity, and we couldn’t find a team in the UK that could deliver what we wanted, on our schedule, and for a decent cost.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The initial stuff was all design work. They redesigned a game that we already had. They shifted everything. We had a native app on iOS and they shifted everything into Unity. Most of their work was on the frontend. So they were also integrating the new frontend of the app with the new backend once we rearranged everything. When it came to integrating the backend, it was done with Confluence. They also helped us out with integration.

At one point, we needed to implement a new payment process and verification process. We asked them to do this halfway through the project, and they were happy to look into it.

Everything had to be built from scratch and we had to have lots of precautions to make sure people don’t cheat. There are lots of things on iPhones and Androids that enable people to spoof the GPS.

What is the team composition?

My first point of contact was the owner and project manager and we could contact team members directly as well.

How did you come to work with Fgfactory?

We found them on Clutch. We called a bunch of the vendors and asked if they had worked in gambling before. Fgfactory happened to have quite a few things related to slot machines. We liked their design work, they convinced us to use Unity as well. One of our developers in the UK vetted them as well to prove that they had the skills they claimed to have.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $35,000­–$40,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started everything in November 2018 and wrapped up around November 2019.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

This was a very complicated project and not a lot of people knew how to manage it. Fgfactory knew how to get around and did a great job with it.

How did Fgfactory perform from a project management standpoint?

Overall, it was very good. We had a group on multiple platforms, like Skype, and they were very responsive. We were able to message the team directly depending on the issue we had.

They introduced each individual person that was meant to do everything. It was nice that the project manager didn’t just allocate tasks to people and we were able to speak with the people doing the design and animation directly.

Then we changed that but kept a lot of that. We used Basecamp for things like design. It was super easy to manage that and they were very responsive.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were able to have someone for anyone we needed. At one point we said we needed a website, and they were able to get one up and running in a few days. We could trust them to do anything we needed.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Occasionally, when we were doing QA, it wasn’t clear when things would be done, especially when they were busy. So my only suggestion was better communication on timelines for those projects.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Come prepared and know exactly what you want. If you’re building an app, make sure that you have every single screen and layout prepared and well-described. You don’t want to leave anything up to interpretation because it could be lost in translation.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the founder of Big Bash Games, a mobile gaming app that includes daily competitions between players with the potential to win a cash prize. Advertisements on the platform are utilized to fund different charitable organizations. 

What challenge were you trying to address with Fgfactory?

I engaged Fgfactory to help us develop our mobile app for iOS and Android and to design and develop our game. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

Fgfactory developed our gaming app for iOS and Android, incorporating different APIs as needed. I provided them with the overall UX of the app, but they helped design and develop the game itself. They've also worked on our data storage and overall strategy in regards to different services and integrations to choose from.

What is the team composition? 

We work with 6–10 people, depending on the stage of the project.

How did you come to work with Fgfactory?

I conducted an extensive search of about 50 different vendors online, starting in Canada and then branching out overseas to save on costs. Fgfactory's quality of work caught my eye, so we started a conversation and I was convinced they were a good fit. They were very understanding of our needs and had a lot of great suggestions from the start. 

How much have you invested with them?

We've invested around $50,000 thus far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working together since March 2019 and the relationship is ongoing. Although the initial scope of work was completed, we continue to work with them to add new features. 

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Our app hasn't gone live yet, but Fgfactory has done a great job overall thus far. They've been able to complete the work within a certain time frame, and we're confident the product will perform well. 

How did Fgfactory perform from a project management standpoint?

They've been great from a project management standpoint. Their team is very communicative and proficient in English, so the relationship has been relatively seamless despite their distance. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Unlike other vendors I've worked with in the past, they're clear and efficient in communications. Their skillset also sets them apart; they've been able to fill in any gaps in our project plan, highlighting certain areas we want to focus on in terms of an overall strategy.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing stands out outside of the norm from what I've experienced when working with an overseas developer. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

While Fgfactory does a decent job of testing the quality of their work, I'd recommend additional quality assurance processes to ensure bugs don't slip through any of the phases of development. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of Eman Labs, a venture studio and ideas lab. We act as the co-founding team to entrepreneurs and business founders who have ideas. We turn those ideas into products and launch them to hopefully raise capital, turning them into efficient and profitable businesses.

What challenge were you trying to address with Fgfactory?

We needed help with Unity development and 3D animation and design. We have our own in-house engineering team, but lack expertise in Unity. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

Fgfactory acts as a third-party supplier, providing technical and design resources for Unity development as well as 3D design and animation. Their frontend contributions include character design and gaming asset creation, as well as mini-games for some of our projects.

For one application project, in particular, our in-house team handled backend development while Fgfactory took care of the Unity portion from scratch. Their team also worked on most of the design with our guidance in terms of requirements. We handed them a prototype of the game, including the desired functions, features, and such. They followed the brief and ended up changing the design slightly. The app is running on iOS and Android.

What is the team composition?

They’ve assigned five to six people to our projects.

How did you come to work with Fgfactory?

We did a lot of research and came across Fgfactory. We felt that they were a game development studio that would fit our needs and a good option as a third-party supplier for our company. We hired them because they claimed to be specialists at Unity game development.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in January 2018 and the partnership is still ongoing.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Fgfactory delivers on their word, and while they’re good at fulfilling tasks, they’re more reactive than a proactive. It also takes a lot of work to deal with them, which isn’t really something negative and might be more of an expectation management thing.

Some companies do it all and are very proactive, whereas with Fgfactory, it’s more of a collaboration and clients have to get their hands dirty. Fgfactory certainly delivers, though.

How did Fgfactory perform from a project management standpoint?

We’ve seen some grey areas regarding QA and who is responsible for what, but I can’t really blame them any more than I can blame ourselves. Their team has a firm project manager steering them who asks clients to provide ample details and to sign off on a lot of things.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I like Fgfactory’s transparency; there isn’t a behind-the-curtain approach when working with them. They are straightforward with how they work, what their staff is getting paid, and their margin. They also allow their clients to communicate directly with every single one of their people, which I like a lot.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They lack creativity a bit but are very organized. I think Fgfactory could’ve applied themselves a little bit more to grasp what we’re trying to achieve. Their team seems more reluctant to care about the business case and just wants to do their job. They will deliver, but I wish they would dive in a little bit deeper into the company’s mission.

Furthermore, their attention to detail is good but they expect you to sign off on way too much. It can be a little bit over the top sometimes. However, I will be working with them again and again.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If a client seeks a hardworking and disciplined team that never fails to deliver on their word, Fgfactory is the company to go to. Clients should have a good idea of what they want to build and have the desire to participate in the project scope and management. For this scenario, they are the perfect company.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Lekis AB, a kids’ tv show and cartoon television network. We also develop apps for young children.

What challenge were you trying to address with Fgfactory?

We hired Fgfactory to help us with graphic design and app development.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We mainly use Fgfactory for graphic design. We also created a couple of apps together, with versions for both iOS and Android.

I collaborated very closely with the team. After I came to hem with an initial idea, we’d discuss every detail of each project. From that point on, Fgfactory managed everything starting from the sketches to the finished product. 

Ever since we finished our latest app collaboration, our company has been focusing on producing new cartoons. Fgfactory creates numerous graphic design elements for us on an ongoing basis. Mainly, these tend to be character and background designs. We’ve been starting new projects almost weekly.

What is the team composition? 

There are 5-10 different people on the team. At the moment, we’re mostly working with one graphic designer.

How did you come to work with Fgfactory?

I originally found them on Upwork. It’s hard to find a good graphic designer, and Fgfactory has very talented professionals on their team. They provide services at a fair cost. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent €30,000 (approximately $34,000 USD) so far. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since December 2016.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Since Fgfactory started designing our cartoons, the views on our YouTube channel have been running into the millions. They skillfully create excellent graphic designs. Of all the different companies we’ve worked with, Fgfactory is definitely one of the top options. 

How did Fgfactory perform from a project management standpoint?

Fgfactory always meets our deadlines. We communicate using Skype. I’m very happy with their prices.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Fgfactory has grown and evolved as a company since we’ve been working together. Their graphic design skills are really impressive. They’re highly skilled at making apps, but graphic design is definitely their strongest skill set. Fgfactory has grown and evolved as a company since we’ve been working together. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Communication could be better, but they’ve already improved a lot. We haven’t had any issues at all over the entire past year. Everything is working very smoothly now. They keep an open line of communication with us.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CEO of a game app.

What challenge were you trying to address with Fgfactory?

Our app has short games of chance. We were growing, so we needed a company to supplement our game design, illustration and animation teams.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They produce a lot of frontend assets for us, such as game illustration and animation (our in-house team does the development as well). They use HTML to animate our games and provide a richer experience for our users. They've become part of our team and continue to help us with multiple projects.

What is the team composition?

We mostly work with one of their co-founders, but we've also communicated with other members of their team.

How did you come to work with them?

I found them through an online search when I was looking for additional engineering and design resources.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent between $100,000–$200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in 2017 and the relationship is ongoing.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Our company has grown significantly since we started working with them. We had two games in our app, but now we have more than 20 games and hundreds of thousands of users. We have a fairly large team in-house that includes engineers and designers, so it's been a joint effort.

How did they perform from a project management standpoint?

They're very organized and good at execution. Also, they're great communicators. They use Basecamp on their end and everything is very transparent, so we can see who is working on our account and provide feedback. They're based in Ukraine, but we haven't had any issues with scheduling.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They're flexible, responsive, and do high-quality work.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of anything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear about your needs and understand their skills to ensure your collaboration is successful.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CEO of No Six Five, a software development company. We produce mobile games for iPhone and Android.

What challenge were you trying to address with Fgfactory?

We needed a design team for our mobile game.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Fgfactory started by creating the design documents and requirements for our project. We primarily sent them descriptions of the visual assets we needed. Their team designed models of different characters in a 3D environment. They also created all the icons, interfaces, and all other graphical assets needed for our game. Currently, they're making sure our visuals display properly for our launch.

What is the team composition?

The team consists of a project manager, a 3D artist, and two 2D artists.

How did you come to work with Fgfactory?

I read some reviews on the internet and reviewed their previous projects. I really liked what I saw and contacted them.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested $50,000 thus far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2018 and the work is ongoing.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

The game will be released in the next weeks. We’re extremely happy with the results thus far. The visuals they create are truly professional. Their design artists are excellent and provide critical graphics for the release of our project.

How did Fgfactory perform from a project management standpoint?

They always meet my high expectations. I’m happy with the overall completion of their design work. We manage the project through Basecamp.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their talented designers provide exceptionally high-quality assets. Their cost is remarkably reasonable for what they deliver. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Before you start, have a detailed documentation of your requirements. They’ll do everything according to what you need.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of a game development company. We specialize in social casino and slots games.

What challenge were you trying to address with Fgfactory?

We hired them to create some of our in-game graphics.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Fgfactory created various graphical assets for our mobile slot games like symbols, characters, objects, backgrounds, and animations. We’d provide them with early mock-ups to use as reference points and they’d present us with one option to give feedback on. They continued to refine the assets until the final versions were complete.

What is the team composition?

We worked with one designer, an animator, and a project manager.

How did you come to work with Fgfactory?

I found them by searching online for outsourcing companies.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $70,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from June 2017­–May 2018.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We don’t have access to user feedback. We’re very happy with their service.

How did Fgfactory perform from a project management standpoint?

They performed quite well. We communicated via Slack, Jira, and Google Hangouts.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their project manager is a good communicator, pleasant to work with, and stayed involved throughout the process.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They didn’t have as much experience as we expected considering the amount of money we spent. As a result, some deliverables took longer to develop than anticipated.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of nomadscreativ, a small graphic design studio in Switzerland.

What challenge were you trying to address with Fgfactory?

I wanted to create a mobile AR game and build amazing graphics.

What was the scope of their involvement?

I explained the game as well as I could, but was missing a lot of information. They helped me figure out the game’s logic, gave me great advice about the whole game process, and built the game for iOS. They did everything from the UI design to the 3D character design to the programming.

The game is simple, featuring a mini game and a little bird. You can take care of the bird and get accessories. It isn’t complete. We need to correct some bugs, and we might add more levels.

What is the team composition?

I worked with 6–10 people, and mainly communicated with the project manager.

How did you come to work with Fgfactory?

I found them on Clutch. I looked at different portfolios, and Fgfactory’s designs had what I was looking for.

How much have you invested with them?

I’ve spent $26,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in November 2017 and the work is ongoing.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We launched two weeks ago, and we’re getting good feedback. People like the game. They’re very impressed with the graphics.

How did Fgfactory perform from a project management standpoint?

It was super efficient. We use Basecamp, and they’re quick to respond.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very professional. You can ask them anything, and they’ll do everything they can to make your requests happen.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The more precise information you give them, the easier their work will be.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a co-founder and the CIO of Metidia, a video game company focused on ad games.

What challenge were you trying to address with Fgfactory?

Good-quality design is important for video games. I was looking for partners with the capacity to build great graphics on their own.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Fgfactory provided artwork for 2D and 3D projects. They also created most of the UI elements in our games. I usually send them mockups, based on which they proposed different details. They’ve served as the artist for six games.

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked with two of their project managers. Across all projects, they’ve assigned more than five people to our team.  

How did you come to work with Fgfactory?

I found them on Freelancer.com, where they posted part of their portfolio. They had a cartoon-like style that was suited for casual video games. I contacted them and we started the collaboration.

How much have you invested with them?

The average cost per game is $10,000. The total cost of their work so far has been $60,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Fgfactory in December 2015 and have an ongoing collaboration.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Their art has made a very good impression on our clients. One of them still has a character made by the team as his phone wallpaper, despite it being from a Christmas game.

How did Fgfactory perform from a project management standpoint?

We have meetings at the end of each project, in order to discuss how we can improve the process on both our sides. It’s a very constructive approach.

They’re able to speed up the work by augmenting the size of the team if we have a rush order. Whenever we encountered difficulties in creating original characters, they assigned a new artist to the task in order to offer us a completely new perspective and to ensure that our deadline will be respected. I find this to be very professional.

We have used Skype and Trello for communication. Each cartoon is represented by a Trello card, and the platform makes the work easy in general. They start their workdays at 10 a.m. on our time, which works well for us.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They create most of the artwork themselves, which means that each deliverable is a unique creation. This is very valuable for us and our clients.

They also deliver results fast. If I needed a new character for a game, I could send them some reference material and ask them to design one. I would typically receive a first draft of the character within a couple of days, which allowed me to adapt the imagery early on.

They have a comprehensive approach, and they want our projects to succeed. We receive feedback from their team on how we can improve the gameplay and other elements. They’re a professional team and working with them has been a pleasure each time.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Having direct discussions with the artists would be good. This is the only improvement point I can give. They have the capacity to manage their members, so direct contact isn’t essential. The collaboration has improved with each project.