Game teams have benchmarks for most of the FTUE. Tutorial completion, progression, drop-off, and D1 retention all come with numbers to compare against. How engaging the first session is for players has had nothing like that, so teams judge it by eye, one playtest at a time.

The FTUE Benchmarks Report gives teams that reference point. It analyzes 7,600+ clips of first-session play across 22 games. Every second was labeled engaged, neutral, or bored, based on each player’s attention and emotional response.

What’s in the report:

• How engagement builds over the first 10 minutes, minute by minute

• How engagement changes in the final minutes before players stop

• 11 types of FTUE moment, from core gameplay to loading screens, ranked by how much they engage players

• How much of a typical first session players spend bored

• Puzzle, action and strategy, and simulation games compared side by side

• Three practical steps for designing your first session

Players are engaged for 68.2% of core gameplay and 58.9% of a typical tutorial. During cutscenes and intros, that falls to 23.4%.

The report is free. Enter your email to get your copy and see how your own game compares.