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How to Build a Live Service Game Roadmap That Actually Drives DAU

Mosteller Reginald

When you’re running a live-service game, your roadmap is your heartbeat. It’s not just a plan of “what features come next” — it’s the system that keeps your daily active users (DAU) engaged, your team aligned, and your revenue predictable. The challenge: how do you build a roadmap from scratch that’s flexible, transparent, and truly supports growth?

This guide breaks down the step-by-step process of creating a game roadmap — with a downloadable template (Notion/Sheets), and three real-world examples (F2P mobile, indie PC, and mid-core). We’ll cover metrics for prioritization, quarterly epics, LiveOps calendars, risks, and cross-team communication.

Why You Need a Live Service Roadmap

In a live product, chaos without structure is deadly. Without a roadmap, you risk:

  • Overloading devs with random feature requests.

  • Running out of LiveOps events, leading to DAU drops.

  • Misaligning with marketing or UA spend.

  • Forgetting player retention loops when chasing revenue.


A live service roadmap creates a single source of truth: everyone sees the same priorities, the same calendar, and the same risks.

Step 1. Define Metrics for Prioritization

Before you list features or events, decide what metrics matter most. These will guide what makes it onto the roadmap.

Typical live-service metrics:

  • Retention (D1/D7/D30): Will this update make players come back tomorrow?

  • DAU / WAU / MAU: Will this feature grow or stabilize the active base?

  • ARPDAU: Does it have clear monetization hooks?

  • Session length / frequency: Does it fit naturally into player habits?


👉 Pro tip: assign weights to these metrics in your planning template. Example: retention-focused features = 40%, monetization = 30%, UA support = 20%, quality-of-life = 10%.

This makes prioritization less political and more data-driven.

Step 2. Translate Metrics Into Quarterly Epics

A roadmap shouldn’t be a laundry list. Instead, break it down into quarterly epics: 2–4 big goals that connect directly to metrics.

Examples:

  • Q1 Epic (F2P Mobile): Improve D7 retention → launch progression system revamp + weekly event template.

  • Q2 Epic (Indie PC): Increase community stickiness → add modding tools + seasonal cosmetic drops.

  • Q3 Epic (Mid-Core): Boost ARPDAU → release mid-tier battle pass + first collab event.


Each epic contains smaller deliverables (features, events, systems), but the epic itself is what you communicate upward to stakeholders.

Step 3. Build a LiveOps Calendar

This is where most live-service roadmaps fail — they plan features, but forget events.

A good LiveOps calendar should show:

  • Recurring events: weekly challenges, login bonuses, seasonal promos.

  • One-off events: new season launches, collabs, expansions.

  • Monetization beats: battle pass launches, holiday bundles, limited-time skins.


👉 Think of your calendar as a rhythm: at least one minor beat per week and one major beat per month. Gaps kill DAU; overstuffing burns out both players and devs.

Our template includes a LiveOps calendar sheet you can duplicate and adjust by region or platform.

Step 4. Anticipate Risks Early

A roadmap isn’t just “what’s coming” — it’s also “what could go wrong.” Documenting risks helps your team stay realistic.

Common risks in game product planning:

  • Technical risk: new feature requires engine-level changes.

  • Content risk: art team bottleneck delays seasonal assets.

  • Player risk: untested monetization mechanic could backfire.

  • UA risk: roadmap doesn’t align with marketing beats.


In your roadmap doc, add a risk column with “likelihood × impact” scoring. It’s not fancy, but it saves you from nasty surprises.

Step 5. Communicate Across Teams

The roadmap fails if it only lives inside product’s head. You need structured communication with:

  • Art: share the LiveOps calendar 2–3 months ahead for asset prep.

  • Dev: lock sprint-level details only after quarterly epic approval.

  • UA/Marketing: align roadmap beats with campaign pushes (e.g., don’t launch your collab the same week as another game’s blockbuster drop).


👉 Tip: hold a monthly sync where each team lead reviews upcoming roadmap items. The roadmap should be a living doc, not a PDF lost in Slack.

3 Real-World Roadmap Examples

Here’s how this structure looks in different contexts:

Example 1: F2P Mobile Puzzle Game

  • Q1 Epic: Improve early retention → new onboarding funnel, daily streak rewards.

  • LiveOps Calendar: Weekly tournaments + monthly seasonal skins.

  • Risks: Limited art bandwidth for new assets.

  • Communication: Art + UA weekly sync to align on seasonal events.


Example 2: Indie PC Roguelike

  • Q2 Epic: Build community engagement → modding API + leaderboards.

  • LiveOps Calendar: Quarterly themed events tied to Steam sales.

  • Risks: Small team can’t handle frequent updates.

  • Communication: Devs focus on stability; marketing promotes mod contests.


Example 3: Mid-Core Strategy Game

  • Q3 Epic: Increase monetization depth → mid-tier battle pass + alliance events.

  • LiveOps Calendar: Bi-weekly PvP tournaments, summer collab event.

  • Risks: Balance issues in new PvP mode.

  • Communication: UA aligns collab with influencer pushes.


FAQ: Roadmaps in Live-Service Games

Q: How detailed should my roadmap be?
 A: Start with quarterly epics and monthly beats. Leave daily task planning to sprints.

Q: How often should I update it?
 A: Revisit monthly, reforecast quarterly. Live-service = constant iteration.

Q: What tool should I use?
 A: Notion, Sheets, or any shared doc that’s visible to all teams. Avoid private PM tools.

Q: What’s the #1 mistake?
 A: Ignoring LiveOps cadence. A feature without events is a ghost town.

Final Thoughts

A strong roadmap doesn’t guarantee success — but without one, your live-service game is running on fumes. By anchoring priorities in metrics, organizing around quarterly epics, keeping a steady LiveOps rhythm, mapping risks, and syncing across teams, you create a roadmap that truly sustains DAU.

Use the template, customize it for your team, and treat it as a living system. The games that thrive long-term aren’t the ones with the flashiest features — they’re the ones with the most consistent, player-focused roadmap.