My retention statistics indicate the following. Videos with options menu discussion later on have slower dropoff rates for viewers than those that are frontloaded with options menu discussion. This also takes into account those that used the skip options button. My conclusion has a few facets. Firstly, engaging the viewer immediately with something visually and aurally compelling is important to maintaining interest. There will always be an immediate drop in retention statistics regardless of what you do but that drop can be mitigated. The first 30 seconds must be engaging and concise and within the next few minutes, it is beneficial to begin gameplay. Secondly, presenting the options menu later on during gameplay gives vital context to said options menu.



Discussing things like gameplay options before showing the gameplay is counterintuitive when dealing with a very visual medium. Show, then tell. Thirdly, those who are uninterested in the gameplay have no reason to be interested in the options menu, ergo it makes sense to give them a taste of the gameplay first. Lastly, those who are interested in the gameplay are likely to watch more of the video than those who are not, so by the time I speak about performance and options, those remaining will be those that are engaged in watching the whole thing.



As it stands I have not seen strong counter-arguments to the notion of changing it back and I've even seen some compelling ideas involving jumping into gameplay within the first 30 seconds and doing my opening spiel, developer history and game abstract over actual gameplay rather than the title screen. I intend to experiment with that next and further monitor retention rates.



Thanks for your feedback, I will continue detailed options and performance discussion and will provide a "skip to options" button for those who are purely interested in performance related discussion and already know whether or not the gameplay will be for them.