Two & a Half Gamers Session #15: UA for Beginners

The mobile gaming landscape in early 2022 faced significant headwinds, marked by the first-ever recorded decrease in quarterly revenue and a decline in the value of closed mergers and acquisitions despite high deal volume. Within this volatile environment, user acquisition serves as a critical strategic pillar rather than a secondary marketing function. Effective user acquisition begins long before a game is built, utilizing marketability tests and creative analysis to validate concepts and identify key performance indicators. While technical stages focus on retention metrics, the transition to scaling requires a nuanced understanding of budget allocation and the realization that proxy events often fail to reflect reality in live operations.

Successful scaling depends on leveraging soft launch data to inform global launch assumptions and utilizing diverse optimization methods, such as Purchase or AdROAS, depending on the game’s monetization model. A common pitfall in the industry is the over-reliance on a single advertising channel; developers are cautioned against killing a project based on limited channel performance. Furthermore, the industry must contend with several persistent myths, most notably the false belief that user acquisition can save a fundamentally flawed game or that a high-quality game can achieve sustainable success without any paid acquisition strategy.

The analysis emphasizes that user acquisition is rarely the sole reason for a game’s failure, as performance is inextricably linked to core product metrics. By identifying "golden cohorts" and implementing specific creative tricks, developers can improve marketability, but these efforts cannot compensate for poor retention or monetization loops. As the industry explores new frontiers like advertising in the metaverse, the fundamental principles of data-driven soft launches and rigorous KPI monitoring remain the primary drivers of profitable growth in the mobile sector.