Retention Reports | Game Industry Library

Progression is the primary driver for both retention and in-app spending, while 'pay-to-win' mechanics and poorly received updates are the leading causes of player churn.
53% of mobile spenders concentrate their financial investment on a single title, even though 77% of spenders rotate between two to seven games weekly.
RPGs are the most loyal genre with a 75/100 Loyalty Index score, driven by deep gameplay loops and compounding monetization systems.

MistplayJan 2023

The mobile app market reached a record half-trillion dollars in combined advertising and consumer spending in 2023, despite a 2% decline in consumer spending and a cooling of advertising growth to 14%.
Fintech in-app revenue surged by over 90% between late 2022 and early 2023, while e-commerce sessions grew by 12%.
After a difficult 2022 that saw a 12% decline in installs and a 9% drop in consumer spending, the mobile gaming sector showed early 2023 signs of recovery with a 10% increase in installs and an 11% rise in sessions.

AdjustJan 2023

India’s mobile gaming market is projected to reach a value of $8.6 billion by 2027, supported by a user base of over 600 million active players.
In-app purchase revenue in the Indian mobile gaming sector is forecasted to reach $284 billion by 2026.
Retention is critical for profitability, as acquiring new customers is five times more expensive than retaining existing ones.

AppsFlyerJan 2023

The mobile industry generated $170 billion in consumer spending and $288 billion in advertising expenditures during 2021.
Apple’s App Tracking Transparency framework saw a 25% global opt-in rate, exceeding initial industry expectations for resilience.
Fintech and gaming led installation growth at 35% and 32% respectively, while e-commerce downloads increased by 12%.

AdjustJan 2022

Mobile gaming remains the dominant sector, capturing 52% of total consumer spend and seeing a 32% increase in global installs.
The mobile economy reached record-breaking scale with $170 billion in consumer spending and $336 billion in projected ad spend.
Fintech experienced significant growth with a 34% rise in installs and 53% increase in sessions, though acquisition costs (eCPI) spiked from $1.05 to $3.40.

AppLovinJan 2022

Seasonal in-game events are a standard industry practice, utilized by 90% of the top 100 grossing mobile titles to drive player retention and monetization.
External brand collaborations are a major growth area, appearing in 42% of top US iOS games, 51% of top Chinese games, and 62% of top Japanese games.
Strategic event implementation can drive massive revenue spikes, such as Genshin Impact’s Lantern Rite event increasing daily revenue from $200,000 to over $1.25 million.

GameRefineryNov 2021

Monthly active users for the top 500 apps grew at a compound annual growth rate of 12 to 14 percent between 2018 and 2021, with the average top app adding 10 million users annually.
While pandemic-driven engagement spikes normalized by Q2 2021, overall usage metrics across iOS and Android remain higher than pre-pandemic levels.
Mid-core gaming genres like Strategy and RPG command the highest engagement, with users averaging one hour of play per day and showing a strong correlation between time spent and revenue per download.

Sensor TowerJan 2021

Mobile developers are shifting toward ad-based monetization, evidenced by a 15-20% year-over-year decline in ARPPU and ARPDAU across 100,000 analyzed titles.
Top-tier mobile titles require a Day 1 retention rate of 35% and a Day 28 retention rate of 4% to remain competitive, with industry leaders often demanding a 50% Day 1 rate to greenlight projects.
Strategy and Role-Playing Games remain the highest revenue generators, while hyper-casual games rely on advertising models supported by a median eCPM of approximately $5.00.

GameAnalyticsJan 2019

Gaming apps dominate the mobile market, generating 74% of total app store revenue despite rising user acquisition costs that average $35.42 per paying user.
Android provides a more cost-effective reach for user acquisition compared to iOS, with the third quarter identified as the optimal period for high conversion rates and lower acquisition costs.
North America, Japan, and South Korea remain the most expensive regions for acquisition but offer the highest long-term retention and in-app purchase revenue.

NewzooJan 2019