Game Design reports and market data
3,357 documents·56 writers·968 charts and tables
Documents
Two & a Half Gamers43 min
two & a half gamers session #48 - Could Frozen City earn 80% more revenue? Full UA, Admon, GD review
Frozen City has established a strong market presence as a mobile survival city-builder, achieving significant daily in-app purchase revenue of approximately $130,000.
- Frozen City generates approximately $130,000 in daily in-app purchase revenue but is under-monetizing its ad inventory, which currently contributes only 15% of total income.
- Implementing aggressive, user-tailored ad placements—such as resource boosts, time-skipping mechanics, and welcome-back multipliers—could increase monthly revenue by several million dollars.
- A simple technical update to the ads.txt file represents an immediate, low-effort opportunity to capture a 5–10% uplift in ad revenue.
Two & a Half GamersMay 2024
Two & a Half Gamers50 min
two & a half gamers session #46 - Deconstruction of App businesses from UA, GD & Admon perspective
The mobile application landscape is undergoing a significant transformation as non-gaming apps increasingly adopt the rigorous monetization and design frameworks traditionally reserved for casual mobile games.
- Non-gaming apps are increasingly adopting gaming-centric monetization frameworks, such as gacha systems and streak-based retention loops, to drive daily engagement and increase lifetime value.
- Developers should implement a hybrid revenue model that combines subscription tiers with rewarded video units to capture additional revenue without degrading the core user experience.
- To maximize eCPMs, non-gaming apps should integrate gaming-specific demand sources like AppLovin and Unity while using interstitial ad floors to safeguard long-term retention.
Two & a Half GamersMay 2024
Two & a Half Gamers50 min
two & a half gamers session #44 - New creative strategy from CN, UA winner of 2022, games update
The mobile gaming industry is currently defined by a tension between aggressive, often ethically questionable creative strategies and the necessity of data-driven user acquisition.
- TikTok has emerged as the top-performing acquisition channel for 2022, consistently delivering lower costs per install and higher returns on ad spend compared to traditional platforms like Facebook and Google.
- Top-tier titles such as Survivor.io and Goddess of Victory: Nikke are driving revenue through sophisticated live-ops and event-driven spikes, while Marvel Snap utilizes progression-based bundles to maintain monetization.
- The industry is shifting toward more direct sales of power and progression to stabilize revenue streams amidst a broader move toward diversifying user acquisition channels.
Two & a Half GamersMay 2024
Two & a Half Gamers51 min
two & a half gamers session #42 - Sexist ads admon side, Gold & Goblins full UA, Admon, GD review
The mobile gaming industry faces a persistent tension between maximizing advertising revenue and maintaining brand safety, particularly regarding the prevalence of sexist or inappropriate ad creatives.
- Gold & Goblins achieves strong long-term retention in the idle genre, with Day 7 retention exceeding 25% and Day 30 retention reaching approximately 18% on Android.
- The title generates 50% to 55% of its total revenue through ad monetization, utilizing non-intrusive mechanics like dynamic barrels and spin-the-wheel features.
- Gold & Goblins maintains its market position by spending between $1 million and $2 million monthly on user acquisition.
Two & a Half GamersMay 2024
Two & a Half Gamers64 min
two & a half gamers session #39 - How to do a game review? Rush Royale full UA, GD, Admon analysis
Conducting a comprehensive game product review requires a multifaceted approach that integrates user acquisition, game design, and monetization strategies to evaluate a title’s market viability.
- Rush Royale generates approximately $1.7 million in monthly revenue from ads, accounting for roughly 30% of its total earnings.
- The game utilizes a localized ad network strategy, leveraging MyTarget for CIS markets and Pangle for Asian regions to maximize monetization.
- User acquisition for Rush Royale is driven by major networks including Unity, Facebook, and Google, utilizing gameplay-altered creatives to effectively capture target audiences.
Two & a Half GamersMay 2024
Two & a Half Gamers43 min
two & a half gamers session #38 - Q4 Admon pro tips, Survivor.io clone Heroes vs. Hordes, TikTok SPC
Optimizing mobile game revenue during the Q4 holiday season requires a dual focus on technical infrastructure and tactical creative adjustments.
- Q4, specifically Black Friday and Christmas, represents the peak eCPM season, requiring ad monetization managers to lock down all waterfall placements by November 20th to ensure each placement fills at or near 1% while generating at least 1% of total ad revenue.
- Seasonal store assets like holiday-themed icons can significantly harm organic performance; one case study showed daily downloads dropping from 50,000 to 10,000 after a Christmas icon change, with traffic only recovering after reverting to the original icon in mid-January.
- TikTok's Smart Performance Campaigns (SPC) are currently yielding higher quality users at a cost four times lower than equivalent campaigns on Facebook, making them a priority for UA managers focusing on CPI optimization.
Two & a Half GamersMay 2024
Two & a Half Gamers50 min
two & a half gamers session #37 - Marvel Snap global launch case study UA, GD, Admon view
Marvel Snap represents a significant case study in the tension between high-quality game design and inefficient mobile marketing execution.
- Marvel Snap's decision to exclude rewarded ads likely cost the developers approximately $250,000 in additional revenue during the initial launch period, representing a 14% loss compared to their actual in-app purchase (IAP) revenue.
- The game's marketing team appears under-resourced for mobile UA, with a heavy AAA/console focus that neglects critical mobile-first operations such as custom ad placements and vertical video formats for social platforms.
- The UA strategy suffers from poor network optimization; because the game features cards, ad algorithms (such as Unity and IronSource) are incorrectly categorizing it as a classic card game, leading to inefficient traffic targeting.
Two & a Half GamersMay 2024
Two & a Half Gamers47 min
two & a half gamers session #35 - Charge Champions in SL, Facebook UA tech checklist, Amplify update
The mobile gaming industry is currently navigating a period of growth deceleration, necessitating a strategic pivot toward diversified monetization models that extend beyond traditional in-app purchases and standard advertising.
- AppLovin is introducing branding demand into its exchange, which typically offers lower eCPMs than performance-based gaming ads but provides a new revenue stream as mobile games scale as a supply pool.
- Implementing 'app open' ads—ads displayed immediately upon launching an app—can yield a 10% uplift in ad revenue when managed with high price floors to protect user retention.
- AppLovin’s 'Vessel' is a new SDK-based marketplace and wallet that allows developers to integrate NFTs into their games, enabling users to buy, sell, trade, or convert in-game assets to cash.
Two & a Half GamersMay 2024
Two & a Half Gamers44 min
two & a half gamers session #30 - survivor.io global launch case study UA, GD, Admon view
Survivor.io represents a significant evolution in mobile gaming, successfully refining the established Archero formula into a faster, action-oriented experience.
- Survivor.io generates between $1 million and $1.5 million in daily revenue by refining the Archero formula into a faster, action-oriented experience.
- The developer sustains daily install volumes of 400,000 to 600,000 by utilizing aggressive, zombie-themed creative assets on platforms like TikTok and IronSource.
- Current daily ad revenue outside of China ranges from $60,000 to $90,000, with potential to reach $250,000 through optimized rewarded ad placements.
Two & a Half GamersMay 2024
Two & a Half Gamers49 min
two & a half gamers session #23 - How to do a proper game performance audit? UA, Admon & GD
Conducting a comprehensive game performance audit requires a holistic evaluation that integrates team capabilities, production processes, and technical execution.
- A proper game performance audit should be categorized into three pillars: the team's production capabilities, the game's design and monetization strategy, and the technical health of UA and Admon.
- Ad monetization audits must prioritize a 'sandwich' waterfall structure; failing to place competitive networks between price points allows bidders to lower their payouts because they no longer face pressure from higher-bidding alternatives.
- Fill rates below 97% are considered unacceptable; if fill is low, developers should add more ad networks or implement a backfill placement to ensure every ad request is monetized.
Two & a Half GamersMay 2024
Two & a Half Gamers51 min
two & a half gamers session #19 - The King info Leak, 5 Game design tips to level up your game
Large-scale mobile game developers often face significant operational inefficiencies when attempting to build proprietary infrastructure, particularly in ad mediation.
- King's global average eCPM for ad monetization is approximately $16, aligning closely with industry estimates of $17.
- Building proprietary ad mediation platforms is generally inefficient for game studios, as specialized providers like IronSource and AppLovin maintain superior infrastructure and scale.
- Effective game session design requires balancing resource demand with player acquisition to create necessary 'deficiencies' that incentivize spending.
Two & a Half GamersMay 2024
Two & a Half Gamers70 min
two & a half gamers session #18 - How could King make 30% more revenue? Full UA, GD & Ads analysis!
King maintains a dominant position in the global mobile gaming market, anchored by the enduring success of the Candy Crush franchise.
- King could increase its annual ad revenue by approximately $22 million, a 30% boost, by transitioning from direct-contract negotiations to an open-market programmatic mediation model.
- King generates $2.5 billion in annual revenue primarily through its Candy Crush franchise, which is supported by a massive library of over 11,000 levels.
- Internal innovation efforts outside of King's core match-three expertise, including forays into endless runners, narrative-driven restoration, and midcore RPGs, have failed to achieve long-term sustainability.
Two & a Half GamersMay 2024