In-Game Advertising reports and market data
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How Build Away! integrates rewarded video ads
The idle mobile game Build Away, developed by Helsinki-based studio Futureplay, serves as a case study for the integration of rewarded video advertising as a primary monetization strategy.
- Futureplay’s Build Away! utilizes rewarded video ads as its primary monetization strategy rather than relying on traditional direct in-app purchases.
- The game’s core loop incentivizes ad consumption by offering players tangible benefits, such as doubling offline earnings, accelerating production timers, and extending resource delivery windows.
- The design prioritizes a low-friction, minimalist experience to achieve the massive user scale necessary to make an ad-supported revenue model lucrative.
Rewarded video ads in Pele Soccer Legend
Pele Soccer Legend utilizes rewarded video advertisements as a primary monetization strategy within its free-to-play mobile framework.
- Pele Soccer Legend monetizes its free-to-play model by integrating rewarded video ads into both macro-level energy management and micro-level mission mechanics.
- The game uses a heart-based energy system that allows players to replenish depleted energy by watching rewarded videos, providing a non-monetary alternative to waiting or spending currency.
- Rewarded ads are embedded directly into core gameplay, offering players additional kicks or level restarts after a failure to reduce friction and maintain session length.
How Leap Day integrates rewarded video ads
Leap Day, developed by the London-based studio Nitrome, serves as a case study in utilizing daily content updates and rewarded video advertising to drive player retention in mobile gaming.
- Nitrome utilizes a daily content cadence in Leap Day, where levels reset every 24 hours to establish a consistent habit loop and reduce player churn.
- The game employs an opt-in rewarded video model that allows players to bypass in-game currency requirements for unlocking checkpoints or accessing past levels.
- The core retention strategy relies on time-gated, fresh content to prevent the player fatigue typically associated with static mobile gaming titles.
Rewarded video ads in RAID HQ
Eight Pixels Square utilizes rewarded video advertisements within the free-to-play shooter RAID HQ to enhance player progression and resource acquisition.
- Eight Pixels Square integrated rewarded video ads into RAID HQ to create a value-exchange model where players trade time for tangible in-game progression.
- Players can choose to watch an ad to reduce base upgrade timers by ten minutes, directly impacting the game's metagame development loop.
- The game offers a ten percent gold reward boost for combat missions if the player opts to watch an advertisement before starting the mission.
How not to integrate video ads - part 2
Poorly executed ad integration strategies significantly degrade the user experience in mobile gaming, particularly when developers fail to distinguish between rewarded video ads and intrusive, forced interstitials.
- Forced, non-rewarded interstitial ads triggered immediately upon player failure disrupt gameplay flow and negatively impact user retention.
- Effective monetization requires a value-exchange model, such as rewarded video ads that offer players tangible progress or in-game currency in return for their time.
- Technical implementation failures, such as displaying landscape-oriented ads within a portrait-mode interface, degrade the professional quality of the user experience.
How not to integrate rewarded video ads
Effective monetization in free-to-play mobile games relies on the seamless integration of rewarded video ads, which serve as a critical indirect revenue stream.
- Rewarded video ads should be strategically placed as a 'continue' mechanic to leverage a player's desire to extend their gameplay session, rather than being limited to small currency rewards.
- Forcing intrusive, non-opt-in ads immediately after a user has engaged with a voluntary rewarded video creates a negative experience that undermines the value of the rewarded ad.
- Poorly executed ad integration risks damaging long-term user retention, even in games that feature high-quality mechanics and robust upgrade systems.
Rewarded video ads in Angry Birds 2
Rewarded video advertising serves as a critical monetization strategy in free-to-play mobile gaming, specifically within titles like Angry Birds 2.
- Rewarded video ads monetize the 95% to 97% of players who do not engage in direct in-app purchases.
- The model functions by offering players a choice between spending hard currency or watching a promotional video to bypass level failure.
- Developers maintain game economy integrity by implementing scarcity, limiting the number of times a player can use video rewards before requiring hard currency or accepting failure.
Rewarded video ads in Train Conductor World
Rewarded video advertising has emerged as a primary monetization strategy within the mobile free-to-play sector, offering a mutually beneficial ecosystem for developers, advertisers, and players.
- Rewarded video ads serve as a primary monetization strategy in mobile free-to-play games by providing a mutually beneficial exchange between developer revenue and player utility.
- Reactive reward integrations improve player retention by allowing users to recover from gameplay mistakes, such as continuing a mission after a failure.
- Proactive reward integrations offer players currency or items in exchange for viewing promotional content, functioning as a low-friction alternative to traditional banner ads.
Monetizer: Mobile Strike
Mobile Strike, developed by Machine Zone, represents a highly aggressive and successful model of mobile game monetization.
- Machine Zone’s Mobile Strike prioritizes an aggressive, data-driven monetization model over high-fidelity graphics or skill-based gameplay to secure its position as a top-grossing title in the North American market.
- The game’s economic structure relies on time-limited retail offers, countdown-driven sales, and complex currency systems designed to incentivize monthly spending that can reach hundreds or thousands of dollars per player.
- Monetization is driven by an alliance-based social architecture where individual microtransactions provide collective benefits, effectively leveraging peer influence to increase player spending.
Next Games' top tips for making money from incentivised video ads
Next Games’ strategy for monetizing the mobile title Compass Point: West centers on the effective integration of incentivized video advertisements.
- Integrating incentivized video ads as a core game feature in 'Compass Point: West' resulted in 75% of daily active users watching at least one ad, generating $0.06 in ARPDAU from ad inventory alone.
- A/B testing revealed that players exposed to incentivized ads showed a 20% increase in repeat purchases and a 15% higher conversion rate compared to non-exposed players.
- Next Games successfully incentivized non-paying users by offering rewards valued at approximately $0.30 in exchange for 15 seconds of engagement.
How Farm Away neatly integrates incent video ads
Incentivized video advertising has emerged as a primary monetization strategy for free-to-play mobile games, effectively balancing developer revenue goals with player experience.
- Futureplay’s Farm Away integrates incentivized video ads directly into core gameplay loops, allowing players to exchange ad views for tangible benefits like temporary gold production multipliers.
- This monetization model replaces intrusive banner or interstitial ads with a value-exchange system that prioritizes player experience and retention.
- The game utilizes a dual-monetization strategy that successfully balances traditional in-app purchases with voluntary, short-form video advertising.
Monetizer: The Walking Dead: No Man's Land
The Walking Dead: No Man's Land, developed by Next Games, utilizes a hybrid monetization model common in mobile strategy and RPG titles.
- The Walking Dead: No Man's Land, developed by Next Games, maintains a consistent position within the top 50 grossing mobile charts in major markets like the United States.
- The game utilizes a hybrid monetization model that pairs traditional time-gating for base-building and survivor training with hard currency (gold) bypass options.
- Revenue is driven by a tiered currency purchasing structure and starter bundles that provide immediate utility, such as legendary equipment and additional squad slots.