Marketing reports and market data
Documents
How to acquire two-times more paying users by partnering with mobile operators
Mobile network operators represent a significant, underutilized channel for game developers seeking to acquire high-value users, particularly in regions with low credit card penetration.
- Mobile network operators provide access to a global base of five billion subscribers, offering a high-value acquisition channel that bypasses traditional credit card barriers.
- In-app purchases typically generate five times more revenue than in-app advertising, making the acquisition of users with proven mobile payment histories a superior ROI strategy.
- Targeting high-spending segments through operator-verified data—such as users who have registered a payment method but have not yet transacted—significantly improves conversion rates.
Understand the complete mobile user journey – Attract brands in your games, drive revenue
Mobile game developers often struggle to maximize revenue and user engagement because they lack visibility into the 99% of user activity that occurs outside their specific applications.
- Developers can move beyond performance-based ad networks by using first-party mobile journey data to profile users based on their broader digital behavior, including browsing habits and cross-platform engagement.
- Accessing data on the 'App Universe' allows developers to prove audience value to major consumer goods and technology brands, enabling a shift toward higher-value brand campaigns that improve ad relevance.
- Developers must move away from simplistic 'accept all' consent buttons to implement robust, transparent consent management platforms that allow users to opt out, access, or delete their data to ensure GDPR compliance.
SpeedPanel: Ad monetisation takes over the world
The panel discussion at Pocket Gamer Connects London 2019 explores the rapid evolution of mobile game monetization, specifically the shift toward integrating ad-based revenue alongside traditional in-app purchases.
- Ad monetization has evolved from a secondary revenue stream into a core, data-driven product feature essential for scalable user acquisition.
- Developers should prioritize rewarded videos and non-intrusive ad formats, as these implementations can improve player retention rather than detracting from the user experience.
- The industry is shifting toward bid-based mediation, which increases efficiency but requires greater technical sophistication from development studios.
App search marketing – How to conquer this new frontier
App search marketing (ASM) has emerged as a critical frontier for mobile application growth, driven by the fact that approximately 65% of all app downloads originate from store searches.
- Approximately 65% of all mobile app downloads originate from store searches, making search visibility the primary driver of growth.
- Developers must integrate organic App Store Optimization (ASO) with paid search strategies like Apple Search Ads and Google Universal App Campaigns to maintain market share.
- Paid search spend creates a feedback loop by generating initial downloads, which signals relevance to store algorithms and improves organic keyword rankings over time.
Games as Ikea – A service design approach to in-game marketing
The primary objective of this analysis is to apply service design principles—modeled after the retail strategy of IKEA—to optimize in-game marketing and user retention in mobile gaming.
- Transitioning from an opt-in to an opt-out navigation model via an 'event lobby' showroom increased event participation by 88%, in-app purchases by 56%, and ad engagement by 129%.
- Mobile game 'Drive Ahead' identified a 'bazaar' problem where content abundance caused decision paralysis, leading 80% of players to repeat previous modes and 74% of classic mode users to never explore other content.
- Applying the 'peak-end rule'—placing high-reward, short-duration events early in a session and ensuring satisfying conclusions—improves the overall player perception of the gameplay experience.
Marketing after the feature
The marketing of mobile games requires a proactive, long-term strategy that extends well beyond the initial launch window.
- Platform featuring should be treated as a growth catalyst rather than a substitute for sustained marketing, as it provides a significant initial user influx but has limited long-term impact on organic growth.
- Success in securing features requires months of preparation, including early communication with platform representatives and the presentation of data-backed performance trends from soft launches.
- Developers must maintain a deep, ongoing content roadmap to satisfy the rapid consumption habits of high-tier players acquired through featuring, as a lack of content diminishes the value of the opportunity.
Players Are People Too
Long-term success in the gaming industry depends on shifting the developer-player dynamic from a transactional relationship to a partnership.
- Studios can achieve long-term success by shifting from transactional player relationships to a partnership model that treats users as human beings rather than data points.
- The turnaround of the legacy title YoWorld demonstrates that prioritizing user-generated content and community feedback can effectively reverse product decline.
- Development priorities should be determined by synthesizing subjective community feedback with objective metrics like sales figures and participation rates to avoid relying on biased assumptions.
Trends to Watch in 2019: Five Developments Transforming the Esports Market
The esports market is undergoing a significant maturation process, transitioning from a digital-first niche into a multifaceted entertainment industry.
- The global esports market reached a valuation of $1.1 billion in 2019, supported by a total audience of 453.8 million people.
- Esports is shifting from a digital-only model toward physical, location-based infrastructure, with significant government-backed investment in esports hubs and PC cafes occurring in China.
- Organizations are diversifying revenue by balancing traditional sponsorships and media rights with direct-to-consumer models like micro-transactions and premium content subscriptions.
Zorka.Mobi on why influencer marketing is no longer a trend, but a business
Influencer marketing has transitioned from a fleeting industry trend into a foundational business pillar for user acquisition in the gaming sector.
- Influencer marketing has evolved from a trend into a core business pillar for game user acquisition, requiring data-driven strategies to ensure predictable ROI.
- Agencies now utilize databases containing over 300,000 channels to match game profiles with creators, allowing for precise targeting based on player personas, age, and geography.
- Testing campaigns with smaller channels before scaling is a critical methodology for refining audience targeting and discovering non-obvious verticals, such as finding FPS players within automotive-focused content.
Too Soon?!? - The Challenges of Early Builds and Game Demos - Extra Credits
The game development process is frequently misunderstood by the public, particularly regarding the state of a project during its production cycle.
- Game development is characterized by a fluid, incomplete state where core components are frequently missing or subject to total removal until the final stages of production.
- Early trailers and promotional materials often consist of isolated, temporary assets rather than a functional, unified game, creating a disconnect between public perception and the actual state of development.
- Creating playable demos for industry events like E3 forces developers to divert resources toward temporary hacks and workarounds that are discarded immediately after the event, hindering core progress.
No Booth, No Problem: Showcasing Your Game on the Go
Independent developers can achieve significant marketing and networking objectives at industry conferences without the prohibitive costs and logistical burdens of maintaining a physical booth.
- Independent developers can achieve marketing and networking goals at conferences without the high costs of a physical booth by utilizing a mobile, active engagement strategy.
- Success requires a specialized conference build optimized for a concise, high-quality play experience lasting between five and ten minutes.
- Developers should prioritize direct, proactive networking by engaging with attendees in lines or approaching press and influencers at other booths.
5 MISTAKES I Made When I Started Making Games
Independent game development requires a shift in mindset from short-term gratification to long-term sustainability.
- Prioritize clean coding and strategic asset organization from the start to prevent the long-term technical debt caused by disorganized, duct-taped workflows.
- Avoid impulsive feature creep by documenting new ideas in a roadmap and evaluating them against the project's core vision rather than integrating them immediately.
- Treat game development as a professional product rather than an extension of personal identity to minimize the emotional paralysis and anxiety associated with the fear of failure.