Mobile reports and market data
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The future of the Chinese mobile games industry
The Chinese mobile games industry is currently undergoing a significant transition characterized by a maturing user base of 600 million players and a shift toward high-quality, experience-driven titles.
- The Chinese mobile gaming market has matured to a base of 600 million players, shifting from data-driven titles toward high-quality, narrative-heavy, and experience-focused content.
- Regulatory hurdles remain significant, requiring developers to adhere to strict ethical and cultural standards and navigate a rigorous, government-controlled licensing process.
- To mitigate domestic regulatory risks and navigate complex licensing requirements, Chinese developers are increasingly prioritizing expansion into global markets.
What do movie directors, motorcyclists and historians know about making games?
The game industry often suffers from an insular perspective, functioning like a closed ecosystem that limits creative potential by relying solely on internal references.
- Game studios should integrate external creative disciplines like film, literature, and art to break free from insular industry tropes and enhance the emotional depth of their products.
- Designers can improve narrative and thematic communication by adopting techniques from classic cinema and religious art, such as using lighting and composition to convey moral stakes rather than relying solely on binary win-loss mechanics.
- Developers should re-evaluate player engagement strategies by studying the meditative qualities of wellness applications, acknowledging that many users seek relaxation rather than competitive achievement.
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.
Debunking header bidding in mobile apps
The mobile advertising industry is currently navigating a transition toward header bidding, a technology designed to increase publisher revenue by enabling real-time, competitive auctions for ad impressions.
- Header bidding is designed to increase publisher revenue and eCPM rates by enabling real-time, competitive auctions for ad impressions.
- Adoption of header bidding remains slow as publishers prioritize the stability of established waterfall mediation models over the technical complexity of new implementations.
- The industry is trending toward a hybrid model for large-scale publishers, which combines existing mediation systems with header bidding to maintain revenue stability during the transition.
Understanding game genre for smarter monetisation
Effective game monetization requires a tailored strategy that aligns with the specific genre, user behavior, and lifecycle of a title.
- Monetization strategy must align with genre-specific lifecycles, ranging from the short seven-day profitability window of hyper-casual games to the 180 to 360-day lifetime value (LTV) focus of mid-core titles.
- Hyper-casual games rely on high-frequency ad impressions and low acquisition costs to achieve profitability, whereas mid-core titles require a hybrid economy balancing in-app purchases (IAP) with ad revenue.
- Machine learning algorithms can now dynamically choose between serving a rewarded ad or an IAP promotional offer based on individual player data and purchase history to maximize conversion.
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.
Hypercasual monetisation versus long-term retention monetisation
The mobile gaming industry faces a fundamental strategic divide between hypercasual models, which prioritize rapid, ad-driven revenue within the first 48 hours of engagement, and premium, long-term titles that focus on sustained intellectual property value and player retention.
- Hypercasual games prioritize immediate, ad-driven revenue within the first 48 hours of engagement, whereas long-term titles focus on sustained player retention and intellectual property value.
- The industry is shifting away from intrusive 30-second television-style ads, which contribute to user churn and ad fatigue, in favor of shorter, native, and more varied ad experiences.
- Developers are increasingly integrating non-gaming brands into their titles to diversify revenue streams while preserving the integrity of the user experience.
Fireside Chat: Growing your business through consolidation – The Stillfront Group story
Stillfront Group operates as a gaming conglomerate focused on acquiring and scaling independent game studios through a decentralized model.
- Stillfront Group utilizes a decentralized acquisition model to scale independent studios by providing centralized access to capital, cross-platform expertise, and a collective user base of approximately 500 million registered users.
- Investment decisions are governed by a strict performance marketing model that mandates all user acquisition spending must be recouped within a 180-day window.
- The group targets profitable, long-lived products and experienced management teams rather than distressed assets, focusing on a portfolio that currently exceeds 30 products.
Lifetime value forecast – How to predict your game's revenue
Lifetime Value (LTV) serves as a foundational metric for mobile game developers, enabling them to determine sustainable customer acquisition costs and identify the most profitable traffic sources.
- A sustainable mobile game business model requires the Lifetime Value (LTV) of a user to exceed the customer acquisition cost by a factor of at least three.
- LTV is a composite metric derived from three core variables: user retention, payment share, and average revenue per user (ARPU).
- Predictive modeling is necessary for real-time strategy because waiting for a user cohort to fully churn is impractical for business decision-making.
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.
Why go hypercasual?
Hyper-casual gaming represents a highly lucrative and accessible sector of the mobile industry, characterized by simple, intuitive mechanics that require no explanation for the player.
- Hyper-casual games prioritize high-volume ad monetization over the traditional 'whale' model, targeting a massive user base to generate revenue.
- The 'fail fast' methodology dictates that prototypes must be built in under three months, with concepts abandoned if they fail to show strong metrics during soft launches of 2,000 to 5,000 users.
- Success depends on rigorous post-launch support and continuous content iteration, which can allow titles to maintain top-chart rankings for years despite the genre's reputation for short lifespans.