Monetization reports and market data
Documents
Games Marketing Insights for 2021
The 2021 Games Marketing Insights report, presented by Facebook, analyzes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mobile gaming landscape, focusing on shifting consumer behaviors, monetization trends, and the growing importance of community.
- Community engagement is now a primary driver for retention, evidenced by a 91.8% year-over-year increase in live streaming viewing hours, which reached 7.46 billion hours between July and September 2020.
- The pandemic attracted a new cohort of younger mobile gamers who demonstrate a higher propensity for in-game spending compared to existing players.
- While existing players increased their average weekly playtime by 1.5 hours, their overall in-game spending decreased, signaling a need for developers to shift toward mixed monetization models combining in-app purchases and ad-supported experiences.
The Future of Mobile Game Monetisation - A New Revenue Stream to Your Games with In-play Brand Ads
Mobile game monetization is undergoing a strategic evolution, shifting away from disruptive ad formats toward seamless, integrated experiences that preserve player retention.
- Mobile game revenue is currently heavily skewed toward in-app purchases, which account for 90% of total earnings compared to only 10% from advertising.
- The in-play brand advertising market is projected to reach a billion-dollar valuation as the industry shifts toward non-intrusive, integrated ad formats.
- New 'Seamless In-Play' and 'Seamless In-Menu' formats allow developers to embed ads into virtual environments, such as billboards, without forcing users to exit the app.
#ElevateYourGame: How Impression-level Data Can Take Your Game to the Next Level
Mobile game developers are increasingly leveraging impression-level revenue data to transition from aggregate performance metrics to precise, user-centric optimization.
- Integrating impression-level revenue data allows developers to forecast long-term lifetime value within one week of installation, enabling faster user acquisition decisions.
- Adopting granular, user-centric revenue attribution has been shown to yield a 15 percent increase in incremental return on ad spend (ROAS).
- Studios are shifting from manual waterfall management to real-time bidding systems to capture monetization efficiency that traditional processes often overlook.
What Successful Product Managers Do Differently in Free-to-Play Games
Successful product managers in the free-to-play mobile gaming industry distinguish themselves by mastering five core competencies that bridge the gap between creative design and business performance.
- Successful product managers own the business side of a game by prioritizing metrics like LTV, retention, and monetization to balance the internal tension between CPI and LTV.
- Product managers can drive significant revenue growth through minor data tweaks; for example, allowing players to repeat events in Angry Birds Match increased baseline revenue by 20% without requiring engineering-heavy updates.
- When data is insufficient to justify a major feature, successful product managers use storytelling to sell the vision to leadership, such as when Clash of Clans successfully entered the Japanese market through culturalization and local partnerships despite a lack of initial localized data.
My intern's first game is JUST A DOLLAR. Too low or too high? Let's find out.
The commercial indie title Lost Caves serves as a compelling case study for the viability of the one-dollar price point in the modern digital marketplace.
- A one-dollar price point can be a viable commercial strategy for indie titles when the developer prioritizes high-quality game feel, precise controls, and atmospheric design.
- Solo developers can maximize limited budgets by using cost-efficient techniques like shifting color palettes and varied sprites to create environmental depth.
- Maintaining player engagement requires the developer to act as a psychologist, carefully pacing the introduction of new challenges to mitigate boredom and sustain momentum.
Don't Call Them Whales: F2P Spenders and Virtual Value
The free-to-play gaming industry is defined by a consistent revenue model where approximately 2% of the user base generates between 75% and 85% of total income.
- Approximately 2% of a free-to-play game's user base generates between 75% and 85% of total revenue.
- High-spending players are typically older, affluent professionals who view their in-game purchases as rational investments in a hobby rather than impulsive or compulsive behavior.
- Spending patterns among top users are consistent and long-term, mirroring the financial habits of enthusiasts in traditional hobbies like golf or music collecting.
Playtika IPO | Future for The Leader in Mobile Social Casino
Playtika’s initial public offering, which established an $11 billion valuation, reflects investor confidence in the company’s sophisticated, data-driven approach to the social casino market.
- Playtika achieved an $11 billion valuation by applying a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model to the social casino market, prioritizing operational optimization over new title development.
- The company’s growth is heavily dependent on mergers and acquisitions due to stalled organic growth and a lack of a proven track record for internal game development.
- Recent financial performance shows signs of stagnation, characterized by sequential revenue declines and challenging year-over-year comparisons.
Mobile Ad Revenue in 2021
The mobile gaming industry is undergoing a fundamental transformation in 2021, driven primarily by the deprecation of the Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA).
- The deprecation of the Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) in 2021 has triggered a market shock, with experts projecting CPM declines ranging from 30% to 50%.
- Publishers are shifting away from traditional waterfall mechanisms toward unified, real-time bidding to improve monetization efficiency and reduce latency in a post-IDFA environment.
- To mitigate the loss of granular tracking, the industry is pivoting toward contextual targeting, machine learning, and non-identifying data points to maintain ad performance.
Gaming Spotlight: 2021 Review
The 2021 Gaming Spotlight provides a comprehensive analysis of the global digital gaming landscape, emphasizing the dominance of mobile gaming and the increasing integration of cross-platform experiences.
- Mobile gaming is the primary industry growth driver, with its global lead over home consoles projected to reach 3.1x by the end of 2021.
- Mobile game downloads and consumer spending in Q1 2021 rose by 30% and 40% respectively compared to pre-pandemic levels in late 2019.
- Cross-platform integration is essential for scale and engagement, as evidenced by the success of titles like Roblox and Genshin Impact across mobile, PC, and console.
Audio Ad Engagement in Mobile Games
This analysis examines the efficacy of in-game audio advertising as a non-intrusive alternative to traditional video and banner formats within the mobile gaming industry.
- Audio ads achieve a click-through rate (CTR) of approximately one click per 1.4 listens, vastly outperforming the 0.08% average CTR of static banners.
- A Warner Music Group campaign targeting 18-to-30-year-olds achieved a 1.78% CTR, representing a 1,000% increase over traditional banner standards.
- Behavioral testing shows 100% of participants continued gameplay during audio ad delivery, with 100% brand recall when ads were paired with a companion banner.
White Paper on Global Mobile Games
The white paper argues that mobile-game advertising has entered a new phase of intensity and sophistication, driven by rapid creative growth, the dominance of video formats, and evolving privacy regulations.
- Mobile advertising has shifted toward a video-first model, with video ads now accounting for over 85% of total spend and vertical formats outperforming horizontal ones with conversion rates near 0.15%.
- Privacy regulations have forced a move toward probabilistic attribution models like SKAN, shifting industry focus from granular user targeting to high-quality creative design.
- Ad creative volume surged 200% year-over-year in 2021, while CPMs increased by 34%, reflecting a period of intense market competition.
In-Game Events Snapshot
The snapshot presents a comprehensive overview of in-game event strategies across the global mobile gaming market, focusing on seasonal and promotional collaboration events.
- Seasonal events are a standard industry practice, utilized by 90% of the top-grossing 100 mobile games to drive player re-engagement and revenue spikes.
- Brand collaborations are a significant growth lever, appearing in 62% of top-100 games in Japan, 51% in China, and 42% in the US.
- High-profile collaborations, such as Sky: Children of the Light’s Kizuna AI partnership and Genshin Impact’s Lantern Rite, have demonstrated the ability to generate multi-million dollar daily revenue surges.