Monetization reports and market data
Documents
The Trailer Park Boys success story
The development of Trailer Park Boys: Greasy Money serves as a case study for independent studios navigating the complexities of licensed intellectual property (IP).
- Authenticity to source material is the primary driver of market penetration, helping Trailer Park Boys: Greasy Money reach the number one app spot in Canada, top ten in the U.S., and top 100 status in over 100 countries.
- Maintaining a constant, collaborative relationship with IP holders allows for the creation of original, game-specific content—such as zombie-themed alternate timelines—that extends the brand's lifespan.
- Developers should prioritize strict adherence to established character voices and lore, as deviating from the source material risks alienating the core fanbase.
UA & monetisation trends in 2018
The mobile gaming industry in 2018 is undergoing a fundamental transition from aggressive, short-term conversion tactics toward sustainable, long-term player retention.
- Mobile game monetization is shifting from short-term conversion tactics toward sustainable, long-term player retention strategies.
- Rewarded video has become the primary monetization tool for balancing revenue generation with positive user experience.
- Programmatic advertising and header bidding offer only modest revenue improvements of 5–10%, pushing developers to prioritize LiveOps and interactive ad formats.
The rise and rise of the Chinese mobile gaming market
The Chinese mobile gaming market represents a significant and rapidly expanding opportunity for global app developers, currently serving as a primary growth engine for the industry.
- The Chinese mobile gaming market has surpassed North America in total gaming revenue, generating $27.5 billion with mobile gaming accounting for over 50% of that total.
- The market currently supports approximately 500 million mobile gamers, and the average revenue per user has increased tenfold since 2014.
- Strategic and adventure-based games featuring long-term progression are currently the strongest performers, driven by high engagement rates and word-of-mouth growth.
Don't do it like a virgin – Automated revenue management in gaming
The mobile gaming industry is experiencing rapid growth, with in-app purchase revenue projected to reach $140 billion within four years.
- Automated Revenue Management (ARM) systems leverage machine learning to shift focus from user acquisition to maximizing lifetime value (LTV) through personalized monetization.
- Adjusting pricing to local economic conditions can increase transaction volume by over 170% in specific markets.
- Data-driven loyalty programs and automated engagement tactics can improve player retention rates by 20% to 40%.
5 reasons why you need to embrace interactive ads now
Interactive advertising represents the next generation of mobile marketing, offering superior performance compared to traditional banners, interstitials, and standard video units.
- Interactive ads, including playables and interactive videos, outperform traditional banners and interstitials by driving higher conversion rates, improved brand recall, and superior long-term user retention.
- Interactive formats provide granular data that allows developers to track user behavior within the ad, identifying specific drop-off points to optimize ad funnels.
- Analyzing metrics like installs per mille (IPM) enables developers to refine ad content, remove unnecessary tutorial steps, and highlight the most compelling gameplay elements to increase revenue and ROI.
Monetisation revealed – stories and data behind ad revenue success
This panel discussion explores mobile game monetization strategies, focusing on the balance between ad revenue and user experience.
- Prioritize long-term player retention over short-term revenue gains by ensuring monetization strategies are deeply integrated into the core game loop.
- Implement only voluntary, opt-in ad formats, such as rewarded videos, to avoid the negative impact on user experience associated with intrusive interstitials.
- Utilize multiple ad networks through mediation rather than relying on a single source to ensure competitive bidding, higher fill rates, and better ad quality.
The unreasonable effectiveness of data for better monetisation
The primary thesis of this analysis is that mobile game developers can achieve significant revenue growth and improved performance by applying machine learning to existing user data.
- Dynamic pricing and data-driven user acquisition strategies can increase total game revenue by 20% to 40% compared to static models.
- Applying predictive lifetime value (LTV) modeling to user acquisition campaigns can drive a 400% increase in average revenue per user (ARPU) over a 45-day period.
- Machine learning models consistently outperform human intuition in monetization tasks, despite the potential for occasional false positives.
Monument Valley 2 – How premium games can succeed
The premium mobile game market remains a viable, albeit niche, space for developers who prioritize artistic innovation and high-quality, short-form experiences over the mass-market volume typical of free-to-play titles.
- Premium mobile games succeed by prioritizing artistic innovation and high-quality, short-form experiences rather than the mass-market volume and high-retention loops of free-to-play models.
- Developers should focus on crafting highly polished, memorable experiences with a typical duration of 90 minutes to two hours to justify a premium price point.
- Small, agile teams are essential for bypassing derivative, data-driven design patterns, allowing for the creation of unique, emotionally resonant, and narrative-focused content.
Next generation playable ads on mobile
Playable ads represent a high-performing but underutilized format in the mobile gaming industry.
- Playable ads deliver conversion rates two to three times higher than traditional video ads, yet their adoption is restricted by high production costs and technical limitations.
- Current HTML5 playable ad production can exceed $25,000 per unit, effectively pricing out developers with lower lifetime value (LTV) games or smaller user acquisition budgets.
- Next-generation playable ad technology reduces production costs to as low as $1,000 per campaign by utilizing the game’s original user interface rather than building custom mini-games.
How to get the most out of your ad strategy
The mobile gaming industry has undergone a significant shift in its approach to advertising, moving from viewing ads as a necessary evil to recognizing them as a vital, strategic component of game monetization.
- Advertising has become a core revenue driver, with many mobile titles now generating between 20% and 60% of their total income from ad placements.
- Industry sentiment has shifted significantly, with twice as many publishers now viewing ads as a strategic monetization opportunity rather than a necessary evil.
- Successful monetization requires integrating advertising early in the development lifecycle rather than treating it as an afterthought.
Gaming Spotlight 2017 Review
The global gaming industry experienced a significant shift in 2017 as mobile gaming solidified its dominance over traditional platforms.
- Mobile gaming solidified its market dominance in 2017, with consumer spending exceeding the combined total of home consoles, PC, Mac, and handhelds by more than one-third.
- Mobile games generated nearly 80% of total consumer spending on the iOS App Store and Google Play, despite accounting for less than 40% of total app downloads.
- The Asia-Pacific region, led by China, Japan, and South Korea, drove mobile growth by accounting for over 60% of all global mobile game spending.
The Legality of Loot Boxes - Designing Ethical Lootboxes: II - Extra Credits
The push to regulate in-game loot boxes through existing gambling legislation presents significant legal and operational risks that could inadvertently harm the gaming industry and its consumers.
- Classifying loot boxes as gambling risks assigning real-world monetary value to digital items, which could lead to litigation over account bans as players might claim the seizure of valuable property.
- Legal reclassification could create significant operational liabilities for developers, including potential legal exposure during server closures, game rollbacks, or the deletion of digital assets.
- Broad gambling legislation may inadvertently capture standard game mechanics, such as random loot drops in raids or dungeons, forcing developers to adopt more restrictive or expensive monetization models.