User Acquisition

Mobile gaming has rebounded from the downturn of 2022‑23, with a projected compound annual growth rate of 5.0% from 2020 to 2025, driven largely by a 16.2% rise in in‑app advertising and the continued popularity of casual puzzle titles. The sector’s resilience is underpinned by AI‑powered ad tech, rewarded advertising platforms, multiplatform releases that bypass app‑store fees, and strategic IP licensing collaborations. Despite this growth, venture capital remains cautious; VC deployments in mobile studios have plateaued while high‑profile exits such as King, Zynga, and Playtika illustrate that capital is still scarce. Mature studios reinvest roughly one‑third of revenue into user acquisition (UA), yet only a minority secure the $30 million+ funding needed to sustain such spend, and smaller studios often allocate 70% or more of net revenue to marketing.

PvX Partners’ cohort‑based UA financing addresses this gap by providing credit secured against future cohort revenues. The model offers up to 80% of monthly customer acquisition costs, recovers 80% of net revenues until repayment, and imposes a modest interest rate tied to Net Return on Ad Spend (ROAS). Case studies show that studios receiving this financing can increase monthly spend by 16–38% while boosting cash balances, achieving accelerated growth and faster exits—examples include Playtika’s acquisition of a $2 billion‑valued studio within 35 months.

Overall, the analysis suggests that cohort‑based UA financing can unlock scalable growth for mobile studios that lack traditional VC backing, potentially expanding the market’s total UA spend from $143 billion to an additional $3.2 billion by 2027, while maintaining equity and IP control for founders.

The State of Mobile 2025 report examines the current mobile ecosystem, emphasizing how community engagement—particularly on Reddit—drives sustained app growth. The analysis draws from data provided by Adjust, Sensor Tower, and Reddit’s own measurement tools, covering iOS and Google Play users worldwide during 2024. Key market metrics show that mobile app usage reached 4.2 trillion hours, with in‑app purchase revenue hitting $150 billion—a 13% year‑over‑year increase. Downloads have stabilized at roughly 135–140 billion annually, while average revenue per user rose to $285,000. Four major growth drivers are identified: generative AI apps (17 billion downloads in 2024, up from 5 billion in 2019), non‑game spend (in‑app purchase revenue outside gaming climbed $14 billion, a 25% YoY jump), mobile gaming (IAP revenue grew 4% to $81 billion, with strategy and puzzle genres leading), and cryptocurrency apps (session counts up 37% YoY, driven by Bitcoin price recovery).

The report’s core thesis is that Reddit users exhibit higher engagement and monetization than users acquired through other social or digital channels. Adjust data on 150 million Reddit installs show that Reddit‑driven users spend 55% more time in-app on Day 1, rising to 103% by Day 30, and achieve 12–15% higher retention rates across North America, EMEA, and APAC. Day‑1 spend rates are 41% higher than other social platforms and 159% higher than digital media, underscoring the community’s influence on lifetime value.

Methodologically, the study aggregates anonymous, event‑level data from Adjust, comparing key metrics—time spent, retention, and spend—across Reddit, other social platforms (Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Snapchat, Pinterest), and broader digital media. The findings suggest that authentic, community‑driven conversations on Reddit not only accelerate download decisions but also foster deeper, more profitable user relationships. The report concludes with actionable best practices for brands to leverage Reddit’s conversational ecosystem, improve onboarding, and measure non‑monetary interactions to maximize long‑term LTV.

Marketing strategy and community sentiment serve as the primary determinants of conversion performance in the global video game industry as of early 2026. While pricing models like free-to-play and premium structures influence baseline metrics, the efficacy of acquisition campaigns depends more heavily on the alignment between marketing channels and specific player decision-making behaviors. Traditional last-click attribution models frequently undervalue high-funnel awareness efforts, necessitating a shift toward incrementality testing and extended retargeting windows to accurately capture the impact of early-stage engagement.

Player decision cycles vary significantly across industry segments, dictated largely by the social and cooperative dynamics inherent in different genres. Multiplayer and massively multiplayer online titles require longer conversion windows due to the complexity of social coordination, whereas single-player experiences benefit from strategies that emphasize urgency and individual-driven processes. Consequently, marketing efforts for multiplayer games should prioritize social proof and sustained community engagement, while single-player titles gain more traction through direct, time-sensitive calls to action.

Game quality and public perception act as critical multipliers for conversion, particularly within the premium sector. High Steam review scores, specifically those reaching the highest sentiment tiers, can nearly triple conversion rates for premium titles, whereas free-to-play conversion remains largely indifferent to such metrics. Because premium games involve extended evaluation periods, marketers must maintain consistent community-focused sentiment management to protect long-term conversion potential. By tailoring acquisition strategies to these distinct genre-based behaviors and moving beyond simplistic attribution, publishers can better optimize campaign performance and maximize player acquisition efficiency.

The global digital economy experienced a significant structural transition during the first quarter of 2026, characterized by a pivot away from traditional mobile gaming toward generative artificial intelligence and short-form entertainment. While global in-app purchase revenue climbed 9.3% to $43.5 billion, this growth was primarily fueled by non-gaming sectors. Mobile gaming faced a notable contraction, with downloads falling 12% year-over-year, even as puzzle titles maintained their status as a primary revenue anchor. Conversely, the generative AI sector surged by 174%, signaling a shift in consumer engagement as users increasingly migrate from web-based interfaces to dedicated mobile applications.

Geographically, the market landscape is bifurcating between mature and emerging economies. The United States market exhibited signs of cooling, recording its lowest revenue growth rate at 3.5%, while India and Indonesia emerged as primary drivers of download volume. Despite the slowdown in U.S. consumer spending, the digital advertising sector remained resilient, growing 15% to $48 billion. This expansion was heavily supported by a 31% increase in software-related ad spend, as advertisers aggressively reallocated budgets from linear television toward targeted digital channels and retail media networks.

Retail media continues to evolve beyond the dominance of Amazon, with platforms like Walmart and Target capturing significant share by leveraging offsite social channels. This trend is particularly pronounced in essential categories such as personal care and food and beverages. As the industry matures, the competitive landscape for generative AI has also become more distributed, with market share spreading across multiple platforms like Gemini and Claude. These findings reflect a broader trend of digital consolidation, where mobile-first engagement and AI-driven utility define the current trajectory of the global digital marketplace.

The guide outlines a non‑dilutive financing model designed to fund mobile studios’ user acquisition (UA) campaigns by leveraging cohort performance data. It argues that the global UA spend reached $78 billion in 2025, rising 13% year‑on‑year, and that studios typically allocate 50–70 % of revenue to paid UA while financing through equity. The proposed solution offers capital without equity dilution, with repayment tied directly to user revenue and a lock‑step mechanism that scales cash flow alongside UA spend. The repayment schedule follows the cohort’s return on ad spend (ROAS) curve, beginning when ROAS reaches 100 %.

Eligibility criteria focus on predictability rather than speed of payback. Studios must demonstrate at least six months of clean ROAS curves, a history of trending toward transaction data, and an average monthly payback around $100 k attributable to predictable cohorts. The financing partner evaluates whether recent cohorts mirror historically profitable ones, using a benchmark tool that compares a studio’s cohort against over 5,000 mobile app cohorts. Key metrics include cohort margin of safety, tail risk, payer retention, volatility, and scalability.

The methodology involves sharing cohort data from platforms such as Appsflyer, Adjust, GCP, or Snowflake. Underwriters then size a facility, allowing studios to draw up to 80 % of their monthly UA spend per cohort. Repayment proceeds once the ROAS curve reaches breakeven, with downside shared if cohorts underperform. The guide targets mobile studios worldwide operating in 2026, offering a structured pathway to unlock growth capital while preserving equity.

The report argues that non‑gaming mobile applications are experiencing accelerated growth driven by AI integration, short‑form content, and intensified user acquisition competition. Key findings show that Android dominates download volume—particularly in Utilities (79 % of installs) and Life Services (58 %)—while iOS generates a higher share of revenue, especially in Finance & Business (56 % of iOS revenue) and Life Services (57 %). In 2025, AI‑focused apps such as ChatGPT (+1,340 %) and Perplexity (+3,613 %) achieved the highest year‑over‑year download growth, and Short Drama titles like Kuku TV (+45 % k) and RapidTV (+498 %) recorded explosive revenue increases, with AI Social apps (e.g., Character AI +918 %) also driving significant monetization.

User acquisition activity expanded across all major categories, with Life Services (+42 %) and Finance & Business (+43.5 %) leading the rise in app counts. Smart bidding adoption surged, with Target ROAS spend increasing by 50 % and Target CPE spending up 57 %, particularly in Utilities and Entertainment. Cost‑per‑install (CPI) analysis revealed that E‑Commerce on Android commands a 3× premium, while Finance & Business on iOS reaches 4.6×, underscoring high competition for transactional users.

Monetization patterns shift toward in‑app advertising (IAA), dominating across Education, Utilities, and Entertainment. Video formats—rewarded and interstitial—outperform banner ads by 128–165× eCPM, with North America delivering the highest rewarded video eCPMs (up to 11.8× in Short Drama). The report covers global markets excluding Mainland China from January to December 2025, drawing on anonymized data from Mintegral and Insightrackr across 100+ key app categories.

The briefing outlines GREE’s performance and strategic outlook for FY2025 Q2, focusing on game releases, existing title dynamics, and the VTuber business. Pre‑registration for “Puella Magi Madoka Magica Magia Exedra” surpassed 500,000 by January 31, exceeding expectations and reinforcing confidence in the IP’s strong fan base. The company maintains an annual release cadence for new titles, but schedules are determined independently per project; delays in one title do not cascade to others. Existing flagship games such as Heaven Burns Red and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: ISEKAI Memories have experienced a deceleration in decline rates after three years, indicating sustained player engagement.

In the VTuber segment, sales growth is driven by talent merchandise, live music events, and seasonal participation in Winter Comiket. Revenue has turned profitable as variable costs align with sales, while one‑time expenses—primarily 3D model production for new and returning talents—have increased quarterly, contributing to larger losses. Management anticipates that expanding the talent roster will stabilize one‑time costs and enhance profitability.

Looking ahead, GREE projects monthly profitability in FY2026 with annual VTuber sales near ¥3.0 billion, followed by accelerated growth targets. The briefing underscores a balanced approach to new title development, sustained performance of legacy games, and a focused strategy for scaling the VTuber business while managing cost structures.

The Q4 2025 investor presentation details a period of record financial performance for the company, characterized by significant revenue growth and successful strategic integration. The primary thesis centers on the company’s transformative year, highlighted by the successful consolidation of Plarium and a shift toward a midcore gaming focus. For the fourth quarter of 2025, the company achieved net sales of SEK 3,123 million, representing an 8% organic growth rate and a 108% increase in constant currency year-over-year. Adjusted EBITDA reached SEK 717 million, maintaining a 23% margin, while unlevered free cash flow totaled SEK 878 million with a 66% conversion rate.

The scope of the report covers the global gaming operations of the company throughout the 2025 fiscal year, with specific emphasis on the fourth quarter. Key operational findings indicate that user acquisition (UA) spending rose to 38% of revenue in Q4, a 98% year-over-year increase in constant currency, largely driven by the integration of Plarium and the scaling of casual and racing franchises. Revenue streams showed a notable shift, with direct-to-consumer contributions rising 600 basis points to 32% of the total. Franchise performance was bolstered by strong results in the racing and word game segments, which saw year-over-year growth of 43% and 28%, respectively.

Methodologically, the financial data is presented on a reported basis, with constant currency adjustments applied to isolate organic growth trends. The report incorporates full-year 2025 figures and highlights the impact of the Plarium acquisition, which was integrated into the group starting in February 2025. Looking ahead, the company concludes the period with a stable leverage ratio and a new organizational structure, positioning itself for continued midcore expansion and the potential public offering of its PlaySimple division.

Q4 2025 Modern Times Group MTG AB 1 All time high revenues and adjusted EBITDA underscore strong finish to the year with 8% organic growth for Q4 and 9% for 2025 We delivered a great end to a transformative 2025, reporting 8% organic year over year growth in Q4 and 9 % for the full year ,at the top end of our updated full year guidance .

This technical guide outlines the strategic importance and functional mechanics of deep linking within the mobile app ecosystem. The primary thesis is that deep links are essential tools for streamlining the user experience, reducing friction, and driving higher conversion rates compared to standard mobile web interfaces. By directing users to specific in-app content rather than generic homepages, marketers can significantly improve retention and re-engagement through targeted campaigns across email, social media, and SMS.

The scope of the analysis covers the technical distinctions between three primary types of links: default, deferred, and contextual. Default deep links function only when an app is already installed, while deferred deep links—facilitated by specialized SDK integrations—route non-users to the appropriate app store before delivering them to the intended internal page upon installation. The guide also examines platform-specific solutions like Apple’s Universal Links, noting their ability to prevent error messages while highlighting limitations regarding attribution data and support within major apps like Facebook.

Key data points emphasize the commercial impact of native app environments, noting that consumers purchase at three times the rate of the mobile web. Furthermore, with 70% of emails opened on mobile devices, the integration of deep links into owned media channels is presented as a critical driver of revenue. The conclusion suggests that as digital interactions expand into voice, television, and automotive platforms, deep linking and cross-device tracking will remain the foundational technology for maintaining a cohesive and measurable mobile marketing strategy.

Vietnam’s mobile gaming landscape is rapidly evolving from a download‑centric, ad‑driven model to a hybrid ecosystem that prioritizes in‑app purchases (IAP) and subscription revenue. In 2024, the country led global Google Play downloads with 6.1 billion installs yet generated only about $430 million, underscoring the profitability ceiling of pure advertising. Rising acquisition costs, privacy‑driven signal loss, and a plateauing average revenue per user (ARPU) have forced studios to adopt IAP‑first, hybrid casual titles that deliver deeper engagement and predictable cash flows. Global IAP and subscription revenue reached $150 billion in 2025, up 13%, while Vietnam’s IAP growth surged 65 %, positioning hybrids as the default blueprint for sustainable growth by 2026.

The transition hinges on data‑centric monetization strategies. AI‑driven programmatic advertising and hybrid supply‑side platforms help studios navigate privacy constraints, while sophisticated IAP systems require clean player‑behavior analytics and structured measurement frameworks. Localized pricing—using purchasing power parity tiers, local currency endings, and one‑tap tokenised payments—can lift conversion by over 20 % and reduce checkout abandonment by up to 30 %. Integrating multi‑currency settlement through a single provider such as Airwallex adds 2–5 % to net margin without altering game design.

A phased rollout model enables Vietnamese studios to pilot in core markets, expand regionally through configuration rather than new vendor projects, and scale into high‑value markets like the US for top‑line growth and FX savings. Premium ad formats on TikTok, when matched to specific spending barriers, can boost transaction values by 20–30 % and shift campaigns from cost‑per‑install to return‑on‑ad‑spend metrics. Case studies, such as Falcon Game Studio’s pivot to a hybrid model with 60–70 % day‑one retention and a 3–5 % global payer rate, illustrate the tangible benefits of this approach.

Overall, Vietnam’s mobile gaming sector is poised to compete globally by leveraging robust payment partners, privacy‑first acquisition tactics, and a disciplined IAP strategy that unlocks higher lifetime value and sustainable studio growth through 2026.

The AI Disruption Index demonstrates that artificial intelligence is fundamentally altering how U.S. consumers discover and purchase brands, with one‑third of adults now using personal AI agents to find products and nearly half employing AI for purchase research. A survey of 283 marketing leaders across fifteen verticals, coupled with analysis of more than 3,000 apps that collectively amassed over 200 billion downloads, confirms that AI has already eroded traditional discovery channels and is poised to disintermediate services that depend heavily on paid search and weak customer relationships.

Generative‑AI agents pose the greatest threat to news, education, health & fitness, retail, and on‑demand services, where AI can replace conventional search and recommendation workflows. Only sectors with strong regulatory or content moats—such as financial services, media rights holders, and auto OEMs—retain a defensive advantage. The study underscores that brands must embed AI‑driven personalization and deepen direct customer relationships to counter the risk of zero‑click discovery.

Mobile applications emerge as the primary competitive advantage for brands able to own the customer journey. They provide first‑party data, closed‑loop measurement, and personalized experiences that are difficult for AI agents to replicate. The report recommends three strategic priorities: investing in superior mobile app experiences, unifying and activating customer signals through comprehensive data profiles, and rethinking channel mixes to favor resilient, direct‑engagement platforms over fragmented paid or organic search. These actions will enable brands to mitigate AI‑driven disruption and secure long‑term customer loyalty across the United States.