User Acquisition reports and market data
1,366 documents·55 writers·3,211 charts and tables
Documents
Two & a Half Gamers56 min
Creative trends Q3, Merge mansion Japan, Admon tips, Habby: Souls review (#87)
Mobile gaming strategy currently centers on aggressive user acquisition through high-frequency creative refreshes and the strategic adoption of successful, genre-agnostic hooks.
- Mobile user acquisition strategy is shifting toward genre-agnostic creative hooks, such as physics-based puzzles and animal themes, to lower cost-per-install regardless of core gameplay alignment.
- Habby’s idle RPG 'Souls' generated $13 million in revenue between its August 2023 launch and the report date, maintaining a balanced 50/50 revenue split between Android and iOS.
- Technical stability is now a primary operational requirement, as publishers must meet strict Google Application Not Responding (ANR) thresholds to protect organic traffic from SDK-related crashes.
Two & a Half GamersMay 2024
Two & a Half Gamers43 min
From Hypercasual to Hybridcasual - The Estoty Portfolio story (#86)
Estoty has established itself as a major force in the mobile gaming sector, amassing over one billion downloads and 200 million active players through a strategic evolution from hypercasual titles like Johnny Trigger to more complex hybridcasual experiences.
- Estoty has transitioned from a hypercasual model to a hybridcasual strategy, focusing on refining a core 'arcade-survivor' gameplay loop across multiple titles with varying themes.
- The studio's shift to a direct-to-consumer model highlights the industry trend where developers are moving away from publishers like SayGames to retain control over their own UA and product roadmaps.
- The success of 'Alien Invasion' (scaled in October 2022) compared to a previous, failed fishing-themed iteration demonstrates that theme selection is a critical driver for lowering CPI and reaching a broader target audience.
Two & a Half GamersMay 2024
Two & a Half Gamers65 min
two & a half gamers session #7 - Is Axie infinity dead? LTV in crypto gaming & web3 UA/marketing
The gaming industry is undergoing a fundamental transition from speculative play-to-earn models toward sustainable play-and-own frameworks.
- The 'Play-to-Earn' model is proving unsustainable due to economic inflation, leading the industry to pivot toward 'Play-and-Earn' or 'Play-to-Own' frameworks that prioritize fun and engagement over financial returns.
- Axie Infinity's economy has faced significant depreciation, forcing a shift in narrative from a platform for earning a living to a traditional gaming experience where earning is a secondary feature.
- Blockchain gaming introduces a native economic value transfer layer that allows for the enforcement of scarcity and value exchange, which was previously difficult to manage in digital environments.
Two & a Half GamersMay 2024
Two & a Half Gamers60 min
two & a half gamers session #6 - Supercell rant, why do fake ads work? UA fundamentals Q&A
Supercell’s recent financial performance, characterized by a 45 percent revenue increase to 2.24 billion dollars in 2021, masks underlying structural challenges.
- Supercell reported a 45 percent revenue increase to 2.24 billion dollars in 2021, yet the company faces structural stagnation due to a lack of new global title launches since Brawl Stars.
- Supercell is pivoting toward PC and console markets to modernize monetization and user acquisition strategies that previously prioritized brand purity over aggressive performance marketing.
- The mobile gaming industry is facing significant disruption from privacy changes, specifically the impending phase-out of advertising IDs on Google platforms.
Two & a Half GamersMay 2024
Two & a Half Gamers52 min
two & a half gamers session #4 - How to soft launch a mobile game Ad monetisation Perspective
The mobile gaming industry is undergoing a period of rapid expansion, with ad spending projected to reach $130 billion by 2025.
- Ad spending in the mobile gaming industry is projected to reach $130 billion by 2025, necessitating sophisticated monetization strategies as Meta’s dominance declines and platforms like TikTok rise.
- Developers should target a baseline of 60% player engagement with at least five ad impressions per daily active user to maximize revenue without increasing friction.
- To protect profit margins, publishers must maintain a competitive ad waterfall and obscure performance rankings from individual networks to prevent revenue leakage.
Two & a Half GamersMay 2024
Two & a Half Gamers42 min
Stash Special: loyalty programs, well-made web shops, frictionless user experience
The gaming industry is undergoing a strategic pivot toward direct-to-consumer web storefronts as developers seek to reclaim autonomy from platform gatekeepers.
- Developers are shifting to direct-to-consumer web storefronts to bypass platform commission structures and mitigate the impact of 'core technology' charges imposed by app store gatekeepers.
- This strategic pivot is driven by evolving regulatory frameworks, specifically the EU’s Digital Markets Act and recent legal rulings in the United States.
- Web-based storefronts are most critical for game titles where annual monetization per user exceeds five dollars, particularly within the strategy and social casino sectors.
Two & a Half GamersMay 2024
Two & a Half Gamers65 min
How to grow IAP revenue by 375%? SayGames Special with Anton Volnykh
The transition from hyper-casual to hybrid-casual gaming represents a fundamental shift in operational strategy, prioritizing long-term product sustainability over rapid prototyping.
- SayGames has successfully shifted its business model from a hypercasual focus to hybrid-casual, resulting in a significant increase in In-App Purchase (IAP) revenue across its portfolio.
- The company supports its development teams by providing internal tools, including a proprietary analytics system and SDK, to help them transition from simple ad-based games to more complex hybrid-casual titles.
- Rather than taking over projects, SayGames nurtures internal expertise by guiding teams through the long-term development and scaling process of hybrid-casual games.
Two & a Half GamersMay 2024
GameMakers49 min
How Hyperbeard Became Mexico's Top Game Publisher
HyperBeard has established itself as the leading mobile game publisher in Mexico by shifting the industry standard from individual title performance to a cohesive, ecosystem-based growth model.
- HyperBeard achieved market leadership in Mexico by shifting from individual title performance to a cohesive, ecosystem-based growth model targeting young adult females.
- The company utilizes a 'feeder' strategy that funnels users from low-acquisition-cost titles into higher-monetizing games to maximize total lifetime value across the entire portfolio.
- By treating their catalog as a unified brand, the studio bypasses the limitations of the post-IDFA landscape where traditional, isolated user acquisition has become prohibitively expensive.
GameMakersMay 2024
Two & a Half Gamers53 min
Screw Jam success story: How to reach $250k/day revenue? Innovative & satisfying hybrid casual game
Screw Jam, a hybrid-casual title developed by Quok Games and published by Rollic, has emerged as a benchmark for success in the mobile gaming market, currently generating approximately $250,000 in daily revenue.
- Screw Jam, developed by Quok Games and published by Rollic, generates approximately $250,000 in daily revenue, split between $150,000+ from in-app purchases and $80,000+ from ad monetization.
- The game's monetization strategy relies on a high-value US-based iOS user base, with an active user count of approximately 250,000, of which 210,000 are located in the United States.
- Ad revenue is driven by a mix of rewarded ads (averaging four per session), interstitials (averaging six per session), and persistent banner ads with a 10-second refresh rate.
Two & a Half GamersMay 2024
Deconstructor of Fun79 min
Solopreneur Success: Balancing Work, Life, and Passion with Matej Lancaric
Solopreneurship represents a highly lucrative and flexible career path for those capable of navigating the inherent volatility of independent consulting.
- Independent consulting can achieve high profitability, with potential annual revenues of €1.5 million and profit margins reaching approximately 50 percent.
- Maintaining high performance requires a structured schedule centered on six hours of daily deep work, supplemented by AI tools and small teams to automate repetitive tasks.
- Optimal consulting engagements are found with small-to-mid-sized companies that provide full data access and minimal bureaucracy, avoiding the political bottlenecks of larger organizations.
Deconstructor of FunMay 2024
Two & a Half Gamers57 min
Zombie.io global launch case study: A Midcore game with complex gameplay & wide range of features
Zombie.io represents a significant evolution in the midcore survivor-like mobile genre, blending complex, automated gameplay with a robust gacha-driven economy.
- Zombie.io, developed by the creators of Legend of Mushroom, achieved a successful global launch in April 2024, generating approximately $120,000 in daily IAP revenue with roughly 70,000 daily downloads.
- The game differentiates itself from competitors like Survivor.io by incorporating complex, midcore RPG elements, including hero classes (tank, healer, DPS), pet management, and skill-altering inventory systems.
- The developers utilize an aggressive rewarded ad strategy that integrates 'question mark' triggers throughout the UI to prompt ad views, maintaining an ad impression rate of approximately 65-70%.
Two & a Half GamersMay 2024
Thomas Brush55 min
How To Make A Viral Indie Game — Full Time Game Dev Podcast Ep. 011
Achieving commercial success in the independent game industry requires a strategic synthesis of creative vision and rigorous market analysis.
- Square Glade Games achieved 100,000 wishlists for their game 'Outbound' within one month of announcement, growing to nearly 200,000 wishlists shortly thereafter.
- A strong, precise mechanical and visual hook is the primary driver for high wishlist conversion, as demonstrated by the tile-dropping exploration mechanic in their previous title, 'Above Snakes'.
- Developers can transition to full-time game development before a project is finished by leveraging a high-quality demo or a compelling visual concept to build community buzz and secure initial funding.
Thomas BrushMay 2024