User Acquisition reports and market data
1,366 documents·55 writers·3,211 charts and tables
Documents
Two & a Half Gamers37 min
Helldivers 2 Special: Why is it so good? Second Galatic War Begins! New major Order!
Arrowhead Game Studios has achieved significant commercial and critical success with Helldivers 2, a four-player cooperative shooter that synthesizes over a decade of design expertise.
- Helldivers 2 achieved significant commercial success, generating approximately $482 million in gross revenue within its first three months following its February 24, 2024, release.
- The game maintains strong player engagement through a 'Galactic War' system where developers act as game masters, manually driving the narrative and issuing community-wide major orders that influence the game world in real-time.
- Helldivers 2 is positioned as a AA title priced at $39.99, utilizing a monetization model based on monthly 'war bonds' that provide new weapons and gear, which players can either purchase or earn through in-game currency.
Two & a Half GamersMay 2024
Two & a Half Gamers48 min
Supermarket Simulator Mobile: Why is it so popular? Start your own Supermarket now! (#109)
Supermarket Manager Simulator, developed by Digital Melody, has emerged as a prominent example of the successful transition of PC-based simulation concepts to the mobile market.
- Digital Melody’s Supermarket Manager Simulator has achieved 1.5 million daily active users and $900,000 in monthly ad revenue by adapting PC simulation concepts for mobile.
- The game is currently under-monetized due to overly generous interstitial cooldowns and a lack of standard industry practices like banner ads in emerging markets such as Brazil and Mexico.
- Analysts estimate that implementing basic optimizations, such as increased ad density and scaling payouts to player progression, could significantly boost current daily revenue figures.
Two & a Half GamersMay 2024
Thomas Brush11 min
3 Things You MUST Do When Making Your First Game!
The development of the indie game Outbound highlights the importance of intentional market research and the strategic implementation of core hooks to achieve commercial success.
- The game 'Outbound' achieved over 100,000 wishlists by focusing on three specific hooks: a mechanical hook centered on off-grid van customization, a distinct visual style reminiscent of 'Firewatch', and a compelling narrative of off-grid living.
- Market research is essential for success; developers should identify a niche that is currently underserved while ensuring the concept aligns with a strong personal fantasy or interest.
- Early marketing assets are critical, as evidenced by the 'Outbound' trailer receiving over 400,000 views on IGN's channel, which significantly contributed to the game's initial visibility.
Thomas BrushMay 2024
Two & a Half Gamers41 min
CTV Special: Connected TV Ads examples Unpacked with Arthur from Vibe.co. Ideal customer for CTV?
Connected TV advertising has transitioned from a traditional branding medium into a sophisticated performance-based channel.
- Connected TV (CTV) has evolved into a performance-based channel that uses household IP-based device graphs to link TV impressions to specific mobile installs and revenue events.
- To generate sufficient data for meaningful campaign optimization, a daily budget of $500 to $1,000 is recommended.
- Gaming titles, specifically midcore, hardcore, and social casino, are the primary audience for CTV advertising due to the platform's ability to track return on ad spend (ROAS) through mobile measurement partners.
Two & a Half GamersMay 2024
Naavik54 min
Paying players to play
Integrating Bitcoin rewards via the Lightning Network serves as a transformative strategy for mobile game developers aiming to enhance player retention and lifetime value.
- Players who successfully withdraw Bitcoin rewards are seven times more valuable than those who do not, significantly increasing lifetime value and long-term return on ad spend.
- Developers can enhance player retention by distributing a portion of ad revenue directly to users via the Lightning Network, creating a psychological revenue share model.
- To mitigate cryptocurrency volatility, studios use a regional distribution strategy that pegs rewards to fixed fiat values, allowing for dynamic adjustments to Satoshi payouts.
NaavikMay 2024
Two & a Half Gamers60 min
From Hypercasual to Hybridcasual - The Supercent story. Iterative nature & Admon w/ UA in grey zone
The mobile gaming landscape is undergoing a significant transition as studios shift from traditional hypercasual models toward hybridcasual frameworks.
- Supercent utilizes a high-frequency iterative model for hybridcasual games, repeatedly refining core mechanics from successful titles like 'My Perfect Hotel' to launch new revenue-generating products such as 'Pizza Ready', 'Outlet Rush', and 'Snake Clash'.
- Supercent's titles demonstrate a aggressive monetization strategy by integrating interstitials, rewarded videos, and banners from the first minute of gameplay, alongside specific rewarded placements for movement speed, carrying capacity, and equipment upgrades.
- The company has experimented with controversial monetization tactics, such as integrating 'Bright Data' software, which allows the app to use user IP addresses and bandwidth for data scraping, potentially generating significant monthly revenue from a fraction of their millions of users.
Two & a Half GamersMay 2024
Naavik65 min
From Scrappy to Success: Strategies for Gaming Founders
The vast majority of game studios are fundamentally incompatible with the traditional venture capital model, which demands high-velocity, scalable returns that content-focused businesses rarely achieve.
- Founders should only pursue venture capital if their studio can realistically target a 25x return on their seed valuation, as most content-focused game businesses are incompatible with the high-velocity requirements of traditional VC models.
- To achieve scalable value, studios must evolve beyond single titles into platforms or vertical worlds rather than relying on content-heavy production models.
- Investors are shifting away from early-stage pitch decks, now prioritizing companies that demonstrate proven traction or utilize technology-driven models to establish sustainable competitive moats.
NaavikApr 2024
Two & a Half Gamers61 min
2.5 gamers x Live AM(F)A #2 - Ask Me Anything @ April 23 5 pm CET
The mobile gaming industry is undergoing a structural shift toward long-term sustainability, favoring evergreen genres such as solitaire and merge games over the fleeting trends of traditional hyper-casual titles.
- The mobile gaming market is shifting away from hyper-casual titles toward evergreen genres like solitaire and merge games to ensure long-term sustainability.
- Publishers are gaining market power by providing the essential financial stability, historical modeling tools, and UA infrastructure required to navigate complex, data-intensive user acquisition.
- Developers should adopt a rigorous development cycle where prototypes are abandoned if they fail to meet specific retention or Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) benchmarks within three iterations.
Two & a Half GamersApr 2024
Two & a Half Gamers56 min
Brawl Stars' UA & Creative Strategies, Game Review Radar vol4, GAM not dead yet? (#106)
Brawl Stars has successfully revitalized its market position, doubling year-over-year monthly revenue seven years after its initial launch.
- Brawl Stars achieved significant growth following its global launch, with US daily downloads increasing from 7,000 to 40,000 and sustained revenue gains driven by a shift toward standardized UA creative strategies.
- Supercell has expanded its UA strategy beyond YouTube, increasingly utilizing 'altered gameplay' creatives—where scenes are constructed from game assets—which now account for approximately 60% of video creative output.
- The Google Ad Manager (GAM) partner ecosystem underwent a major shift around December 20, 2023, as Google restricted video inventory for third-party resellers, forcing companies to adapt their monetization models.
Two & a Half GamersApr 2024
Naavik60 min
TikTok: Gaming’s New Discovery Platform
TikTok has transitioned from a social media application into a foundational entertainment and discovery engine for the global gaming industry.
- Exposure to pre-release gaming content on TikTok drives an 80 percent increase in spending among PC and console gamers.
- TikTok generates over three trillion annual organic gaming views, establishing it as a primary engine for content discovery in an oversaturated market.
- The platform utilizes specialized programs like the TikTok Creative Challenge to connect publishers with creators, effectively lowering user acquisition costs.
NaavikApr 2024
PocketGamer.biz18 min
DoubleDown Interactive’s Faith Price On Lifecycle Marketing Tips To Extend Your App’s Lifespan
Lifecycle marketing serves as a critical strategy for extending the longevity of established mobile applications, particularly for mature titles like DoubleDown Interactive’s 13-year-old social casino app.
- Long-term profitability for mature apps, such as DoubleDown Interactive’s 13-year-old social casino title, depends on integrating user acquisition, retention, and engagement into a unified feedback loop.
- Features that drive initial user acquisition often differ from those that sustain long-term engagement, with new players prioritizing core value propositions while veterans prefer mini-engagements and community content.
- Rigorous testing of communication timing, specifically for onboarding flows and push notification requests, is essential to prevent user alienation and ensure seamless access to the game.
PocketGamer.bizApr 2024
Two & a Half Gamers101 min
Merge Games Market History & Full Overview: Travel Town no.1 Merge game & Gossip Harbor case studies
The mobile merge game market has undergone a significant evolution, shifting from the open-ended, resource-heavy camp merge style to the more streamlined and commercially successful grid merge format.
- Grid merge games have become the dominant revenue-generating subgenre within the merge space, largely due to improved game loops that address player frustration with inventory management and board clutter.
- Travel Town, currently operated by MoonActive, has revitalized the genre by tightly integrating its meta-progression with item generation, ensuring that secondary item byproducts provide meaningful rewards and clear player goals.
- Successful merge games require precise balancing of generator cooldowns and item chains; for example, creating a single tier-five item typically requires 16 energy, making session length and resource flow critical to retention.
Two & a Half GamersApr 2024