User Acquisition

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. In 2021 ad creatives surged by 200 % YoY while CPMs rose 34 %, with video ads now accounting for over 85 % of spend. The market continues to expand, projecting more than 70 000 advertisers by 2023, yet advertiser growth has slowed post‑pandemic to just 5 % YoY. Android remains the primary platform, hosting roughly two‑thirds of advertisers, and high‑spending Tier 1 markets—particularly the United States, Japan, and Korea—retain their status as key targets for publishers.

Geographically, the United States shows a casual‑game bias among advertisers (26 % of spend) but still supports high‑spending titles such as Free Fire and Subway Surfers. China’s landscape is shifting from RPGs to casual titles, with puzzle games capturing the largest creative share. In the Middle East, strategy and shooter games like Rise of Kingdoms and PUBG Mobile dominate downloads and revenue, whereas the CIS market displays a more diversified mix of strategy, shooter, and casual titles. Across all regions, vertical video ads—especially 30–34 second formats with end‑card elements—outperform horizontal variants for mid‑ and hard‑core titles, achieving conversion rates around 0.15 %. Playable ads also deliver significant lift for mid‑core games.

Privacy changes from Apple and Google have accelerated a shift toward probabilistic attribution models such as SKAN, compelling advertisers to prioritize creative design over granular targeting. Hybrid monetization platforms that blend bidding and non‑bidding networks are gaining traction, while developers increasingly adopt innovative in‑app purchase mechanics (limited‑time offers, battle passes) and social features (chat, PvP, guilds) to enhance engagement and retention. These trends collectively underscore a mobile‑gaming ecosystem that is more video‑centric, privacy‑aware, and focused on long‑cycle strategy titles in high‑engagement markets.

This analysis examines the relationship between video ad length, end card formats, and campaign performance across five major mobile gaming genres: Hyper-Casual, RPG, Strategy, Puzzle, and Social Casino. By evaluating 3.7 billion in-app video ad impressions and subsequent installs via the Vungle platform, the study establishes creative benchmarks using a proprietary Power Index to measure efficacy. The findings suggest that as the industry moves toward a post-IDFA environment with limited user-level data, marketers must prioritize creative optimization and mass-appeal strategies to drive engagement.

The data reveals distinct audience preferences for each genre. Social Casino players favor efficiency, responding best to 10-second ads paired with standard static end cards. Puzzle and Strategy games both see peak performance when utilizing app store end cards that provide a direct path to download, though their optimal video lengths differ at 22 seconds and 33 seconds, respectively. Conversely, genres with deeper gameplay loops require more extensive creative storytelling. Hyper-Casual games perform best with 37-second ads and video end cards, while RPGs benefit from the longest engagement times, peaking at 46 seconds with looping video end cards to showcase aesthetic and narrative depth.

The scope of the research covers a global audience of over one billion unique devices, focusing on the structural elements of ad creatives rather than specific visual content. The methodology filters out low-performing impressions to ensure the Power Index accurately reflects the most successful format pairings. Ultimately, the findings conclude that aligning ad duration and post-roll interactive elements with genre-specific player expectations is essential for maximizing return on ad spend in an increasingly competitive mobile marketplace.

The analysis quantifies how Apple’s post‑IDFA privacy updates have reshaped user‑acquisition economics for mobile games, contrasting casual titles with core experiences. By aggregating 13.5 billion programmatic ad impressions from iOS and Android between January 1 2021 and September 30 2021, the study tracks cost‑per‑install (CPI) trends across three intervals—pre‑iOS 14.5, during the iOS 14.5‑14.6 rollout, and post‑iOS 14.6—using Moloco’s proprietary game taxonomy to separate titles into casual and core categories.

Casual games experienced a sharp decline in iOS CPI, falling 38 % after the iOS 14.6 release, while Android CPI for the same segment rose modestly by 16 %. In contrast, core games saw iOS CPI surge 78 % and Android CPI increase 36 % over the same period, reflecting intensified competition for a shrinking pool of high‑value, trackable users. The narrowing of the historical iOS‑Android CPI gap for casual titles indicates that Android installs now command comparable monetary value, whereas iOS remains the premium channel for core audiences due to higher in‑app‑purchase conversion rates.

Methodologically, the research averages weekly CPI data across the defined date ranges, applying a taxonomy that classifies games by genre and engagement depth, with subcategories overlapping between casual and core groups. Findings suggest that the divergent CPI trajectories are driven by user churn characteristics and lifetime‑value differentials rather than seasonal factors.

Strategic recommendations emphasize diversifying media spend, allocating budget to campaigns optimized for return‑on‑ad‑spend, and leveraging machine‑learning‑based bidding to mitigate volatility. These practices aim to preserve profitability amid the evolving privacy‑driven market dynamics for both casual and core mobile game publishers.

Strategic store asset optimization is a critical driver for increasing conversion rates and reducing user acquisition costs in the mobile gaming industry. Analysis of top-performing publishers reveals that the most successful entities treat app icons, screenshots, and product pages as dynamic marketing tools rather than static assets. This approach is particularly relevant following the release of iOS 15 in late 2021, which introduced Custom Product Pages and Product Page Optimization. These features allow developers to create up to 35 unique landing pages and conduct native A/B testing for up to 90 days, enabling highly targeted campaigns for specific audiences and influencers.

Data from major titles illustrates several dominant trends in asset management. Seasonal updates are a primary strategy; for instance, Golf Clash implemented 17 icon changes between 2017 and 2021 to reflect holidays like Halloween and St. Patrick’s Day. Other publishers, such as King and Garena, prioritize brand identity by integrating corporate logos across their entire portfolios to leverage existing brand equity. Furthermore, "forever franchises" like Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp use icon updates to signal anniversaries and live operations events, driving re-engagement among lapsed players.

A significant shift in the industry involves the alignment of store assets with high-performing ad creatives. Publishers like Playrix and Nexters successfully utilized "Pull the Pin" advertisements—which often differ from core gameplay—to lower costs per install. To minimize friction and improve conversion, these companies updated their App Store screenshots and icons to match the ad content. While such experimentation was historically more prevalent on Google Play due to its long-standing A/B testing tools, the new iOS 15 capabilities are expected to catalyze similar data-driven optimization strategies across the Apple ecosystem. This analysis utilizes Sensor Tower’s proprietary intelligence platforms to track these trends across global markets and major gaming segments.

The African mobile app market experienced a period of rapid acceleration between Q1 2020 and Q1 2021, driven by a young, mobile-first population and the unique conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic. Analysis of 6,000 apps and 2 billion installs across South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya reveals that overall app installs grew by 41% during this period. Nigeria led this growth with a 43% increase, while South Africa saw the most immediate surge in downloads following strict lockdown measures.

The gaming sector proved particularly resilient, with installs jumping 50% in Q2 2020 as consumers sought home entertainment. This trend extended to monetization, as in-app advertising revenue surged by 167% between Q2 2020 and Q1 2021. Furthermore, in-app purchasing revenue peaked in Q3 2020, accounting for one-third of the year's total revenue. While Android remains the dominant platform with a 54% increase in non-organic installs, iOS also showed growth despite a 21% rise in cost-per-install.

Several structural trends define the current landscape, including the rise of fintech apps addressing the needs of unbanked populations and the emergence of super apps that consolidate multiple services to overcome device storage limitations. Despite this progress, challenges remain regarding connectivity, as mobile internet adoption in Sub-Saharan Africa stands at 26%, well below the global average. To succeed, marketers are encouraged to move toward a multi-moment maturity model by integrating durable measurement foundations, focusing on high-value user acquisition, and utilizing remarketing strategies to drive long-term engagement.

The casual gaming sector experienced significant growth and volatility between March 2020 and February 2021, driven largely by shifting consumer habits during the COVID-19 pandemic. While mobile gaming spend surged to nearly triple that of PC and console platforms, the market became increasingly competitive. Analysis of 246 million installs across 416 apps reveals that while the audience for casual titles is massive, the cost to acquire these users has risen sharply. The average cost-per-install (CPI) for casual games increased by 45.2% year-over-year to $1.96, while return-on-ad-spend (ROAS) saw a corresponding decline, dropping 7.5 percentage points to 29.6% by Day 30.

Market dynamics vary significantly by sub-genre and platform. Lifestyle games emerged as the most expensive to acquire at $2.57 per install but offered the highest engagement, yielding a Day 7 ROAS of 22.5%, which far outperforms Puzzle and Simulation categories. Platform trends indicate a strategic shift toward Android, where CPIs surged by 120% as marketers prepared for privacy changes on iOS. Despite this, iOS remains the more expensive platform, with an average CPI of $4.30 compared to $1.15 on Android.

Geographically, North America remains the most expensive region for user acquisition, while APAC and EMEA offer more cost-effective opportunities. Countries such as France, Germany, and South Korea are highlighted as high-performance markets with relatively low CPIs and strong ROAS. To combat rising costs and diminishing returns, the findings suggest a heavy reliance on creative experimentation, particularly through playable ads, which saw a 113% increase in usage. The data indicates that success in the current landscape requires balancing localized strategies with high-engagement ad formats to convert increasingly distracted global audiences.

The 2019 mobile gaming landscape is defined by a period of unprecedented consumer spending, with gaming apps accounting for 74% of total app store revenue. While the market continues to expand, user acquisition costs have escalated, reaching an average of $35.42 to acquire a single paying user. This environment necessitates a strategic approach to platform and regional selection, as Android currently offers a more cost-effective reach than iOS. Seasonal trends also play a critical role in performance, with the third quarter emerging as a peak period for high conversion rates and optimized acquisition costs.

Geographically, the market presents a stark contrast between established and emerging territories. North America, Japan, and South Korea remain the most expensive regions for acquisition but continue to lead in long-term retention and in-app purchase revenue. Conversely, Russia, Brazil, and the broader EMEA region offer high-value opportunities characterized by lower registration costs and strong initial conversion rates. While these emerging markets provide a lower barrier to entry, they often struggle with deep-funnel engagement and monetization compared to the high-yield but competitive Asian and North American markets.

Genre-specific data reveals that Social Casino and Hyper Casual games are the primary drivers of early engagement, with Social Casino apps achieving a category-leading 14.3% install-to-purchase conversion rate despite high acquisition costs. Hyper Casual games have solidified their position through ad-supported models and high Day 1 retention, effectively targeting non-traditional gamers in markets like Colombia and Turkey. Meanwhile, Midcore and Strategy titles demonstrate the greatest potential for long-term revenue and sustained engagement, particularly within the EMEA region, where they outperform North American benchmarks in conversion efficiency.