User Acquisition reports and market data
Documents
Superstar Session: Art Definition: The Queen's Gambit of CRO
Conversion rate optimization serves as a critical, scientific methodology for transforming mobile game store traffic into confirmed installs.
- Systematic A/B testing of creative assets can drive massive growth, with documented cases achieving a 2,000 percent increase in daily active users and an 800 percent increase in global downloads.
- Rigorous conversion rate optimization (CRO) can specifically boost U.S. market performance, with targeted asset testing yielding a 500 percent rise in installs for certain titles.
- Testing cycles should span three to four weeks to ensure results reach statistical significance rather than relying on industry assumptions or universal design tropes.
TWIG 129: Applovin Falls 19%, Playstation IP to Mobile, Square Enix Acquisition Rumors, JK Retiring
The gaming industry currently faces significant valuation challenges and strategic pivots as major players attempt to reconcile traditional console strengths with the demands of the mobile market.
- AppLovin shares declined 19% as investors reacted to the company's reliance on its own game portfolio rather than its marketed software-as-a-service business model.
- Sony is attempting to expand its console-based intellectual property into the mobile market, though it currently lacks the institutional expertise required for high-retention, live-service models.
- Analysts suggest that Sony should pursue licensing or strategic partnerships with established mobile developers rather than relying on internal development to mitigate operational risks.
![Cover of Game Biz #1: Game Industry M&A [EA, Zynga, Glu, and More]](https://files.gameindustrylibrary.com/thumbnails/36770/page-1.png)
Game Biz #1: Game Industry M&A [EA, Zynga, Glu, and More]
The gaming industry is currently undergoing a period of aggressive consolidation, characterized by a strategic shift toward vertical integration and the pursuit of mobile market dominance.
- Major publishers like Electronic Arts are acquiring mobile-focused entities such as Glu Mobile to address dormant mobile portfolios and satisfy investor growth demands.
- The deprecation of IDFA (Identifier for Advertisers) is forcing companies to internalize ad tech and user acquisition data to maintain control in a constrained privacy landscape.
- Industry M&A strategy is split between Zynga’s centralized, synergistic model and Embracer Group’s decentralized approach, with analysts questioning the long-term viability of the latter without centralized support.
Ad Tech + Game Studios | The BIG Dangers from AppLovin, Zynga, and More Coming!
The mobile gaming industry is undergoing a profound structural shift driven by the vertical integration of ad networks, game studios, and measurement platforms.
- Vertically integrated firms like AppLovin and Zynga are consolidating ad mediation, network infrastructure, and attribution data, creating a conflict of interest where they act as both service providers and direct competitors to the studios they serve.
- These integrated entities leverage granular performance data from their partners to gain proprietary insights into user behavior and revenue margins, potentially disadvantaging independent developers who rely on their platforms.
- Despite the risks of platform bias and data exposure, studios remain locked into these ecosystems because the immediate necessity for high-performance user acquisition outweighs the difficulty of scaling through alternative channels.
Superstar Speed Panel: Navigating Uncertainty: Apple Privacy Changes & the Impact on Ad Monetisation
Apple’s implementation of stringent privacy changes and the subsequent loss of Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) data have fundamentally altered the mobile gaming landscape, forcing developers to navigate a period of significant financial uncertainty.
- The loss of Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) data has forced a strategic pivot away from granular user tracking toward a model prioritized by product quality and diversified monetization.
- Studios are offsetting downward pressure on eCPM rates by focusing on increasing session duration and long-term retention metrics to maintain profitability.
- Developers are reclaiming user data ownership by implementing third-party login systems and integrating in-app purchases to reduce reliance on external ad networks.
How to Monetise Mobile Games in 2021
The mobile gaming industry faces significant monetization challenges in 2021, primarily driven by Apple’s iOS 14 privacy updates.
- Apple’s iOS 14 App Tracking Transparency framework restricts IDFA access, necessitating the integration of SKAdNetwork IDs and updated SDKs to maintain ad performance and mitigate declining eCPM rates.
- Publishers should adopt a hybrid monetization strategy combining in-app purchases (IAP) and advertising to maximize lifetime value, as fewer than 5% of users typically engage in IAP.
- Transitioning from manual waterfall management to automated bidding systems can increase ARPDAU by up to 27% and reduce ad operations time by 50%.
We’re Only as Good as Our Last Creative: Creative Automation Can Transform Your Growth Strategy
Creative production serves as a primary competitive advantage in the modern mobile gaming landscape, necessitating a transition from subjective decision-making to a structured, data-driven framework.
- Creative production must shift from subjective decision-making to a structured, data-driven framework that isolates specific variables like character design and layout to identify emotional drivers.
- Creative automation is essential for scaling operations, as it allows teams to iterate on high-performing concepts rapidly while offloading repetitive production tasks.
- To maintain effective user acquisition amidst increasing constraints on user-level tracking, studios must utilize granular performance metrics to replace traditional black-box testing.
Games Marketing Insights for 2021
The 2021 Games Marketing Insights report, presented by Facebook, analyzes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mobile gaming landscape, focusing on shifting consumer behaviors, monetization trends, and the growing importance of community.
- Community engagement is now a primary driver for retention, evidenced by a 91.8% year-over-year increase in live streaming viewing hours, which reached 7.46 billion hours between July and September 2020.
- The pandemic attracted a new cohort of younger mobile gamers who demonstrate a higher propensity for in-game spending compared to existing players.
- While existing players increased their average weekly playtime by 1.5 hours, their overall in-game spending decreased, signaling a need for developers to shift toward mixed monetization models combining in-app purchases and ad-supported experiences.
Keynote: Hindsight is 2020: How to Gain & Retain Your Audience in 2021
The global mobile landscape underwent a profound transformation in 2020, as pandemic-driven behavioral shifts accelerated digital adoption across all demographics.
- Daily time spent in mobile applications increased by an average of 25 minutes in 2020, driven by pandemic-related digital adoption across all demographics.
- Revenue models have permanently shifted away from traditional ad-supported frameworks toward subscription-based models and in-app purchases as primary drivers of consumer spending.
- Developers must pivot to a retention-centric strategy that prioritizes long-term lifetime value over immediate acquisition metrics to maintain momentum in 2021.
How Mobile Games Can Leverage ASO for Post IDFA User Acquisition
The shift toward privacy-centric mobile ecosystems, specifically following the implementation of Apple’s App Tracking Transparency policy, has necessitated a strategic pivot in user acquisition.
- Apple's App Tracking Transparency policy is expected to cause most ad networks to lose IDFA-based tracking data for over 50% of their mobile traffic, necessitating a shift toward privacy-friendly user acquisition strategies.
- App Store Optimization (ASO) teams can mitigate post-IDFA data loss by using Apple Search Ads keyword volume data to identify high-intent search clusters and optimize targeting strategies.
- Marketers should use A/B testing on store pages—specifically leveraging Google Play Experiments—to test creative messaging and conversion rates before committing to large-scale user acquisition campaigns.
Discoverability from Day Zero
Discoverability serves as a foundational pillar of game development that must be integrated into the creative process from the earliest stages of production.
- Integrate discoverability into the creative process from the earliest stages of production rather than treating it as a post-launch marketing task.
- Treat discoverability as a core design challenge by prioritizing clear communication of the game’s vision and accessibility from day zero.
- Test design concepts early with non-developers to identify flaws and refine the core experience before committing significant resources.
Future of Mobile Attribution | What to do Post-IDFA Deprecation!
The deprecation of the Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) represents a fundamental shift in mobile attribution, rendering traditional click-based tracking methods obsolete.
- The deprecation of IDFA has rendered traditional click-based tracking obsolete, forcing a transition to Apple’s SKAdNetwork and the loss of granular, user-level data.
- Developers must now implement sophisticated internal modeling and complex instrumentation of conversion values to compensate for the lack of precise tracking data.
- To maintain user acquisition efficiency, studios must integrate with Mobile Measurement Partners (MMPs) and accelerate monetization signals earlier in the user funnel to generate actionable insights.