User Acquisition reports and market data
Documents
Superstar Session: How We're Preparing our Customers for iOS 14 Attribution Switch
This session, presented at the Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki Digital 2020 conference, addresses the mobile gaming industry’s transition to Apple’s iOS 14 privacy framework, specifically focusing on the shift toward SKAdNetwork attribution.
- The transition to Apple’s iOS 14 privacy framework necessitates a shift from deterministic, user-level attribution to probabilistic modeling and SKAdNetwork-based strategies.
- Developers can reconstruct performance metrics and estimate Day 0 lifetime value (LTV) by mapping specific player actions to binary conversion values ranging from 0 to 63 within the SKAdNetwork framework.
- The loss of granular campaign-level and creative-level data significantly disrupts traditional user acquisition workflows, particularly for hypercasual games that rely on precise LTV metrics.
Curated Panel: How to Maximise ARPDAU With a Hybrid Approach
The mobile gaming industry is undergoing a fundamental shift toward hybrid monetization models, which integrate in-app purchases with in-app advertising to stabilize and maximize average revenue per daily active user.
- Hybrid monetization models that integrate in-app purchases with rewarded video are stabilizing revenue, with many studios achieving an even 50/50 split between ad-driven and purchase-driven income.
- Publishers are transitioning from manual waterfall management to automated in-app bidding to eliminate labor-intensive line-item adjustments and improve operational efficiency.
- Automated bidding platforms allow development teams to reallocate resources from ad operations toward user acquisition and core product innovation.
Unlock More than 1 Billion Potential New Users
The Unity Distribution Portal (UDP) serves as a centralized hub designed to simplify the distribution of Android games across multiple third-party app stores.
- The Unity Distribution Portal (UDP) enables developers to reach over one billion potential new users by streamlining distribution across multiple third-party Android app stores.
- The platform eliminates the need for multiple SDKs and individual builds by automatically repacking a single game build with store-specific requirements, such as in-app purchase (IAP) integrations.
- Developers can manage their entire distribution workflow through a centralized hub that supports metadata importation from the Google Play Store and provides unified performance reporting.
UA in iOS 14: Tips for Success in a Post-IDFA World
The transition to Apple’s iOS 14 privacy framework represents a fundamental shift in mobile user acquisition (UA), necessitating a move away from individual-level tracking via the Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) toward aggregated, privacy-centric measurement.
- The deprecation of IDFA necessitates a shift from individual-level tracking to aggregated, privacy-centric measurement via Apple’s SKAdNetwork (SKAN).
- SKAN limits conversion data to six bits, restricting marketers to a maximum of 64 distinct values that must be strategically encoded to track critical user milestones like revenue or tutorial completion.
- Because SKAN sends data directly to ad networks rather than MMPs, developers must implement robust internal data aggregation and standardization processes to maintain visibility.
Panel: How to use UA Funding Effectively
Effective user acquisition in the modern gaming landscape requires a departure from simple spending volume in favor of agility, fundamental optimization, and strategic alignment.
- Successful user acquisition now requires prioritizing core fundamentals like app store optimization, retention mechanics, and monetization strategies before scaling any advertising budgets.
- To counter the loss of granular user data due to privacy shifts, studios must transition to predictive lifetime value models, creative-led strategies, and media mix modeling.
- Developers can mitigate post-IDFA constraints by using Android performance data as a proxy and investing in unified SDKs to improve data synthesis.
The Game Developer's Guide to iOS 14: Expectations & Preparations
The introduction of Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework represents a significant shift in mobile privacy, moving permission management from the device level to the individual app level.
- Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework mandates that developers obtain explicit user consent to access the Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA), which is critical for user acquisition, retargeting, and ad monetization.
- Approximately 30% to 40% of users in major markets like the United States already have 'Limit Ad Tracking' enabled, meaning they will not receive the ATT prompt and will effectively opt out of IDFA tracking by default.
- Because the ATT prompt can only be displayed once per app, developers must strategically determine the optimal timing and placement to maximize consent rates while minimizing user churn.
Fireside Chat: Behind the Retargeting Success of Huuuge Games
Huuuge Games utilizes a data-driven retargeting strategy to address the high churn rates inherent in the mobile gaming industry, where approximately 90% of new players cease engagement within the first seven days.
- Huuuge Games combats a 90% first-week churn rate in mobile gaming by prioritizing the re-acquisition of lapsed users, which is more cost-effective than acquiring new players for high-LTV social casino titles.
- The company employs rigorous incrementality testing via internal uplift dashboards to distinguish between paid retargeting impact and organic user returns, ensuring marketing spend delivers genuine incremental value.
- To maximize reach beyond Facebook’s matching capabilities, the company utilizes demand-side platforms (DSPs) to engage the 30% to 35% of their user base not accessible through Facebook.
Introducing Gaming Services: Login, Sharing & Player Finder for Games
Facebook is introducing a new suite of gaming services designed to enhance player acquisition, retention, and social engagement through its ecosystem. The initiative focuses on three core pillars: watch, play, and share.
- Facebook is launching a suite of gaming services targeting its community of over 700 million monthly active users to improve player acquisition, retention, and social engagement.
- The revamped Facebook Login for Games allows players to maintain cross-platform progress while utilizing customizable identities like selectable avatars and player names.
- New sharing integrations enable users to post gaming content directly to Facebook and Instagram feeds, stories, and groups to foster organic growth.
How to Nail ASO with Apple Search Ads
Apple Search Ads (ASA) serve as a high-intent user acquisition channel that provides actionable data to refine organic App Store Optimization (ASO) strategies.
- Allocate 20% of your Apple Search Ads budget to a discovery campaign to identify new, high-performing keywords, while reserving the remaining 80% for established, high-conversion terms.
- Optimize keyword selection by targeting a balance of high search volume, high relevance, and low competitiveness, using tools like the SearchAdsHQ Chrome extension to view specific numeric popularity values.
- Maintain a clean campaign structure by adding high-performing search terms to exact-match ad groups while simultaneously adding those same terms as exact-match negatives in your discovery campaigns to prevent data overlap.
Panel: The K Factor - How Your Campaigns can also Improve Your Organic Growth
The K-factor, defined as the ratio of organic to paid user growth, serves as a complex and highly variable metric that defies universal application across the mobile gaming industry.
- The K-factor is a highly variable metric that cannot be reduced to a universal formula because organic uplift is heavily dependent on unpredictable factors like app store algorithms and influencer activity.
- Developers should prioritize optimizing app store listings, metadata, assets, and keywords over chasing a singular growth metric to maintain visibility in evolving store environments.
- Paid user acquisition acts as a catalyst for organic discovery, but the two channels are so inextricably linked that isolating the precise impact of marketing spend on organic performance is functionally difficult.
Love Bros: How Companies Should Stop Wasting Time!
Corporate inefficiency stems primarily from excessive meeting culture and a failure to protect time for deep, focused work.
- Organizations must protect deep work by decoupling the schedules of makers and managers to prevent productivity-killing context switching.
- Replace redundant meetings with asynchronous communication tools, such as status notes and video updates, to reduce operational bloat.
- Mandatory meetings must be strictly limited to 30 minutes, featuring clear agendas, designated owners, and the smallest possible participant list.
GDC Summer Live Podcast - Day 2
Predictable success in the independent game industry relies on a rigorous, data-driven approach to publishing and community management.
- Launch performance is best forecasted by prioritizing data-driven metrics, specifically Steam wishlists and platform-specific algorithm behavior.
- The Nintendo eShop ranking system favors unit volume over revenue, incentivizing developers to use aggressive discounting to achieve top-seller visibility.
- Discord communities are more effective than traditional mailing lists for driving the early reviews and wishlist counts required for successful game launches.