Two & a Half Gamers
Two & a Half Gamers is a YouTube channel covering the mobile games business. It publishes videos on ad monetization, user acquisition, game launches, studio strategies and industry news.
Documents
11 UA & Creative tips, 🦩 unleash your inner UA flamboyance (#59)
Modern user acquisition strategies rely on a rigorous synthesis of technical precision and aggressive creative experimentation to combat rising costs and market saturation.
- Prioritize long-term metrics like Day 30 or Day 90 retention over volatile short-term indicators to ensure optimization decisions support scalable growth.
- Establish a rigorous data health check to resolve misconfigured tracking and inconsistent reporting across mobile measurement partners, which are primary drivers of high cost-per-install figures.
- Implement a high-frequency creative refresh cadence to combat asset decay, utilizing a structured anatomy consisting of a compelling hook, gameplay, and a clear call to action.
SSSnaker global launch & Habby metagame framework full UA, Creatives, GD & Admon review (#58)
Habby’s global launch of SSSnaker demonstrates the efficacy of a standardized hybrid-casual framework that transforms simple core mechanics into complex, high-retention roguelite experiences.
- Habby utilizes a standardized hybrid-casual framework that retrofits external prototypes with proven progression systems and aggressive live-ops to maintain a consistent development pipeline.
- SSSnaker has reached approximately 900,000 downloads and generates roughly $120,000 in daily revenue, though it currently trails the revenue trajectory of its predecessor, Survivor.io.
- Monetization is driven primarily by gacha-based gear upgrades rather than rewarded ads, with the Taiwan market serving as a significant source of financial concentration.
Deep-dive into Google Privacy Sandbox. Same disaster as Apple ATT? When is it happening? (#57)
Google’s Privacy Sandbox represents a fundamental shift in digital advertising, aiming to preserve performance marketing capabilities on Chrome and Android without relying on third-party cookies or device-level identifiers like the GAID.
- Google’s Privacy Sandbox replaces third-party cookies and GAID with on-device, audience-level data processing to maintain ad targeting while keeping sensitive user information local.
- Major implementation changes for Chrome and Android are scheduled to occur between late 2024 and 2025.
- Unlike Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT), which severely restricted retargeting, the Privacy Sandbox architecture is specifically designed to preserve retargeting capabilities for advertisers.
Frozen City vs Whiteout Survival, ad monetisation potential, UA, creatives & GD review (#56)
Century Games has experienced rapid financial expansion, with monthly revenues surging from $1 million in 2020 to $21 million by early 2023.
- Century Games is missing significant revenue potential in Frozen City by failing to implement robust ad monetization, leaving an estimated $2.6 million per month on the table based on current DAU levels.
- Whiteout Survival is outperforming Frozen City in early retention metrics, with Day 1 retention at 58% compared to Frozen City's 51% and Day 7 retention at 30% versus 22%.
- Frozen City has reached a scale of 4.2 million players, split evenly between iOS and Android, yet the developers have prioritized IAP revenue from whales over ad-based monetization.
Deep & actionable SKAN 4.0 breakdown with Eran from Singular. What to expect from SKAN 4.0? (#55)
Apple’s SKAN 4.0 framework represents a pivotal shift in mobile attribution, moving beyond the restrictive 24-hour measurement windows of its predecessor to provide a more comprehensive view of long-term user behavior.
- SKAN 4.0 introduces three distinct conversion windows at 2, 7, and 35 days, enabling the measurement of long-term metrics like D35 return on ad spend.
- The framework expands source identifiers from 100 to 10,000, theoretically allowing for significantly deeper analysis of ad-set, creative, and placement performance.
- Access to high-fidelity data is gated by crowd anonymity tiers, meaning only high-volume advertisers will consistently receive the most granular reporting.
two & a half gamers session #54 & Eric Kress - Everything is dead & new frontier of game development
The mobile gaming industry is currently navigating a period of profound structural instability, often described as a market-wide contraction.
- The mobile gaming market is currently stagnant, with a thesis that it will remain a difficult environment for at least the next 12 to 24 months as publishers struggle to adapt to privacy-driven changes.
- Traditional User Acquisition (UA) strategies centered on arbitrage and targeting whales are no longer viable, leading to a decline in both total downloads and revenue yields across the US market.
- Approximately 70% to 80% of mobile revenue generated by social casino, puzzle, strategy, and RPG genres is under significant pressure, making it increasingly difficult to scale new games in these categories.
two & a half gamers session #53 - Eversoul, a trending waifu game with full GD, UA, Admon review
Eversoul represents a significant entry in the idle RPG genre, blending traditional auto-battling mechanics with high-production JRPG-style exploration, puzzle-solving, and deep character-driven relationship systems.
- Eversoul generated $15 million in in-app purchase revenue since its January launch, demonstrating the financial viability of narrative-rich, character-focused idle RPGs.
- The game sustains strong performance with modest daily install volumes of approximately 6,000, proving that high player engagement and monetization can offset lower user acquisition scale.
- Eversoul’s success is driven by user-centric design choices, including an infinite starter gacha banner and quality-of-life subscription models that foster deep player investment.
two & a half gamers session #52 - Admon gossip corner, Unity expensive bug, APS, Google 3 placements
Technical stability and strategic ad stack management remain critical pillars for mobile game publishers seeking to optimize revenue.
- AdMob has removed its restriction limiting publishers to three ad placements per waterfall when using third-party mediation, allowing for greater inventory exposure to Google demand.
- A significant reporting error within the Unity platform recently caused widespread data discrepancies, forcing many developers to disable placements to mitigate financial risk.
- Amazon Publisher Services is becoming a high-potential monetization channel, with developers encouraged to pursue direct Transparent Ad Marketplace deals to bypass intermediary margins.
two & a half gamers session #51 - Live Special @ Gamesforum Barcelona
The mobile gaming industry is currently undergoing a structural shift toward aggressive monetization and rapid capital recovery.
- Mobile game developers have shifted from one-year payback targets to aggressive 30-to-90-day windows to combat global economic uncertainty and ensure rapid capital recovery.
- Studios are increasingly prioritizing ad-monetized titles and low-cost user acquisition strategies to maintain financial viability in a competitive market.
- Transitioning to advanced mediation solutions like AppLovin’s MAX can generate a 6 to 7 percent revenue uplift, provided that ad formats and end-card configurations are meticulously managed.
two & a half gamers session #50 - Deep analysis of the current web3 market, implications & future
The Web3 gaming sector is currently undergoing a critical transition from speculative growth to a more disciplined, product-focused development phase.
- Web3 gaming is currently transitioning from 'play-to-earn' models toward 'play-to-own' and other utility-focused mechanics, as developers seek to enable new functionality rather than simply layering blockchain onto existing game loops.
- Major industry failures like Terra, FTX, and the Ronin bridge hack were driven by human error and non-blockchain-related mismanagement rather than inherent failures of blockchain technology itself.
- The influx of venture capital into Web3 gaming remains significant, with recent examples including a $150 million round for Phoenix Games and a $1.5 billion fund from Coinbase founder Brian Armstrong's Haun Ventures.
two & a half gamers session #49 - How to leverage User Churn Prediction? Why is it important?
User churn prediction serves as a vital data science strategy for maximizing player lifetime value and long-term retention within the mobile gaming industry.
- User churn prediction models should aim for high accuracy, as relying on generic rules—such as assuming a user is lost after seven days of inactivity—can cause studios to miss high-value whales who exhibit unique engagement patterns.
- Data science models for churn should be evaluated using the Area Under the Curve (AUC/AUROC) metric rather than simple accuracy to ensure the model effectively distinguishes between at-risk and retained users.
- After seven days of inactivity, the probability of a mobile game user returning drops below 5%, whereas a two-day inactivity window typically leaves a 25% chance of return.
two & a half gamers session #48 - Could Frozen City earn 80% more revenue? Full UA, Admon, GD review
Frozen City has established a strong market presence as a mobile survival city-builder, achieving significant daily in-app purchase revenue of approximately $130,000.
- Frozen City generates approximately $130,000 in daily in-app purchase revenue but is under-monetizing its ad inventory, which currently contributes only 15% of total income.
- Implementing aggressive, user-tailored ad placements—such as resource boosts, time-skipping mechanics, and welcome-back multipliers—could increase monthly revenue by several million dollars.
- A simple technical update to the ads.txt file represents an immediate, low-effort opportunity to capture a 5–10% uplift in ad revenue.