Balancing Act of F2P Games: Acquire, Retain, and Engage Players

Every F2P game relies on UA channels to attract new players, through organic or paid methods.

For mobile games, social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok are popular acquisition channels. In contrast, PC and console games often use platforms such as Steam, Reddit, YouTube, and Twitter to reach potential players.

Regardless of how newcomers discover your game, a seamless onboarding experience and engaging tutorial are essential to ensure early retention (D1, D3, D7). Especially today, with acquisition costs higher than they were four years ago, it’s crucial to treat every player as a potential paying customer and find ways to maximize their engagement.

Players acquired through these channels are often referred to as “newcomers” or “casual players.” They may join your game because a friend invited them, they saw their favorite influencer playing it, or most commonly, they clicked on an ad. No matter the entry point, their initial experience will determine whether they stick around.

In Deadlock, Valve’s latest MOBA, players are guided through a tutorial that gradually introduces core mechanics, map navigation, and missions via AI opponents over a 30-minute session. It’s an entertaining way to ensure that players understand the basics, reducing the risk of frustration later on and preventing simple mistakes that could impact their team.

Casual players, however, tend to have the lowest spending rates. Therefore, the focus should be on maximizing their time investment rather than on immediate monetization. Early retention and keeping them coming back should be your top priorities at this stage.

The Transition: Casual to Core Players

The line between casual and core players is thin, and the transition often hinges on how enjoyable and rewarding the early gameplay experience is. During the first few days in mobile games and the first few weeks in PC games, newcomers must find enough content and fun to make a compelling case for investing their time. They should be slightly challenged but generously rewarded, ensuring a smooth bridge from casual interest to a more committed playstyle.

Those who cross this bridge become core players, often forming the majority of your player base. At this stage, they’re happy with the game’s mechanics and may start considering spending time and money. Now, the goal shifts from mere retention to creating a “stickiness”—a deep, ongoing engagement that keeps them returning daily.

Core Players to Hardcore Fans

To cultivate this ongoing loop, offer core players enticing daily deals and incorporate regular content updates, like daily or weekly missions. Apex Legends and Brawl Stars, for instance, use 10- to 30-day battle pass systems to reward players for consistent play, driving engagement with a sense of progression. Monitoring metrics like Average Revenue Per Daily Active User (ARPDAU) will help determine if you’re successfully converting early retention into deeper engagement.

Congratulations, you now have superfans—commonly known as “whales”—willing to unlock any content, pay for premium deals, and achieve the toughest missions. These players feed your game’s ecosystem by driving organic growth through streaming, creating social buzz, and spending time dominating newer players in PvP modes.

Balancing All Player Types

You might think that maximizing profit means having as many hardcore players as possible. While this can be beneficial, the real key lies in maintaining a balanced ecosystem of casual, core, and hardcore players. Each group demands different gameplay, content, and rewards. For example, a casual player’s reward might be unlocking a second level, while a hardcore player seeks the satisfaction of topping leaderboards or outmaneuvering opponents in competitive arenas.

Player segmentation may not be as clear-cut as these three types, but it will fall within a similar range. To illustrate, take a cross-platform PvPvE MMORPG with massive servers—like Albion Online—where different player types can coexist.

An Example: Albion Online

Albion Online offers various difficulty levels to cater to all players. It starts with low-risk zones that teach game mechanics and daily loops. Mid-tier zones introduce PvP without risking your loot, creating a bridge for casual players to become core players. Finally, high-risk zones offer the best rewards but come with the danger of losing everything to other players, pushing core and hardcore players to strategize and adapt.

One Mechanic, Many Layers

Games like Coin Master use a different approach, employing a simple yet addictive loop. Players spin a slot machine to attack other players’ bases, loot resources, and defend their own—sometimes even while offline. These mechanics encourage daily play, creating engagement without complex controls.

The Bottom Line

While it may seem like the ultimate goal is to convert all newcomers into “whales,” the true key to success lies in maintaining a healthy balance across all player types, each contributing to the game’s ecosystem in unique ways. Identifying and nurturing these different groups through tailored content and rewards is crucial for a sustainable free-to-play game.

TL;DR: The goal of a free-to-play game isn’t just to turn newcomers into hardcore players, but to maintain a balanced flow of all player types to create a thriving, dynamic ecosystem.