Pokémon TCG has earned $100 million in IAP

💲Pokémon TCG has earned $100 million in IAP revenue just three weeks after launching globally. I took a closer look at how their in-game shop is designed, and here are quick observations: 1️⃣ 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘱 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘯.The shop appears right after the tutorial, before your first battle. It might seem a bit pushy, but in this case, it works because players naturally want to collect more cards (the strength of the Pokémon IP plays an important role here)—and the shop lets you buy currencies to open packs faster.2️⃣ 𝘍𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭.One of the first products promoted by developers is a 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. We recently discussed with Michal Korek in our webinar#5 how subscriptions are one of the most underestimated monetization features with the potential to boost revenue. Pokémon devs offer their subscription with a 2-week […]

Julia Iljuk November 21

Journal

Competition is the Best that can happen to your SaaS Startup

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗦𝗮𝗮𝗦 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽 🚀 If there is only one piece of advice I could give to startup founders, this would be it.It’s natural to feel uneasy about competition. But here is the truth: if you're building a new product category on the market, your main "competitors" aren't fellow startups - but the tools made in-house or basic things like spreadsheets and Google products. Whereas 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗷𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁. Think of it from a consumer behavior perspective: choosing between only two very different options - A (your startup) and B (in-house tools) can be tough. But if you throw in option “A-“, which is similar to “A”, it eases the choice. Now, the “B” option (in-house tools) disappears from […]

Julia Iljuk September 20

Journal

How to Make A Powerful No Ads Offer in Hybrid Casual Games?

⚡𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗳𝘂𝗹 "𝗡𝗼 𝗔𝗱𝘀" 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝘆𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗱 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀? "No Ads" is very likely the first purchase players will make in your hybrid casual game. I collected some successful designs of these offers and noted the details that make these offers powerful.1️⃣ 🏛 The "𝗰𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗰" 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 of "No Ads" implies there is a bundle (usually a starter pack), which includes the main item "No Ads" to remove forced/all ads forever + several filler items (currencies, boosters, etc.). Examples include:🎮 𝗠𝘆 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗛𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗹 (SayGames). • There are two packs—a cheaper "No ADS Pack" for €9.99 and a "Premium Pack" for €22.99 with a wider variety and quantity of filler items. By introducing the second option, the game gives a chance for high spenders to leave higher checks.• The presence of filler items increases the perceived value of a […]

Julia Iljuk August 19

Journal

Comfort Pack Logic Can Boost Conversion and ARPPU

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗣𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗥𝗣𝗣𝗨 Are you still giving the same shopping experience to all players? Use this simple trick - Comfort Pack - to sell to more players without reducing their checks. Illustrated on the example from Monopoly GO.❔𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗸?Comfort Pack is the player’s sweet spot - typically their most common or recent highest purchase. Your shop should present offers starting at that price and occasionally nudge for an upsell. Very important: you should avoid displaying lower-priced items unless the Comfort Pack has changed.🛒 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗽𝗼𝗹𝘆 𝗚𝗢:As a non-paying player in Monopoly GO, you enter the game shop and find a carousel of bundles ranging from €1.99 to €22.99. After making your first purchase of €1.99, your lowest bundle shifts to €5.99, aligning with your spending tendencies.⏱ 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝘆𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 […]

Julia Iljuk June 3

Journal

Highlights from Unity Gaming Report 2024

Just got my hands on the Unity 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰 and highlighted key points for you. A quote that resonates: “𝑀𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑠 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑦 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑐𝑢𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑠. 𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑒𝑡 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑔𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛 𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑦, 𝑚𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑧𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑠, 𝑙𝑎𝑢𝑛𝑐ℎ 𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑔𝑎𝑚𝑒. 𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑠 𝑙𝑜𝑤-𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑘 𝑡𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑢𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠.”𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁: • While the DAU on mobile is growing (+4%), IAP revenues, payer rate, and retention are dropping. • IAP ARPDAU is down 13% compared to 2022.• In-app advertising (IAA) ARPDAU is rising, which may signal the need for revenue stream diversification (pic 4).𝗦𝗼, 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲?• Thriving in a challenging market means working smarter (do more with less) and using low-risk tactics.• LiveOps is one of […]

Julia Iljuk May 6

Journal

Wrapping Up Think Games by Google

It's time to wrap up ThinkGames (by Deconstructor of Fun and Google) and share some notes and highlights: • Last year's predictions about layoffs and vc winter came true, with fewer investments and smaller checks observed for new titles.• Market consolidation is strengthening, with the top 5 games in each category claiming a larger piece of the revenue cake.• Most revenue comes from titles that have been on the market for over 5 years. Launching new successful titles is increasingly challenging, though not impossible as seen with Monopoly GO.• The gaming market has matured, requiring developers to navigate it more deliberately (vs lean).• 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗟𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗢𝗽𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗿𝘂𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵 𝗖𝗣𝗜 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀.• In general, games are recovering slower than apps from the post-Covid IAP decline.However, there is always space for a silver lining and promising trends:✨ Hybrid games are […]

Julia Iljuk March 25

Julia Iljuk