Journal

🚨𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐀𝐝𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜🚨 At least for a while.Today, I’m sharing another real case study with a client I recently partnered with.Our goal is to accelerate the growth in one of their key markets (mostly dominated by Android) so, in early January, we launched paid campaigns on Google Ads.When we started the campaign, we were so surprised because the CPA (in this case cost per signup) was ridiculously lower compared to previous tests on Meta or TikTok so we started to monitor the organic traffic to see if Google was just targeting users who searched our brand because we were seeing a huge spend in Serch (screenshot 2)Was Google just targeting users already searching for our brand?Quite obvious right? Since we started the campaign, our organic started a very declining trend as you can see […]

Monetization in F2P mobile games and Premium Games incorporating F2P mechanics has largely revolved around a handful of tried-and-true methods such as battle passes, gacha, limited-time offers, and soft friction mechanics. However, there remains a vast, unexplored blue ocean of economic and real-life inspired systems that could redefine how we design F2P game economies, player interactions, and monetization strategies.This article explores how these macro-economic and political systems can be used to enhance player engagement, create new monetization opportunities, and introduce social mechanics that go far beyond e.g., leaderboards and guilds. All from F2P point of view.Note: Inspiration for the article comes not just from my mind but from couple discussions I’ve taken part in via LinkedIn as well as throughout other personal venturing. Big thanks for those involved for giving inspiration for me to explore these topics on a scale!Economic […]

Royal Match Hits $5B User Spending 🔥 Royal Match remains the leader in Match 3 with a complex meta genre, capturing an overwhelming 50% of the market 📈The game is confidently increasing its user spending number and achieving $126M in monthly revenue to close out the year 🚀In 2024, the game shifted focus from scaling downloads to enhancing LiveOps with new social features, mechanics, and innovative event integrations 💰

In recent years, the gaming industry has witnessed a significant convergence between F2P monetization strategies and premium, full-priced games. Developers are increasingly integrating F2P elements such as microtransactions, DLC, battle passes, and premium currencies into premium titles to enhance (in well executed cases) player engagement and generate additional revenue streams.Microtransactions and DLC in Premium GamesTraditionally, premium games offered substantial content upfront, with occasional expansions or DLCs providing additional gameplay, storylines, or characters.However, the landscape has evolved, and many premium titles now incorporate microtransactions — small, optional purchases that allow players to acquire in-game items, cosmetics, characters, or other enhancements. For example, games like Diablo 4 and Helldivers 2 have implemented in-game stores focusing on e.g., cosmetic items and battle passes, generating revenue beyond other means. Helldivers 2, in particular, has been perceived positively (mostly, whilst some of their package prices […]

Absolutely love this "Welcome Back!" screen from Travel Town by Moon Active! 🎉 This is the first time I’ve seen a welcome-back feature that spans multiple days instead of being a one-time reward. Such a smart way to keep players engaged and coming back for more! 😊

Are Relgious-themed games the best advertising revenue niche in the mobile industry? One of the most profitable ad revenue generators are word games. Games like Words of Wonder (IAA $3m/month), Word Scapes(IAA $4.3/month), and Word Connect (IAA $400k/month) combined have about 20 million DAU and consistently top the charts for the most downloads. The genera is hyper-competitive, but one game has been able to navigate it since 2018 by appealing to a clever niche and thus avoiding going head-to-head against the other word game incumbents. Bible Word Puzzle is a word puzzle game that has been downloaded 27 million times and generated $2 million in IAP revenue since its launch. It has a massive 200k DAU, half of which is in the USA, and based on eCPMs, I estimate that it generates between 600-800k/month in ads. That means this title […]

25 Live-Ops Features Starter Pack Here's a list of FREE feature references from top games from Playliner: 💰 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗙𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀• Piggy Bank - https://lnkd.in/emVf-HFK• Double & Tripple Offers - https://lnkd.in/e33TSHeZhttps://lnkd.in/eAtg-ZWz• Rolling Offer - https://lnkd.in/eiAY8dkuhttps://lnkd.in/eyYq5Swjhttps://lnkd.in/eZ_deifj• Starter Pack Offer - https://lnkd.in/efmsKB5N🕹️ 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗠𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗰𝘀• Happy Hours - https://lnkd.in/ezYv9bkxhttps://lnkd.in/e2sSrQbj• Daily Quests - https://lnkd.in/eGkvtAyX• Race Tournament - https://lnkd.in/eHPT2EyY• Solo Tournament - https://lnkd.in/eh-nXFdC• Win Streak - https://lnkd.in/eeCi2AB2https://lnkd.in/eNVuA2Zm• Milestone Tasks - https://lnkd.in/eXQKuMiihttps://lnkd.in/eUNBP9Wf• Time pressing challenge -https://lnkd.in/e8BjptVzhttps://lnkd.in/er7GdTj2🔄 𝗥𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗠𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗰𝘀• Daily Bonus - https://lnkd.in/e3Sq6hYf• Push Notifications - https://lnkd.in/e3Git_br• Album Collection -https://lnkd.in/eWP8Yty2https://lnkd.in/eyS6VTuV👥 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗙𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀• Partners - https://lnkd.in/ePZnKd2Y• Clans - https://lnkd.in/enpPEUqE• Friends - https://lnkd.in/emC7jhVP• Team Tournament - https://lnkd.in/eaSwymN9https://lnkd.in/edxn4R3c 🎲 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 \ 𝟮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗲• Board Minigame - https://lnkd.in/ett2T2yMhttps://lnkd.in/esrMWych• Treasure Hunt Minigame -https://lnkd.in/e9r-UqM3https://lnkd.in/eZTvkkSxhttps://lnkd.in/eViQeQRb• Plinko - https://lnkd.in/evmF83kK• Slot Machine / Wheel Minigame -https://lnkd.in/eMwVp8MUhttps://lnkd.in/e2Gsstmf• Puzzle - https://lnkd.in/ekTH7aQp🗝️ 𝗦𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗮𝘀𝘀• https://lnkd.in/eaqVUqFW• https://lnkd.in/ekpCBh_J• https://lnkd.in/es5sGa5w

Color Block Jam by Rollic scaled to $300K 🤑 a day in just 2 months 😱 Developed by Gybe Games, this is another successful Hybrid-casual puzzler in Rollic's portfolio, and we couldn't wait to review it for you 😎 Core gameplay is deterministic puzzle, with a timer as loose condition. This is again similar to games like Twisted Tangle, where levels are not randomized and you build up your strategy in trial/error fashion. If you lose, there is literally a "Fail Offer" as per the good Hybrid puzzler standard nowadays 😅. As said, Rollic has lots of experience with this specific setup and of course Hybrid-casual puzzlers by itself, so no wonder this game is scaling like crazy currently 💹. Core idea is a great iteration on tile moving puzzles, where you have limited space to work with. The iteration […]