Mobile Games Live-Ops Cheat Sheet

The ultimate goal of any product changes in a game is to increase LTV.

However, LTV is a rather general metric, and changes in it are hard to measure after each individual update.

🎯 Therefore, it’s better to focus on improving 4 fundamental metrics, each of which will ultimately enhance LTV – either directly or indirectly, over time.

4️⃣ Key Metrics:

1. Retention
2. Playtime
3. Conversion to paying user
4. ARPU (Daily / Weekly)

🔍 Once you determine which metric you want to influence, you should choose an appropriate aspect that can be improved in this regard.

> For example, improve the game Meta to enhance long-term Retention.

Some aspects of the game can influence several key metrics simultaneously:

> For instance, exciting competitions with other players can both increase ARPDAU and Playtime 🏆

And some changes might improve one metric at the expense of another:

> By increasing difficulty and enhancing paywalls, you can increase Conversion, but at the same time Drop Retention (More players will start paying, but also more Churn) 😕

⚖️ Therefore, it is often important to find an optimal balance between the impacts of changes on different metrics.

DISCLAIMER: This cheat sheet is a simplified approach to Live-Ops.

In reality, many aspects are more interconnected, and sometimes it’s important to influence other, more specific metrics such as Average Check or ARPPU.

Also, other genre-specific changes can influence the key metrics.