admonetization

⚡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 […]

TOP 10 HYBRID & HYPERCASUAL # 3, WEEK, JULY, 2024 “I really enjoy Burger please!, a very fun addictive game. Supercent is very well-positioned in the market. Its future will be bright!”👆 I made this statement in April 2023. 👆At the time, the South Korean 🇰🇷 game company was taking its first steps as a relevant competitor in the market.More than a year later, my prediction was right. 🎯With a portfolio of almost 600MM downloads and several newly released hits, the Idle Arcades expert is undoubtedly a big publisher. 🏅✨ Supercent shines! ✨Its Idle Arcades are a masterclass in iteration. 👉🧠Each new launch strictly follows the rule of 90% replication and 10% innovation, always taking advantage of what has worked in previous games.In recent weeks, they have once again surprised the market with another title: “Prison Life: Idle Game”. 👮The […]

AD APOCALYPSE 2024 with Felix Braberg, Ad Monetization Consultant (Spotify link)In-App Ads Across Game Genres (DOF Spotify 2:01)Varied Revenue Impact: RPGs gain about 20% revenue from ads, hyper-casual games as high as 95%, and word/board games around 70-80%.High Ad Engagement: Core genres like RPGs and strategy games see over 90% ad completion rates, indicating strong player engagement.Changes in Mobile Ad Monetization Post-Privacy Updates (DOF Spotify 4:06)Shift to Non-Targeted Ads: Removal of IDFA led to more non-targeted ads, initially dropping eCPM by 50% on iOS.eCPM Recovery: Despite IDFA removal, eCPM recovered, with the gap between consented and non-consented users reducing from 60% to 18%.Use of Fingerprinting Techniques: Despite Apple's disapproval, networks used fingerprinting for ad targeting, showing resilience in ad monetization.Rewarded Ad Monetization: Balancing Revenue and Experience (DOF Spotify 5:22)Quality and Intrusiveness Concerns: Criticisms of low-quality content and intrusive end cards […]

There are several questions that I ask from founders before investing. Many of these are related to human psychology: - Have you had any entrepreneurial experiences in life, and what did you learn from them?- What have you learned from failure in your life?- Why are you doing this startup and not something else?These questions help to understand the founder's ambition, motivation, and preparation for the long, hard road ahead.

I got told the other day that "there's too many juniors trying to work in games." Um ya'll. The pie is not finite. We can make it bigger. And ALL these peeps can find work. 🎂 We have more people trying to break into games than ever before and fewer seats for all those butts. And this IS an issue. It means juniors are working harder, waiting longer, and becoming more desperate than they ever have. But the problem is NOT that there are too many juniors. Juniors are the lifeblood of any industry. They ensure continuity and innovation. The problem is ridiculous levels of gatekeeping, too centralized a market with too many big players owning too many of the aforementioned seats, and good old corporate greed. ("Hey! Everyone is laying people off! That means we can too and avoid […]

What's one early investment I passed on that I regret, and what did it teach me? In 2021, a US-based startup was developing avatar tech with a somewhat experienced team. I passed on investing because I felt there was no real business in B2B avatar services.Twelve months later, the company was acquired by a tech giant with an 8X multiple of the valuation that I could have invested in.What did I learn?- I quickly dismissed the opportunity for their product in the market. It's too small, I thought. With further analysis, I could have understood the underlying potential and the appetite of tech giants to do M&A in the space.- I should have consulted other angel investors and VCs who were investing in the round. Back then, I felt like I needed to develop a conviction to invest on my […]

01 - The Building Pie In my last post, I shared some personal notes on the key elements that make a building recognizable and functional in a game environment. Today, I’m introducing the first tip in a series: “The Building Pie”—a simple yet effective framework for designing urban buildings that are easily identifiable and interactive, even with minimal detail.Here’s a quick breakdown:A - Street Level: The tallest floor, essential for shaping the urban play space and player interactions. This level not only serves as the foundation for gameplay but also defines the negative space in the surrounding environment, making it an integral part of the city’s design.B - Floors: Repeated layers that establish rhythm, scale, and the overall profile of the building. These floors also play a crucial role in defining the shadows cast at street level, setting the mood […]

🚀 Strategies for Entering a New Market with Ad Revenue GrowthTo maximize success, below are some key strategies to incorporate into your expansion plan:1️⃣ Market-Specific Strategies:eCPM Optimization: You'll customize our eCPM (effective cost per mille) floor settings for specific markets to ensure profitability while reaching a broad audience.User Behavior Insights: By researching user behavior, you'll gain valuable insights to optimize ad performance through A/B testing. Here are some areas you'll explore:▶ Lifting ad frequency caps to increase impressions strategically.▶Testing premium ad formats to potentially increase eCPM.▶ Country-specific ad network integration.2️⃣ Promoting Within Your App Portfolio:House Ad Campaigns: You'll leverage your mediation's house ad functionality(aka: direct sales & cross-promotion) to cross-promote your apps within the unfilled inventory, maximizing user engagement across our portfolio.3️⃣ User Acquisition through Paid Ads:Targeted Campaigns: You'll consider running targeted paid ad campaigns to reach new users, potentially […]

Finnish #gameindustry is at its worst economical point, and we need to have a reality check on the causes that has driven us here - this is important if we would want to achieve the vision Ilkka Paananen called out along with Suomen startup-yhteisö. 1. Lack of commercial sentiment & #leadership - after 2016-2018, the industry were left behind vs. how foreign businesses evolved:- Studios have been too creative-driven & relaxed.- IP & brand syndromes, e.g., many haven't created new hits since their 1st nor been able to create new IPs / brands.- Missed completely #hypercasual wave & its learnings; and, because of this, came late to #hybridcasual.- Many don't know how to publish & distribute games. Many early stage studios leaned on publishers, whilst after #IDFA there's a clear gap between how foreign studios distribute games vs. our studios […]

Did you know that 85-95% of mobile ads fail? This high failure rate indicates that most new ad concepts struggle to become top performers. If an ad isn't the best performer, it will stop getting impressions very quickly—in some cases, as little as a few hundred or a few thousand impressions. Yet, some ads, as if sprinkled with magic, continue to perform for weeks or months, spending a tremendous amount of money.   Source: Consumer Acquisition There is no changing the failure or success rate. The only thing you can do is come up with a mechanism for incubating new ideas. We hypothesize that AI can help you take your best-performing videos and keep them alive longer. Leveraging AI Components to Keep Winning Ads Alive UA managers are unique; they deal with minutiae all day and excel at it. By […]

Games to Avoid #2: The Collect 'Em All + Cake/Bloom Sort Trend 📉🚫 While some game mechanics can initially attract downloads 📥, we've observed several titles that have struggled to scale 📉, making them risky for studios to pursue 🚫. Here are some examples of the "Collect 'Em All by Voodoo+ Bloom Sort" by Lion Studios mechanic that have failed to gain traction due to high CPI and retention challenges:These are just two of the many titles which tried this idea merge1️⃣ Cake Master by Serenico Labs 🎂❌2️⃣ Link n Bloom by Cympl Studios 🌸🚫We've seen many studios attempt this combination and fail, despite creative efforts. It's clear that the "Collect 'Em All + Bloom Sort" trend is not the best direction for most studios at this time.If you are a new studio considering this idea, it may be wise […]

The best way to balance short- and long-term rewards as an investor is to first be a founder. For me, the craving for short-term returns was extinguished as I struggled to get my first startup off the ground. After starting in 2005, it took until 2010 for us to finally become profitable. Then, a year later, our numbers started sloping down, and we tried everything to recover, ultimately shutting down in August 2011.With my next startup, which launched in 2013, it took three years to reach profitability, which was sustainable until an exit some years later.As an investor, I only view startups through the long-term lens.