When to Scale a Mobile Game?

Highlights Journal 11 Matej Lancaric April 3

Matej Lancaric

82 Posts

Hey, FAM! What’s up?

🥃 Drink talk

First, it was vibe coding; now, I have started seeing vibe prompting and even vibe marketing. Jesus fucking Christ. Are you serious?

🦩Tip of the week

When to Scale a Mobile Game?

1. Analyze Soft Launch Performance

Before scaling, a game must pass a soft launch and ideally some time after global launch. This phase serves as a litmus test for:

Cohort Profitability: Tracking how different cohorts of players perform in terms of lifetime value (LTV).
Retention Metrics: This includes Day 1, Day 7, and Day 30 retention rates. Successful scaling typically requires a minimum of 10-15% retention after Day 30.
Monetization Consistency: Ensure that in-app purchases (IAP) and ad revenues are consistent and can be predicted over time.

2. Confirm Cohort Consistency

While early cohorts may perform well, consistency is key. The game must maintain solid performance across multiple cohorts rather than relying on a single high-performing group. This is crucial because a single cohort success does not guarantee future profitability when scaling.

3. Track Marketing Efficiency

The efficiency of user acquisition efforts is a critical consideration before scaling. Track metrics such as:

Cost Per Install (CPI): Evaluate if the CPI is sustainable as user acquisition scales.
Return on Ad Spend (ROAS): Look for a positive net ROAS over multiple cohorts and ensure that the ROAS is sustainable at higher spend levels.

4. Financial Readiness

Scaling a game demands significant financial resources. Game developers must ensure that they have enough cash flow to support the scaling phase without jeopardizing other areas of the business, such as product development or operational costs. In cases where internal resources are not sufficient, options like venture capital or cohort financing can be explored. Debt financing or cohort-based credit lines offer non-dilutive funding for scaling while aligning the lender’s risk with the game’s success.

5. Establish Clear Metrics for Scaling

Develop a clear set of metrics that will guide scaling decisions:

Profitability Metrics: Achieve 100% net dX ROAS, which indicates that the game is paying back its marketing spend and delivering sustainable profit.
Scale Limits: Understand each channel’s limitations and adjust spending accordingly. For example, some channels may have diminishing returns after reaching a specific spending threshold.

6. Testing and Creative Refreshment

Scaling requires constant testing, especially on the creative side. Marketers should not rely on one “hero” creative. Instead, continuously test new creative concepts to maintain performance across various channels.

7. Predictive Models and Forecasting

Use predictive models based on cohort data and historical performance trends to forecast future performance. Predicting the terminal ROAS (the point where user cohorts will no longer generate a positive return) can help marketers and developers make informed scaling decisions.

Check it out!

🐊 Cornelius: The Suspicious Investi-gator

True detective-like exploration of creative trends and historical influences. Delving deep into the world of creatives to uncover hidden patterns and inspirations:

𝗔𝗜 𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲. It is an efficient way to test hooks. But there is a TikTok trend that you might not know bout. 𝗣𝗢𝗩 𝗔𝗜 𝗧𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗗 Dream Games is testing different hooks and combining them with the creative winner. Easy, right? 𝗣𝗢𝗩 𝗔𝗜 𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗼𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗧𝗶𝗸𝗧𝗼𝗸 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁, and now there’s a new spin on this trend as viewers can imagine what it’s like to be a famous celebrity. The videos using artificial intelligence began going viral as they showed different points in history, including Pompeii, the Black Plague, and WWII. While this kind of world-building has been a hit with viewers on the platform, the latest development is good news for anyone who has ever wondered about both the experience of being a celebrity and what that entails on a daily basis.

Yours truly, Cornelius.

💀 Dr. Doom is not amused

One of my industry friends amused me with his direct and honest TL;DRs, so we agreed to share it here, too! My friend remains anonymous as Dr.Doom!

“Dr.Doom is on a quick break, but sent the link. Speaks for itself.” Sincerely, Doom executive assistant (https://www.pcgamer.com/games/starcraft-fans-taunted-by-the-announcement-of-a-new-starcraft-board-game/)

🎉 “Ha-ha” moment

Because life is too short to be serious.

🎮 two & a half gamers – Screwdom review

Screwdom 3D went from soft launch to $𝟯.𝟲𝗠/𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲 — and here’s why every UA team & game designer should pay attention.

Built by a Vietnamese 80-person team (iKame Global and partner studio Zego), Screwdom is a masterclass in:

✔️ Deep hybrid-casual gameplay

✔️ Rewarded video monetization

✔️ Smart UA scaling using massive creative variety

$𝟮𝗠/𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗜𝗔𝗣𝘀 and $𝟭.𝟲𝗠/𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗮𝗱𝘀 (62k/day from rewarded, 55k/day from interstitials), 350K downloads/day at peak, now steady at 170K/day 𝗦𝗽𝗹𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘀 ~𝟲𝟬% 𝗜𝗔𝗣 / 𝟰𝟬% 𝗮𝗱𝘀 = 𝗨𝗔 𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗔𝗚𝗘𝗥’𝗦 𝗗𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗠

And get this:

• 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 feature custom 3D items, satisfying physics, and UGC hooks (yes, even garlic jokes and cat puzzles)

• 𝟯𝗗 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗮 𝗴𝗶𝗺𝗺𝗶𝗰𝗸 – it’s the core mechanic. You rotate, unscrew, and solve for real. Its actually pretty hard.

• 𝗟𝗼𝘄 𝗖𝗣𝗜 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁. The US is only ~12% of traffic. If you work in UA, Monetization, Game Design …𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗯𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝘁

📺 Watch on YouTube

🎧 Listen on Spotify

👕 Get our Merch: 25gamers.com/shop

🦄 Diary of a Dancing Unicorn

Today was a good day.

Hey, could I intro you to this person? He/She is a founder with years of experience and asked about you a lot lately.

Yeah, I know this person quite well, thanks to the previous company. Sure. let’s talk.

…

Hey! Thanks for taking the time to talk to us today. I have to say, I watched every episode. Based on how you speak about UA, discuss creatives, and stuff, and the fact that we spent hundreds of millions of USD monthly, you are pretty good at what you do.

We should work together.

Today was a good day.

🤺 Quote of the week

“Do not open at the office” – Paolo, 2.5 gamers slack

💡 PS: The latest UA & marketing jobs for you prepared by Gamigion:

When to Scale a Mobile Game?

Matej Lancaric

🥃 Drink talk

🦩Tip of the week

🐊 Cornelius: The Suspicious Investi-gator

💀 Dr. Doom is not amused

🎉 “Ha-ha” moment

🎮 two & a half gamers – Screwdom review

🦄 Diary of a Dancing Unicorn

🤺 Quote of the week

💡 PS: The latest UA & marketing jobs for you prepared by Gamigion:

Matej Lancaric

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