• Five Tips to improve your games-as-a-service monetization
  • Moonlit Beshimov
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Practical tips for increasing revenue without driving players away

In today’s games-as-a-service world on mobile, figuring out player lifecycle value (LTV) can be complicated. Unlike traditional console games, revenue now consists not of a single purchase, but of many tiny transactions. However, even without an accurate statistical model, you can realize that the more time a player spends in your game, the more money they will spend and the higher lifecycle value they will generate.

However, I am often asked by mobile game developers “How can we increase revenue without driving away players?” More often than not, I recommend that they follow one of these 5 best practices:

1. Collect user behavior indicators that have a significant positive correlation with lifecycle value

It’s important to know how your game will compete with industry averages. Having a good reporting plan will help you find out how improvements to your game affect your players. The key metrics most relevant to player lifecycle value are as follows:

  • Day 1, 7, and 30 retention are the percentage of users who return on day X after installation. These measure your ability to retain users, and thus the extent to which casual players are converted into loyal players.
  • Live time and frequency measures average user engagement based on how much time they spend on your game and how often they visit it.
  • Significant milestone completion rates can be measured and targeted for loss.
  • Conversion of buyers and repeat buyers Measures how many people your game can convert into buyers and repeat buyers of higher value. Repeat buyers are often your most valuable customer base.

For example, when looking at 30-day retention across game genres, we usually find:

  • Leisure: 18 ~ 23%
  • Moderate hardcore: 14 to 18%
  • Hardcore: 10 ~ 14%

[30-day retention by game category]

If you’re not achieving close to the industry average, you need to focus on increasing long-term retention based engagement in your game.

For other genres, you can find more details on industry averages on the Play Console under Acquisition Reports.

2. Optimize long-term engagement and please your best players

Retention is the first dividing line between excellence and mediocrity. Games that consistently have a higher retention rate over the lifetime of their users will monetize better. Retention is king, especially long term retention must be a priority.

[Note: Retention of top apps and games]

Focus on achieving an effective 30-day retention goal for players, but also think beyond that 30 days. Long-term retention was measured by evaluating the following ratios: 30 to 60 days, 30 to 90 days, and 30 to 180 days. The higher the ratio, the more long-term engagement your game will have, and thus the greater the lifecycle value of the player. Therefore, when designing your game, aim to create a fun and engaging experience that will please your most loyal players.

Perhaps the biggest challenge here is planning ahead. This means that when designing and building a game, in addition to launching, you also need to plan how new features and challenges will be released and implemented. Games with a continuous release schedule of new content tend to have better long-term retention.

At the same time, make the content rich and interesting for those who play the game at a high level and for a long time. This is important to ensure that you don’t lose your most active players or hinder their progress due to a lack of content: always give players a reason to keep playing. Remember, the more time spent in the game, the higher the engagement and ultimately the higher the lifecycle value.

3. Increase the conversion rate of paying players through targeted offers

The first purchase of a player is important because the churn rate drops off quickly after the first purchase. The results were similar regardless of how large a player’s first purchase was, and interestingly enough, past purchases were the best predictor of future purchases. You can find the ratio of first-time and repeat buyers on the Play Console.

Use A/B testing to discover pricing that maximizes profit. For each user, the willingness to pay for a given item will be different, and the price and quantity paid will vary from item to item, so manage price reductions strategically.

For example, Spellstone by Kongregate offers ShardBot a plan to earn additional in-game currency (Shard) for 30 consecutive days. As part of the promotion, Kongregate tested two ShardBot packages: a $4 ShardBot that gives users five shards a day; An $8 ShardBot allows users to earn 10 shards a day. The results showed that while both packages achieved similar retention rates, players preferred the higher-priced packages.

[Explanation: Gamers prefer premium packages that generate higher revenue]

[Note: ShardBot and Super ShardBot have very similar retention rates]

These results show that player behavior is not always predictable. A developer might predict that a lower price package would be more popular, but players who buy a higher price package are more likely to stick around. So testing has always been the best way to understand players’ willingness to pay and discover the price point that maximizes revenue.

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Why: “Buyer intent” is important and players buy because they want to, not because they have to. So make sure every paid item is designed to enhance the player’s experience. This is also key to ensuring that players are not hindered by the “must pay” option. Instead, make sure to give them add-ons to the free experience, such as exclusive levels, cool power boosts, or something of value and excitement to the player. Happy users mean they will spend more time with your game, which means higher revenue. It’s also important to encourage buying habits by giving away free goods or currency in the tutorial to give users an early taste of the benefits of in-app purchases.

When: Prompt users to buy when they need it most. If an IAP allows the player to continue the current game after a timeout, you should tell the user when the timer stops. If another IAP offers advanced equipment, it should prompt the user when they are dressing up their character. These invitations to purchase should be relevant to the current situation, and should address the player’s current state and needs within the game.

In particular, novice packages or first-charge promotions need to be timed carefully. Players need to fully understand the value and importance of all items before showing them. If shown too early, players won’t be eager to buy. If you show it too late, package offers will be less attractive. The starter package should be displayed within 3 to 5 sessions of the user’s installation, depending on the actual game. In addition, limiting purchases to three to five days encourages users to make purchase decisions.

In the BattleHand example, the starter package is displayed the fourth time a user opens the game and is available for purchase within 36 hours. The package includes these items that help players in all aspects of the game:

  • A powerful card that instantly takes effect in battle.
  • Highly rare upgrade material used to upgrade card sets.
  • A generous amount of soft currency that can be used anywhere in the game.
  • A generous amount of hard currency that can be used to purchase value-added store items.
  • Hero’s precious upgrade material.

[Beginner’s packages from Battle Hands]

Because of the promotion, over 50% of players chose to buy a new handbag instead of regular gems:

[Comparison of new user conversion between special offers of new handbags and ordinary offers]

How to do it: There are many ways to add value to your game, such as power boosts, characters, equipment, maps, hints, chapters, and more. The following three liquidation designs have the greatest influence:

IAP Store optimization — Showing IAP (in-app payments) content in the game stream is a great way to drive sales. Don’t underestimate your in-game store. Players who are used to buying will often look at available items, hoping to find something that will enhance their gameplay.

Therefore, it is important to keep store content up to date and relevant to the game, but also to make sure that content is accurately aligned with players’ playing and purchasing habits. You can use these methods:

  • Hide high-priced items until the user finishes charging for the first time. Social psychologists call this a gatekeeping technique.
  • Add new IAP items at fixed intervals and as the player progresses through the game.
  • When offering a package, make sure you highlight the “benefits” of buying it.
  • Once you know your players’ buying habits, display items at the top of the store that are similar to their most recent purchases.

Unboxing – There are many ways to design, showcase, and balance unboxing, but the key is random rewards. This allows you to sell some super powerful items that players want without charging a super high price.

Raid Brigade’s random bonus is chests.

LiveOps — always offering limited time offers creates an irresistible opportunity for players to participate and invest more in the game. Adventure Capitalist, for example, makes limited releases, themes, and time-limited events that allow everyone to try out fixed content on a regular basis, while also offering customized paths, achievements, and IAP perks.

[Adventure Capitalist offers a limited time offer]

User engagement and revenue increased during the event, while there was no impact during the off-season.

[Spikes show the impact of timed events on engagement and revenue]

5. Consider local prices and pricing models

The willingness to consume varies from person to person, as does the purchasing power of different markets.

  • Test the effective price points for each major market and adjust them for different purchasing power. You may find that lowering the price will actually increase your total income. When Divmob introduced sub-dollar pricing in many markets, they saw a threefold increase in paying users. But again, don’t just think about discounts, find the price point that maximizes total revenue.
  • ** Consider an attractive price, but remember that it won’t work everywhere. ** For example, prices in the United States always end in.99, but this is not the case in Japan and South Korea, where prices end in round numbers. Pricing in accordance with the local players’ common signs shows that you care about them and design your game for them. The Play Console now automatically converts local currency for you for each currency.

The most important thing you can do to increase your mobile games as a service monetisation is to create a lasting entertainment experience. I don’t need to stress that engagement is the first step to sustainable growth and long-term monetization. You also need to make sure that anything you pay for adds to the player’s experience, because if they don’t get more pleasure out of what they’re doing, they’ll lose interest.

Every day you should ask yourself, how can I make my game better? It’s important to iterate, and hopefully by following the advice and tips in this post, you’ll have some new ideas you can work with. Please share your innovations and achievements in the comments, and I’d love to hear some feedback.

Special thanks to Tammy Levy, Director of Mobile products at Kongregate, for his help in refining advice and providing a good case study.

What do you think?

Do you have any questions or ideas for increasing your game’s revenue? Keep the discussion going in the comments section below or let us know by using the hashtag #AskPlayDev, and we’ll reply at @Googleplaydev (where we regularly share news and tips on how to succeed on GooglePlay).

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