Research on mobile games and monetization
In this section I discuss some behavior patterns common to most mobiles, and elaborate on some KPIs I’ve found useful to observe and analyze game performance. All graphs and numbers displayed here are for illustration purposes only, and are not actual numbers of any specific title.
Looking at what players are doing before and after spending – both focusing on the missions played or considering more granular in-game actions – can provide good insights into the situations most conducive to spending. It can also shed a new light on the motivations to spend.
In this post I suggest ways to look at what is driving user spending, as well as ways to measure that in your game.
It’s very likely you are looking at the daily active users in your game. But are you also looking at your daily active customers? This post discusses why looking at customers is important to get a good reading on your game, and appropriately define who you are developing features for.
Users install and play games on a very regular 24-hour/7-day cycle. This post discusses what that means for your game, and how you can leverage that to design features that capitalize and reinforce that natural tendency.
There is a common theme in the industry that suggests retention is the most important metric for the financial success of any game – more than monetization metrics. This post looks at some key data points that show the difference between monetizing a little bit and monetizing a lot is not due to engagement. It rather results from how frequently users make purchases when they are active in a game.
Maximizing revenue in your game is a balancing act between conversion and revenue per transaction. This post looks at the impact price point has on spending patterns and suggests a few rules of thumbs to define your pricing strategy.
