Of course, this relationship between blockbuster movies and video games is nothing new; a few decades ago, movie tie-in games for consoles were a standard part of most film marketing strategies. However, costly development cycles and poor critical reception eventually led to these largely becoming a thing of the past.

Mobile, on the other hand, is a much better fit all around for movie promotion. Mobile games have much shorter development cycles, meaning they can easily flex to shifting cinema release dates and changes in production. Plus, developers are always looking for exciting new ways to drive engagement as part of their LiveOps strategies, and a tie-in with a blockbuster film ticks all the right boxes.

To demonstrate what we mean, we’ve analyzed the biggest and best movie mobile gaming crossovers this year to show how these collaborations can positively impact downloads and revenue.

Barbie collaborations in Stumble Guys and Rec Room

This toy-turned-feminist comedy has proven to be a smash box-office hit, grossing over $1.19 billion since its global release on the 21 July. Much of that success can be attributed to the film’s mega-marketing strategy, which painted everything from clothing and merchandise to cars, consoles, and video games in delicious shades of pink.

One of the biggest Barbie gaming collaborations took place in Scopely’s Stumble Guys with a special limited-time event. Barbie Malibu Mayhem saw players racing around the unique Barbie Dream Dash map to deliver some of the doll’s favorite items in elimination rounds. Players were rewarded with Barbie Tokens for participating in the event, which could be spent in an event shop to acquire unique Barbie-themed skins and emotes.

If players didn’t want to invest time into the event and just wanted the Barbie-themed items,  they could acquire additional Barbie Tokens through limited-time bundles and ad-monetized gacha. Special challenges, such as The Barbie Dream Challenge, boosted engagement by requiring players to acquire four specific Barbie-themed skins during the event to unlock a special fifth variant, causing daily revenue to double in the US.

Meanwhile, Rec Room’s Barbie collaboration kept things simple by introducing wardrobe options based on Barbie and Ken’s outfits for players to purchase, including cowboy hats, vests, belts, and even pink guns. Items ranged from 1000–6000 Tokens, the game’s main premium currency, which players can earn through gameplay or purchase directly with IAPs.

Lily’s Garden also got in on the Barbie hype with its Pink Sale. While this wasn’t an official collaboration, it was clearly inspired by the film with in-game avatars that were reminiscent of the toy brand’s two central characters, Barbie and Ken. The sale contained two separate limited-time time offers, rewarding coins, and various boosters.

Barbie and Candy Crush Saga 

Stumble Guys wasn’t the only mobile game that Barbie turned into candy floss. Candy Crush Saga’s Barbie-themed collection event tasked players with gathering purple B-candies to reach various reward milestones. The game also reskinned its Winding Road Tour to mirror the film’s plot, with Barbie and her friends venturing into the Candy Crush Universe.

In the event, players cleared regular levels on the map to reach four Tour Stops, where the Barbie crew can find some help getting home; some stops also reward the player with boosters. If the stop has a timer, players must reach the next Tour Stop before it runs out, with the distance between the stops increasing each time.

With Barbie being such a beloved brand, it should come as no surprise that there are nearly 70 video games based on the IP across PC, mobile, and console. One game that’s still very popular in the mobile world today is  Barbie Dreamhouse Adventures, which was released back in 2018 and is based on the Barbie animated series of the same name. 

Despite being unrelated to the film, Barbie Dreamhouse Adventures has seen a gradual rise in popularity in the run-up to the movie’s cinema release. Unsurprisingly, this peaked on the film’s opening weekend, when daily downloads were more than double what they were a few weeks prior, although revenue seemed largely unaffected.

Roblox also jumped on the hype with Barbie Dreamhouse Tycoon, a bespoke experience based on the film developed by Gamefam; best known for working on branded Roblox experiences such as the immensely successful Sonic the Hedgehog game. While this is a work in progress, Roblox has still managed to cash in on the excitement by launching an open beta for fans to experience while the film is in cinemas.

Marvel’s mobile cinematic universe

Comic book films have dominated cinemas for over a decade now, with Disney in particular doing a remarkable job of building their multi-billion dollar “Marvel Cinematic Universe.” That popularity has led to a surge in the number of video games licensed around the Marvel IP for consoles and mobile.

As you might expect, Marvel’s busy pipeline of constant film releases provides an excellent pool of inspiration for live events, especially for titles based entirely on the IP. Two such examples are the strategic card battler Marvel Snap and the action RPG Marvel Future Fight, which featured content to celebrate the theatrical releases of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (30 May) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (5 May).

Both films were featured similarly in Marvel Snap, headlined by a new season pass that included cards and variants based on each film’s characters. For example, by purchasing the Spider-Versus Season pass for $9.99, players could acquire the Ghost-Spider card featuring one of the film’s central protagonists. Each of these updates dramatically affected performance, causing daily revenue to more than triple at the beginning of May and June. 

Marvel Future Fight adopted a fairly similar strategy. While many of the heroes from the films were already featured in this eight-year-old RPG, they all received new costumes inspired by their respective movies. That said, the update did include one entirely new character: Spot, the main antagonist of Across the Spider-Verse. Spot could be unlocked using Biometrics, a unique resource acquired in-game or through IAP.

Of course, comic book crossovers aren’t limited to IP-based games. Between June 2 to June 18, Across the Spider-Verse swung into Free Fire with a large themed event, introducing co-branded collectibles, a movie character card collection event, and a time-limited Parkour mode featuring costumes from the film. Free Fire also hosted a special screening of the Across the Spider-Verse trailer in-game to help fans build anticipation. 

In a unique twist, Free Fire also features within the film, with an easter egg hidden in its runtime of the game’s “iconic” Cobra backpack. The event was primarily aimed at boosting user acquisition, with very little in the way of monetization, although it only boosted downloads by around 50% in the US.

Match Masters’ Collaboration with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles causes daily revenue to quadruple 

While Barbie, Spider-Verse, and Guardians of the Galaxy were especially well-represented in the mobile market, other blockbuster releases such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Masters also got a chance to shine. 

This animated flick was the basis of Match Masters’ first-ever collaboration, which tasked players with collecting pizza slices, the Turtle’s favorite snack, in the match3 game’s PvP modes. Once players collected enough slices, they reached one of many reward milestones, allowing them to progress in the TMNT-themed Boss Battle Collection event, where they would take on iconic villains from the franchise’s history. 

Multiple TMNT-themed limited-time time offers were also available during the collaboration, including progression and customizable bundles, which helped daily revenue to almost quadruple in the days following the update. The engagement was incentivized with a TMNT-themed daily log-in calendar featuring an avatar outfit skin as the main reward.

Super Mario Bros. Movie and Super Mario Run 

To celebrate the release of The Super Mario Bros Movie, Nintendo returned to its first-ever mobile game, Super Mario Run. Earlier this year, from the 20 March to the 30 May (around the time of the film’s theatrical release on 21 April), all players could permanently unlock one paid stage for free as a daily login bonus. Those who linked their Nintendo account got an even better offer, as they unlocked two paid stages each day.

It was possible to unlock up to 50% of the game for free this way. That’s a fairly generous giveaway, but the game did still experience a 200% rise in both daily revenue and downloads as a result. This waned shortly after, although it did climb again around the time of the film’s cinema release.

Other notable film-related updates included:

• Sasha Calle’s Supergirl, from DC’s The Flash, joined the mobile version of Injustice 2 on 14 June, just two days before the film’s theatrical release. Players could unlock her by purchasing the Last Daughter of Krypton pass. 
• A new strategy game based on the Transformers IP, Transformers: Tactical Arena, was released on 1 June. It was surely no coincidence that a new Transformers film, Rise of the Beasts, was due to be released in cinemas one week later.
• Fortnite has become a collaboration hotspot, and movie tie-ins are a significant part of that. Some of this year’s additions have included Optimus Prime (Transformers: Rise of the Beasts) and Miles Morales (Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse). 
• Like Barbie, Roblox launched a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game to coincide with the release of Mutant Mayhem. 
• While it’s not exactly a film, characters from Amazon’s streaming series The Boys have appeared across several different video games in recent months. These include the Last Fortress: Underground on mobile, as well as Call of Duty and the upcoming Mortal Kombat 1 on PC and consoles. A new season of the show, as well as a spin-off called Gen V, are due to land on Amazon Prime in the near future.  

Our tips for integrating blockbuster films into your mobile game

Collaborating with major film releases as part of your live ops strategy is an excellent way to boost engagement. Many cinemagoers will be excited about playing as their favorite film characters and may be interested in downloading your game even if it’s not their usual genre. The film’s content can also form the basis for monetizing new content, such as additional costumes, abilities, characters, and currencies. 

But before you give it a go, here are a few key things to keep in mind to ensure everything goes smoothly:

Carefully plan your timing

Timing is almost everything when it comes to collaborating with blockbuster movies. Your update must land almost parallel to the film’s theatrical release, as this is when the hype is at its peak. If it isn’t ready until several weeks later, everyone may have moved on to the next big release by the time your update lands.

Is this film right for my game?

Think carefully when choosing which blockbuster film to incorporate into your game. Ideally, your target audience should correlate with that of the film. For example, Free Fire’s adaption with Across the Spider-Verse makes sense as that game and movie both predominantly target young adults. 

How will this collaboration boost monetization?

In-game collaborations can have a dramatic impact on revenue. Limited-time costumes, characters, and other items based on fan-favorite characters can be hard to resist, so think about how these would be best integrated into your game’s economy. As we mentioned, Stumble Guys opted to run a dedicated shop with Barbie tokens, whereas Marvel Snap uses cinema hype to help drive sales of its season pass. 

If you enjoyed reading this post, here are a few more you should check out:

• Drive-Up Your Revenues with Seasonal Events
• How Mobile Game Developers Are Using In-Game Collaboration Events to Boost Player Retention
• Best Practice and Strategies for Targeted IAP Offers in Mobile Games

The post BarbieOps: How Mobile Games Are Using Blockbuster Movies to Boost Engagement appeared first on GameRefinery.

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Are there benefits to merging gaming with sleep? Find out how Pokémon Sleep stacks up against other sleep-related apps. We’ll delve into the unique features that make Pokémon Sleep a standout experience and explore how it integrates into the broader Pokémon ecosystem. But that’s not all; we’ll discuss if there could be plans to extend its reach beyond sleep and venture into the realm of promoting other healthy habits.

You can also watch the episode on YouTube:

Topics we will cover in this episode:

1. Introduction
2. Understanding Pokémon Sleep Gameplay
3. Comparing Pokémon Sleep to other sleep-tracking apps
4. Pokémon brand strategy and wellness focus
5. Benefits and concerns of Pokémon Sleep
6. Pokémon GO Plus device and sleep tracking
7. Market reception and future potential
8. Future possibilities for the Pokémon brand

The post Episode 48: Pikachu, I Snooze You! Mastering the Dream World With Pokémon Sleep appeared first on GameRefinery.

Of course, Pokémon isn’t the only major franchise with a growing presence in mobile. Activision capitalized on the momentum of Diablo IV’s successful launch on PC and console by adding a new update to its mobile game Diablo Immortal, which released the franchise’s first new character class in almost a decade. Players turned up in droves to try out the Blood Knight, causing a 400% increase in daily downloads on iOS. 

Monopoly GO! is still dominating the charts and continues to build engagement through its first cooperative event, Baking Partners, where players had to help each other make a cake to win various in-game rewards.

There were also a significant number of IP collaborations in the most popular mobile titles during July, mainly with films and television shows. Some of our favorite crossovers included Match Masters and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Stumble Guys and Barbie, PUBG and Dragon Ball Z, and even Survivor!.io and Spongebob Squarepants. 

You can find more information about all these updates, as well as many others from across the US, China, and Japanese markets, in our July Mobile Game Market review.

US Market Overview

Following the success of its one-year anniversary update last month, a major update for Diablo Immortal added the franchise’s first new character class in almost ten years, the Blood Knight. This mid-range class specializes in polearms and combines long and ranged attacks into a hybrid combat style; it’s also capable of “feeding” on the life of its enemies to regenerate health. 

The new class can be played by creating a new character or changing an existing one using the game’s free ‘class change’ feature. Blizzard also released a special event designed to make the most of the new class, The Crimson Plane, featuring a limited-time roguelite PvE mode and a progressive reward track with an exclusive set of Blood Knight Armour. 

For now, the only way for Diablo fans to try out the Blood Knight is by playing Immortal, which resulted in a 400% spike in downloads on the day of the update. As the new class wasn’t monetized, the game didn’t experience a revenue spike similar to the month prior for its one-year anniversary.

Monopoly GO! added its first cooperative event, Baking Partners, which ran from 4–9 July and tasked players to partner up with each other and make a cake to unlock special rewards. The prizes include dice rolls, cash, stickers, and even a unique token representing the player on the board. While the event had no notable impact on downloads, daily revenue on iOS doubled around the start of the event, with the game continuing to build momentum after its conclusion as further updates are released.

In the week-long event, players had to collect a unique currency called “purple cookies” from the Monopoly board, which were spent on rolling a wheel to collect progression points for the “cake-making process.” Players and their partners unlocked special rewards once they collectively reached specific point milestones. 

July was also a big month for collaboration events, with a significant focus on popular film and television franchises. First up is Match Masters, which collaborated with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to celebrate the release of the new film Mutant Madness. 

Players had to collect pizza slices from PvP modes to reach reward milestones in the Boss Battle Collection Event, allowing them to battle some of the franchise’s most iconic villains in exchange for exclusive skins and stickers. Multiple TMNT-themed limited time IAP-offers were also available during the collaboration, including progression and customizable bundles, which helped daily revenue almost quadruple in the days following the update.

Meanwhile, the Fall Guys clone, Stumble Guys, collaborated with the doll-turned-blockbuster-movie, Barbie. The Barbie Malibu Mayhem event added a unique Barbie Dream Dash map that saw players rushing around to deliver Barbie’s favorite items to various NPCs before they were eliminated. The Barbie Malibu Mayhem rewarded players with Barbie Tokens, which could be spent in an event shop to purchase exclusive Barbie-themed skins and an emote. 

Survivor!.io launched the Deepsea Survivor Event, which added Spongebob Squarepants and his neighbor Squidward as playable characters. ​To unlock Spongebob, players had to complete various sign-in tasks, while unlocking Squidward required taking part in daily battle stages. Players could also unlock Spongebob’s snail, Gary, as a new pet via IAP offers.

Finally, almost a year since it was first announced, PUBG Mobile released its long-awaited Dragon Ball Super collaboration, introducing two new modes, Dragon Ball character gachas, task events, and more.

The first new mode, Battle Royale: Dragon Ball Super, ditched almost all the traditional PUBG gameplay elements to transform the map into an anime-style battleground where players duke it out as their favorite Dragon Ball characters. The other mode, Dragon Ball Super, retains most of the core gameplay ideas but incorporates aspects of the anime, such as the ability to find Dragon Balls hidden across the map or fire an energy beam.

Other US market highlights include:

• Moonton released a new tower defense RPG called Watcher of Realms, which managed to hit the top 50 grossing. 
• Space Ape Games released an unusual match3 game themed around car restoration called Chrome Valley Customs, which has been scaling the past month towards the top grossing 100.  
• Jam City’s new puzzle RPG themed around DC Comics, DC Heroes & Villains, has struggled to break into top grossing 200, despite the popularity of characters such as Batman, Superman, and Harley Quinn.  
• After an initial strong launch, the card-collecting RPG Harry Potter: Magic Awakened has fallen radically in performance after last month’s US launch, despite performing relatively well in China. 
• Tencent finally released its extraction shooter Arena Breakout across the globe. However, despite its high production values and popularity in China for some time, it has yet to find a strong audience in other markets. 

Japan Market Overview

Following the successful release of Pokémon Go and Pokémon Smile, the Pokémon Company continued to expand its mobile ecosystem in July with the long-awaited release of Pokémon Sleep. This unique title combines sleep tracking and Pokémon collecting into one gamified wellness app. The unusual amalgamation seems to have struck a chord with mobile users, with the title ranking #1 in downloads since its launch. 

However, Pokemon Sleep didn’t achieve this all on its own. Pokémon Go also released a special themed event to celebrate the launch, Catching Some Zs, which featured an exclusive Snorlax wearing a nightcap for any player who linked a Pokémon GO Plus + (a new physical accessory used for both Pokémon Go and Pokémon Sleep) to the game. 

We’ll be discussing Pokémon Sleep in more detail soon as part of our Mobile Games Playbook podcast, as well as providing a detailed analysis on our platform.

The Dragon Ball franchise also made waves in Japan following the release of a new Ultra-tier character, Super Saiyan God SS Vegito, in Dragon Ball Legends. The character was anticipated to be a worthy challenger to the current meta and expected to dominate PvP modes, meaning many players were desperate to unlock them as soon as the update landed.

Super Saiyan God SS Vegito could only be unlocked through a step-up gacha consisting of four 10-character pulls, out of which the fourth was a free pull. To pull all four, a player needed 3,000 Chrono Crystals (worth just over $60). The actual drop rate of Super Saiyan God SS Vegito was 0.350%, which is very low, and players also required duplicate pulls to upgrade the character further.

Daily revenue spiked by more than 2000% after the character’s release.

Other Japan market highlights include:

• The realistic baseball game, MLB 9 Innings Rivals, has ranked #1 in downloads for several days and grossed between 20 and 50 for most of July. With baseball being a massively popular sport in Japan, it’s unsurprising that this new game managed to find its audience quickly.
• That Time I Reincarnated as a Slime launched its first collaboration event with the popular anime KonoSuba.
• Ensemble Stars!! Music launched a summer event with its own take on the Treasure Hunt/Hidden Temple event type.
• A new mecha RPG, Muv-Luv Dimensions, launched at #1 in the download charts and #18 grossing, but has since fallen down the ranks.

China market highlights include:

• Justice Mobile (逆水寒) is the mobile version of NetEase’s “flagship MMORPG” Justice Online, with high production values and a Chinese fantasy art style. It is currently ranking around top-grossing #3 and DL #2.
• Crystal of Atlan (晶核) is an anime cel-shading-style action RPG with flashy graphics and classic sword-swinging gameplay. The game describes itself as having an “aetherpunk” theme; a mix of magic and technology. The game has been hovering in the top five top-grossing and top 15 downloads.
• I’m Really Awesome At Martial Arts Competitions (我比武特牛) is a hybrid game with a hyper-casual beat-‘em-up style core and Archero style meta that has made it to the top-grossing ranks. The game currently ranks in the top-grossing 70-80 and the top 15 in downloads.

The post Analyst Bulletin: Mobile Game Market Review July 2023 appeared first on GameRefinery.

Statista’s Market Insights show that 48% of the revenue in casual games in 2022 came from in-game ads, with the share of IAA revenue increasing each year. This shows that careful planning and choosing the right ad formats are effective ways to monetize non-paying players. 

Non-paying players generate more costs for the developers, and growing the user base requires constant investment to attract new users through UA practices. This is why it’s crucial to plan the monetization model tailored to the game’s genre, which is where rewarded in-game ads can help! 

The most popular format in the US mobile game market is the rewarded video ads, with 74% of mobile players preferring the format over forced ads and banners. Opt-in incentivized ads have higher player engagement and completion rates. All parties benefit from providing rewards, earning revenue, and achieving higher click-through rates.

In this blog post, we will explore how game developers are incorporating unique in-game ad features into the game design or, in some cases, have made ads an integral part of the game to enhance the user experience and drive revenue. 

Progressive gachas

In Legend of Slime, everything is interconnected, including the ads. The game has several power progression vectors. Almost everything is upgradeable, from characters to gear, with the upgrading materials found in the side modes. Each side mode has specific upgrading materials, level progression, and replenishing Dungeon Keys per day. With this in mind, developers have taken a step ahead in monetizing the F2P player base with progressive gachas.

The progression mechanic is based on watching ads, with each ad increasing the number of rewards for the next pull. The gachas are upgradeable by watching ads, and players can improve the prize pool drop rates this way. 

Purposeful game mechanisms built around ads are a genius way to increase CTR rates and create a positive user experience that adds to retention. 

Permanent and temporary boosts

As a midcore idle RPG, Legend of Slime utilizes the standard temporary buff feature with rewarded video ads. By watching ads, the boost is triggered for a fixed time. However, the developers give a new spin to this feature; the ‘Blessings boosts’ have a progressive element that’s upgraded by doing nothing but watching ads to increase their effectiveness.

A permanent ‘Best Subscriber’ boost is activated when a certain number of ads have been watched as the game tracks the view count, increasing essential player stats in the game and making it the ultimate reward for players who watch ads. 

Legend of Slime uses a hybrid monetization model, and the IAA solely utilizes the rewarded video ad placements. The game primarily relies on a delayed feedback loop to create a greater impact. 

Legend of Slime has impressively included the ads as a part of the core game’s power progression vectors. Watching ads feels meaningful as players get increasingly better rewards with little progression iterations that aid the core gameplay. The game has also been steadily adding new power progression vectors (gear, upgrade types) and other features this year, with increased ad opportunities leading to higher revenue.

The hybrid casual idler game Build Car Manager Tycoon has also developed an innovative feature to incorporate ads using a hybrid monetization model. The game has idle yield rewards that generate over time and is the main resource used to progress in the game.

The Offline Income Ad Rewards is a boost upgraded with a special currency. This will raise the amount of the offline idle yield rewards by upwards of 20%. The other type of permanent upgradeable boost is called the Double Level Up Reward. This activates when players level up in the game and receive an incentivized ad prompt to double the level-up rewards. As the game requires growing amounts of generated resources to upgrade permanent buildings, the double reward boost becomes handy.

Occasional rewards in the game levels

A simple but interesting way to implement an ad feature is to place occasional rewards as prompts appearing in the game’s user interface or game levels. This ad implementation method is usually found in exploration games with tycoon core mechanics.

In Family Island and Klondike Adventures, these reward prompts are spread across the exploration map, which can only be claimed by watching an ad. Tapping the prompt triggers it; the rewards can be anything from stamina to premium currency.

Similarly, Dragonscapes Adventure utilizes this sort of ad mechanic, too, by having floating gift packages instead of static placements. The design behind the ad feature is well thought out, as it fits the tycoon exploration genre, and players can randomly find the reward prompts during the gameplay. Keeping the games’ genre and target audience in mind helps to strategize the rewarded ad placements for maximum impact.

Ad-related tasks and Other Special Mechanics

Dragonscapes Adventure and Dragon City Mobile use a task system with reward milestones unlocked exclusively by watching video ads. Each watched ad earns a small prize, such as stamina or food. Unlocking all milestones rewards players with minor valuable items regarding the games’ economies. 

The ad-related task system is a simple and great showcase for utilizing the delayed feedback loop, which requires engaging with the ads to receive a milestone reward. The rewards offered in the mobile game should contribute to the game’s progress and have greater value.

Why should I consider incorporating rewarded ad features into my mobile game?

A carefully crafted ad strategy is vital for UA and revenue, especially for freemium games. Researching the game audience also helps in this case as well; which player archetypes users likely identify with, what they need to keep them coming back to the game, and how ads could cater to their needs. When it comes to incentivized rewards, it’s important to consider both delayed and instant feedback loops to avoid cannibalizing in-app purchases.

Rewarded ads are favored because they lessen the negative impact of ads that are thought to disrupt the gameplay experience. Designing a rewarded ad feature that players will ultimately benefit from in both long and short-term progression drives user engagement and motivates players to spend more time watching ads. 

By providing a sense of gratification, rewarded ads improve the flow of the game by giving an option for all players, not just non-paying players, to overcome obstacles in the game. Lastly, ad features do not need to be complex; it all comes down to when and what is being offered.

Find out how developers use incentivized ad placements from hundreds of implementation examples in our service! Be sure also to check out some of our other articles to learn more about in-game ads:

• Rewarded Video Ad-placements – Interesting Implementations From Across The Market
• Masters of Ad-placements — Idle Restaurant Tycoon: Empire

The post How to Build Better Mechanics for Rewarded In-Game Ads appeared first on GameRefinery.

There are many steps marketers can take to mitigate these issues, such as identifying the best time to request permission from users for ATT, although user acquisition will remain a difficult prospect in the coming months. With that in mind, mobile marketers should focus on identifying better ways to push monetization opportunities to their existing audiences. 

One way to do that is by designing an effective strategy for in-app purchase (IAP) offers. As we’ve written in some of our earlier blog posts, these offers are an integral part of F2P monetization, and there are several different approaches on the market. Some aim for well-rounded offers that appeal to a broad audience, while others zero in on players in specific situations to maximize the appeal and increase the likelihood of a successful conversion. 

However, the most effective targeted IAP offers work well across many genres. Below, we’ll go through four basic strategies for targeted IAP offers that do just that, with specific trigger timings and unique appeal, while looking at how these have been implemented in some of the top games on the market. 

Progression and milestone rewards

When players have achieved something great in the game, such as reaching a significant milestone or completing a tricky level, providing them with an opportunity to invest in the game is an excellent way to keep the momentum going. That’s why many of the top mobile games recognize the achievements of their players by rewarding them with exclusive offers.

Blizzard’s dungeon-crawling MMORPG, Diablo Immortal, does this to great effect. After completing different dungeons or unlocking high-difficulty versions of dungeons, players are presented with a specific one-time bundle offer of valuable materials with no time limit. Earlier achievements in the game are rewarded with bundle offers of better value than later ones, pushing players to become invested sooner.

The match3 puzzle game, Pet Rescue Saga, also has a good example of a reward-based IAP offer. Similarly to most match3 games, Pet Rescue Saga ramps up the difficulty level at regular intervals as players progress through the campaign. Users who clear one of these challenging levels receive a ‘missing toy’ for an in-game toy box. If they can collect enough toys, they can fill the box, triggering a low price point one-time bundle offer of boosters and gold. 

Another way to encourage users to take up a reward-based IAP offer is to make it a limited-time deal to create a sense of urgency and exclusivity. Better yet, by having the bundle’s content directly relate to the player’s achievement, marketers can help users with their current goals. 

The match3 puzzler Best Fiends demonstrates this well. When players unlock a new character, a limited-time ‘Welcome to the Family’ offer is triggered, containing valuable resources for upgrading said character topped off with 10 hours of VIP perks.

Likewise, Rise of Kingdoms’ 4x successor, Call of Dragons, rewards players with a tempting limited-time offer of Artifact upgrading resources right after managing to collect a total of six epic rarity Artifacts.

Enhancing crafting mechanics with IAP offers

Crafting mechanics are commonplace across the entire video game market, whether those mechanics involve creating precious resource items or forging powerful new weapons and armor. Players often have to spend hours ensuring they have all the necessary items to craft a recipe or upgrade an object, which can become tedious. 

Offering them the chance to boost their crafting gains through IAPs can effectively increase revenue, as users feel they ‘earned’ their rewards rather than purchased them. For example, when a player merges objects and manages to create higher-level objects in MergeDragons!, a purchasable Dimensional Jar will sometimes appear carrying a duplicate of the high-tier or otherwise rare merge result object. 

The same logic can also be applied to other in-app purchases. When players make their first IAP transaction in Coin Master, they are offered an Adventure Pack containing many essential resources for a special price, encouraging them to spend that little bit extra for even more rewards.

Using IAP offers to help players complete tasks

As we discussed above, players often feel more inclined to spend on IAP when it’s towards a goal they’ve already made substantial progress towards on their own – it feels less like cheating or taking a shortcut. That’s why offering players exclusive deals can be effective when they’re close to reaching special milestones or achievements. 

For example, in MergeDragons! and EverMerge, players can merge five (or six) items to get two ‘next-tier’ rewards – this means spending significant time hunting for five of a specific object. When players are close to a complete set, the games occasionally parachute in an IAP offer with the missing piece(s), making for an incredibly tempting deal.

EverMerge also features ‘Creature Completion’ offers that pop up when players are close to collecting an entire ‘creature chain’ – which unlocks a special area. The one-time offer contains premium currency and the missing creatures you need to complete the chain. The game also notices when players run out of energy, which replenishes over time, during task progression; this offer gives a small amount of extra play energy so users can complete the grind.

The match3 puzzle game, Project Makeover, also features these offers as part of its Timed Makeover Challenge. To progress in these challenges, which last one to two weeks at a time, players must collect event tokens by completing main levels. Those struggling to finish the makeover are targeted with an extension offer, which increases the length of the event so they can obtain the completion rewards. Players who purchase the offer also boost their Event Token earnings when they clear levels the first time.

Providing a second chance through IAP offers

Regardless of the game or genre, failing to complete a level or losing all their lives is designed to be frustrating. It’s also why being offered a second chance for a low price when things aren’t going to plan can be so appealing, especially if it means saving hard-earned experience points or a lengthy win streak. 

This is commonly encountered in Match3 games, which offer a soft currency payment users can make to continue playing after running out of moves in a level. Royal Match takes this further by offering a cheap bundle of premium currency (needed to continue) alongside a booster on top of the extra moves when players are about to fail. They’re given just 60 seconds to decide, leaving little room to hesitate. Lily’s Garden also utilizes a similar (albeit less urgency-inducing) tactic with the Moonlight Offer, a bundle paired with extra moves that occasionally appears.

These types of offers aren’t exclusive to just match3 games. Players who have missed a limited-time tournament in Golf Clash are offered a low-cost ‘5x value’ bundle that makes up for some of the rewards that would have been available had they played the event, allowing them to catch up with their friends quickly.

Bonus offers: randomly-generated IAP bundles

While they’re unlikely to be as effective as targeted bundles, as long as they’re not highly intrusive, there is no harm in throwing the odd, unexpected offer at players just to keep them interested. This might be in the form of a surprising offer after first logging into the game, which provides general resources to ensure they won’t run out during their play session, or a special deal to wake up a player who has been idling for an extended period. 

Here are a few examples of how these randomly-generated offers work in some of the highest-grossing mobile games:

• When logging in to Wordscapes, the game occasionaly makes a simple 24-hour offer. The Double Coin Sale offers a low price point and “2x VALUE!” for coins used to purchase in-game hints. 
• Candy Crush Saga occasionally starts random Levels Rush mini-events, where players are promised 25 premium currency for completing 25 levels by the following day. The offer is not monetized, but the player is more engaged, committed to clearing the levels, and using boosters when needed.
• EverMerge’s one-time offer Invigorating Pack sometimes appears upon login, offering a good amount of energy to keep the session length restrictions at bay.

Conclusion

Targeted in-app purchase (IAP) offers in mobile games present a valuable opportunity for monetization and player engagement. Despite the challenges posed by user acquisition in the era of Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) policy, mobile marketers can shift their focus to implementing effective IAP strategies. By understanding player motivations and employing various tactics, developers can maximize the appeal and conversion rates of targeted IAP offers.

The following strategies can be employed to create compelling and successful targeted IAP offers:

• Progression and milestone rewards: Recognize player achievements by offering exclusive deals when they reach significant milestones or complete challenging levels. This keeps the momentum going and encourages further investment in the game.
• Enhancing crafting mechanics with IAP offers: Provide players with the opportunity to boost their crafting progress through purchases, offering a sense of earned rewards and enhancing their gameplay experience.
• Helping players complete tasks: Offer exclusive deals to players who are close to reaching special milestones or achievements, providing additional support and tempting them with valuable rewards.
• Providing a second chance through IAP offers: When players fail a level or run out of lives, offer affordable bundles or extra moves to give them a second chance and prevent frustration.
• Randomly-generated bonus offers: Surprise players with unexpected offers to maintain their interest and engagement, such as providing additional resources or limited-time events.

By implementing these strategies and tailoring IAP offers to individual player segments, developers can create targeted offers that resonate with their audience, increase player engagement, and drive revenue.

For more inspiration on integrating IAP offers into your game’s LiveOps strategy, make sure to check out our recently launched Live Events Tracker tool on the GameRefinery platform!

If you enjoyed reading this post, here are a few more you should definitely check out:

• Why Mobile Game Studios Are Increasing the Prices of IAPs
• How to Build Your Next IAP Offer?
• How to Build Your Next IAP Offer Part 2

The post Best Practice and Strategies for Targeted IAP Offers in Mobile Games appeared first on GameRefinery.

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In the wake of Apple’s groundbreaking App Tracking Transparency framework, it has become more important than ever for game developers to retain their players and find new ways to generate income. Join us as we unravel the remarkable advantages of leveraging live events to captivate players, designing successful events and how to use analytics to enhance your LiveOps strategy effectively.

You can also watch the episode on YouTube:

Topics we will cover in this episode:

1. Introduction
2. Understanding the App Tracking Transparency framework
3. Categorizing Live Events
4. Core Loop Supporting Events
5. Leaderboard Competitions and Boost Events
6. Managing Live Events for Optimal Results
7. How can game developers benefit from Live Events Tracker?

The post Episode 46: Unveiling the Top 3 Mobile Game Studio Secrets for Engaging Live Events appeared first on GameRefinery.

One of April’s biggest updates was in Marvel Strike Force, the latest in a long line of titles to add a new premium currency that can be purchased from an external web store at lower prices than the iOS App Store – all in an effort to bypass its fees. It’s no coincidence this follows the ruling of the Apple v Epic legal battle, which included an injunction that prevents Apple from intervening when developers include buttons and links to ‘external purchasing mechanisms.’

Supercell’s tactical battler Clash Royale also released a huge update that completely overhauled both its live events and battle pass systems for the first time in years. While over in Japan, Jantama (雀魂 -じゃんたま-) rocketed to the top of the charts following a collaboration with the popular anime IP Code Geass for its fourth anniversary. Meanwhile, Lily’s Garden, Free Fire, Fishdom, and Sky Fortress all added hybrid elements to engage new players.

You’ll find more information on these updates below, as well as plenty of other interesting updates, releases, and top-grossing entrants from across the US, China, and Japan mobile markets. 

US Market Overview

Marvel Strike Force introduced a new premium currency called Ultra Core which functions in a similar way to real-world currency and can be used to purchase all IAP offers. Ultra Cores can also be used to purchase the game’s main premium currency, Power Cores. These are used to purchase items, open gachas, and acquire other goods in the game.

Ultra Cores can be bought directly from the in-game store or Scopely’s external web store at a lower cost. Scopely is just one of the many studios incentivizing players to make out-of-game purchases to bypass App Store fees, and we suspect many more will soon follow in the wake of Apple and Epic’s legal battle (check out our separate blog on this for more information).

Marvel Strike Force also introduced one-time IAP offers called Time Heist bundles, which slightly boosted the game’s revenue. By purchasing the bundles, players could instantly jump to their desired level while having all other benefits, such as progression and character upgrades.

Clash Royale transformed its event-based systems with the introduction of seasons, which now determine the content of the battle pass and the overall theme for each month.

A big part of this is the new Season Shop, where players can buy cards, coins, wildcards, unique emotes, and banners using a new currency called Season Tokens. At the start of each new season, tokens are reset, and the shop is restocked with new wares. Season Tokens are earned by playing one of several new Season Event modes, as well as from basic party 1v1, 2v2 modes, and Season Pass rewards. Players can earn up to 1000 Tokens per day but can spend gems to double the Daily Cap.

Clash Royale also overhauled its battle pass to combine the separate reward tracks into one succinct progression system, comprising of three separate layers with two purchase options: free, gold ($5.99), and diamond ($11.99). Players still progress using Crowns earned from matches, but they now accumulate additional Crowns for each tower left standing at the end of the match, even if they lose, making it far easier to progress. This accelerated progression has resulted in the number of tiers being expanded from 35 per season to over 121.

We talked about the rise of hybridization across the mobile market in our recent blog. That trend seems to be showing no signs of slowing down, with a number of high-grossing games introducing hybrid elements during April across both casual and midcore, including match3’s Lily’s Garden, Fishdom, and the shooter battle royale Free Fire. 

Lily’s Garden hopped away from the usual garden and home renovating to character makeovers with a Makeover Time event. This featured mechanics similar to Project Makeover.

Fishdom is the latest Playrix game to bring in its own merge event. Deep-Sea Adventures is similar to the other merge modes we’ve seen but with an aquatic theme. The event uses the aquarium decoration system by adding event-exclusive decorations to the reward ladder.

Free Fire ran a summery Beach Breeze-themed event that introduced a Pet Smash minigame mode reminiscent of Brawl Stars. Interestingly, players control the game’s pets instead of hero characters, highlighting the pet collection meta element.

Interesting top-200 grossing entrants on the market

The creators of Genshin Impact, MiHoYo, launched a new turn-based RPG called Honkai: Star Rail, featuring incredibly high production values, open-world exploration, and similar proven meta elements and gacha monetization model to Genshin Impact. Within just two days of launching, the game was downloaded more than 20 million times worldwide, reaching 1st rank in the downloads list and top-grossing rank 3 in the US, as well as being a massive success in other major markets, such as China and Japan. According to industry analyst Daniel Ahmad, the game broke records by reaching the number one spot on the iOS game download chart in more countries than any game that has come before.

Our analyst team has been tracking the game’s LiveOps from the launch, and the data is already available in our Live Events Tracker.

Scopely released a new game based on the internationally-recognized board game Monopoly that peaked in the top-25 grossing. In Monopoly GO!, players roll dice to move around the board to earn money that can be spent on building decorative buildings so they can move from map to map. The gameplay loop closely resembles Coin Master, except with a Monopoly board instead of slots. 

China Market Overview

Over in China, one game gathering attention from players and developers alike is the recently-released A House in the far end of Shangri-la”/Taoyuan Shenchu You Renjia (桃源深处有人家).
This classic farming tycoon game is spiced up with a generous dose of interactive storytelling with NPC relationships and minigames. The game is set in a relaxed, mountainous region cut off from the rest of the world in a fantasy version of ancient China. The game features cartoon-style graphics in a classical Chinese watercolor painting background. The laid-back atmosphere combined with relaxing countryside visuals and traditional food has likely proved appealing to stressed-out city-dwellers looking for some form of escapism.

Shoot ‘em Up Sky Fortress (空之要塞) demonstrated another example of hybridization with the introduction of a synchronous multiplayer quiz mode, where 20 players are matched together and must answer the questions by running into answer zone A or B. Players who answer wrong are eliminated via a trapdoor, while those that manage to answer 15 questions correctly are crowned the winner(s). There is also a task system that includes different pre-existing social currencies as rewards.

Interesting top 200 grossing entrants on the market

• A shoot ’em up based on SNK’s classic arcade franchise, Metal Slug: Awakening (合金弹头：觉醒), remains stable at #2 on the grossing charts.
• A new hybrid subgenre entered the market with the release of anime dating card battler Crazy Ones (奇点时代), which peaked at #31 grossing.

Japan Market Overview

Blue Archive (ブルーアーカイブ) added a brand new Archero-type minigame mode to complement its latest story event.

To enter the minigame, tickets must first be earned from the story event itself. Players can choose between two characters to take into battle once per day, with two difficulty levels to select. Each run is a maximum of ten levels long and will end if the character dies. During the run, players can periodically choose one of three skills to help them in battle.

PvP mahjong game Jantama (雀魂 -じゃんたま-) rocketed to the top of the charts after collaborating with the popular anime IP Code Geass to celebrate its fourth anniversary.

The event, entitled Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion, included a special mahjong mode to play alongside missions, point collection rewards, and new collaborative story content. Code Geass characters were featured in gachas, along with new effects and decoratives to customize mahjong games with. Collaboration character skins were also available in the shop during the event.

Interesting top 200 grossing entrants on the market

• A new 2D Idle-RPG Dark Tales (ダークテイルズ) featuring evil versions of fairytale princesses launched on April 10 and spent almost the entire month in the top 10 highest-grossing titles.
• A new cross-platform sci-fi survival game, Earth: Revival (アース：リバイバル), launched on April 18 and quickly entered the top 50 grossing.

The post Analyst Bulletin: Mobile Game Market Review April 2023 appeared first on GameRefinery.

That’s why it was such a surprise when Brawl Stars and Mario Kart: World Tour removed gacha mechanics in recent updates and to see Marvel Snap neglect the mechanic entirely in favor of other monetization methods. With this starting to look like a broader trend, more mobile games are likely to follow, but the question remains: why now? 

Below we take a deeper dive into the challenges facing gachas across the industry and look at the mobile games that have since adopted a new monetization strategy.

‘Loot box’ legislation

Without being party to internal discussions between the development team, no one can say why certain games are ditching gacha. Still, speculation would suggest this to be a knock-on effect of the crackdown on gacha mechanics, or what many gamers refer to as ‘loot boxes,’ in specific locations across the globe.

Most recently, the European Parliament voted to take action against loot boxes (and several other issues) and assess whether the current law is sufficient to address the issues raised by loot boxes and in-game purchases – and to propose standalone legislation if it isn’t. Last November, an Australian MP also introduced a bill that seeks to amend the Australian Classification Board rules to require that any game with ‘loot boxes’ receives an R18+ classification to prevent children from purchasing and playing them.

It’ll likely be a while before the impact of these discussions comes to pass, but regulations have already taken a step further elsewhere in the world. Last year, political parties in the Netherlands broadly backed a new attempt to block the sale of ‘loot boxes’ in the country, arguing that they’re a form of gambling that manipulates children. This closely matches Belgium, where the implementation of loot boxes in video games has been a prosecutable criminal offense since 2018.

Some developers appear unphased by the situation. One study highlighted by GamesIndustry.Biz suggests that legislation on gacha is challenging to enforce, with 82% of the highest-grossing iPhone games in Belgium still generating revenue through randomized monetization. Others are less willing to take the risk, such as when Blizzard scrapped the release of Diablo Immortal in the Netherlands and Belgium last Summer, stating the ‘current operating environment’ as the reason.

Mario Kart Tour

The situation is more complicated for games already on the market utilizing gacha mechanics, with developers having to consider reimaging their monetization methods or even shutting down games entirely in the affected areas.

Nintendo has experienced this first-hand after shutting down both Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp and Fire Emblem: Heroes in Belgium in 2019 due to their heavy reliance on gacha mechanics, stating at the time that ‘future Nintendo games with similar earnings models will no longer be released in Belgium.’ With similar legislation looking increasingly likely to spread further afield, it was perhaps inevitable that the developer would begin to experiment with alternative solutions for its other titles.

Enter Mario Kart Tour, which removed its gacha pipes in an update last October. The pipes were previously the primary method for players to acquire new drivers, karts, and gliders, the most sought-after items in the game. These cost five rubies per pull – this premium currency could be obtained through IAP, starting with packs of 10 at $5.99.

Given that the game has hundreds upon hundreds of gliders, playable characters, and karts, players after a specific character or item previously had to spend a substantial amount of real-world money to acquire it due to the low drop rate. A Daily Spotlight Shop has now replaced the gacha pipes; it features a changing selection of drivers, karts, and gliders available for purchase up to three times per day in exchange for rubies.

It is worth noting that gacha mechanics are still present in other parts of the game, such as the ​Daily Tour Challenge rewards, Token Shop, and Premium Challenge rewards. However, they don’t feature direct monetization. These changes appear to indicate an overall negative impact on revenue, with figures visibly declining over the most recent six-month period, suggesting that the title still has some challenges ahead in terms of revenue.

Even so, this may be of little concern to Nintendo, who recently stated that they see their mobile business as a way to expand the number of people who have access to their IP rather than generate profit. Such a strategy may also explain why they are among the first developers to remove gacha mechanics.

Brawl Stars

Another major mobile game to turn its back on gacha mechanics is Supercell’s Brawl Stars, which last October reworked its Gears (passive skills unlocked by characters at levels 10 and 11). Previously, they were acquired using a special gear currency and gear materials via gachas, whereas they can now be freely unlocked using coins if the level requirement is met.

On 12 December, Supercell took this further by completely removing all random elements from its character unlock and upgrade systems, meaning there are no longer any gacha mechanics within the game. A new system called Starr Road was introduced, which utilizes a linear progression system that enables players to unlock new characters and upgrades using a new currency called Credits.

Credits can be obtained from the Brawl Pass, Trophy Road, challenges, quests, or via direct purchase. Further monetization is implemented through the ability to fast-track the process, with characters unlockable immediately at any point using gems acquired through in-app purchases.

Revenue in Brawl Stars appeared to be upward trend following these updates, but has since declined; which is likely down to several factors. For one, some players may have decided to do a final spending spree before the gachas disappeared forever. Secondly, many players were likely excited about the removal of gacha and decided to revisit the game, and subsequently ended up investing in the new progress and upgrade system. Lastly, this was all happening around the holiday season, when there were lots of special offers available.

The subsequent fall in revenue is more difficult to pinpoint. Given that most of the monetization now revolves around the purchase of purely cosmetic items (such as skins), it could be that players simply aren’t as interested in buying these as Supercell anticipated. The change in progression systems also provided generous coin compensation for endgame players based on their upgrade levels, meaning many players may have had enough resources for upgrades without needing to resort to in-app purchases.

Marvel Snap

It’s nearly impossible to talk about the gacha mechanics in the mobile market without mentioning Marvel Snap, which was named Mobile Game of the Year at last year’s Game Awards. The TCG has widely been praised by critics and gamers alike for its player-first free-to-play monetization strategy, which is entirely gacha free.

Instead, the title relies on two primary sources of revenue. The first is a premium version of the game’s Season Pass, available for $9.99, which enables players to acquire cards faster or unlock exclusive new cards. The second is the premium currency, Gold, primarily used to obtain unique card ‘variants,’ such as pixelated Spider-man – it can also be exchanged for credits and boosted to upgrade players’ existing cards.

Gold can be purchased in packs of increasing sizes starting from $4.99, with variants typically costing either 700 or 1200 gold, although some exceptionally rare cards can cost upwards of 4000 gold. This is a reasonably steep asking point for a digital trading card for many players. Still, the caveat is that these are primarily cosmetic, meaning there’s no real competitive gameplay advantage for those willing to invest.

Any developer adopting a similar strategy would have to consider that this carries a risk of players ignoring the in-app purchases entirely. Developer Second Dinner must have been conscious of this themselves as, during Marvel Snap’s beta period, the game initially featured gacha mechanics known as ‘Nexus Events.’ These proved so wildly unpopular that they were scrapped in favor of the current system.

Regardless, the title is currently a significant financial success. However, given it is still riding a wave of popularity as a new game on the market, it remains to be seen how that might change in the long term once user acquisition declines. That being said, the title has the benefit of being based around one of the world’s most popular IPs, which will surely help to drive its monetization efforts.

If you’d like to learn more about how different mobile games are monetizing their games, you should check out some of our other articles:

• How Mobile Game Publishers Are Bypassing Google and Apple Store Cuts With External Web Stores
• Analyst Bulletin: Mobile Game Market Review March 2023
• How Mobile Game Developers Are Using In-Game Collaboration Events to Boost Player Retention

The post The Mobile Games Moving Away From Gacha appeared first on GameRefinery.