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.

These race events are mostly encountered in casual titles, although they work well for any games that function on level-based progression mechanics. Match3 puzzle games are probably the most visible genre to utilize race events, with 43% of the match3 titles in the US top grossing 200, including them in their event rotations. Still, race events are a flexible event type that can easily be adapted to work for other genres as well by adjusting the goal objective to suit the game.

In this blog post, we’ll take a deep dive into the LiveOps calendars of the top-performing casual games to explore some of the most common types of race events. We’ll also highlight some of the unique features developers have implemented to make their events stand out from the competition. 

The most common race events in casual games

The classic race event archetype often seen in casual titles takes the shape of a simple rewarded level-based race between a group of players. These groups are usually matched up so that everyone is on the same starting level in their core gameplay progression. Players will compete to see who can reach a designated level or clear a set amount of levels first, with the top three players reaching the goal first usually being crowned winners and rewarded for their efforts.

The number of levels to beat can range from ten to 20 levels per competition. One of the characteristics of these events is that, aside from the natural sense of urgency that arises from the competitive nature of a race, no further time limits are usually enforced. This means that in most cases, one instance can last for as long as it takes for someone to win, and once the winners are clear, the race ends. Race events are most commonly active for a few days at a time, during which several races can be initiated.

Generally, race events are not monetized. However, they can indirectly boost revenue as participating players may spend more on the game while the event is active to get an edge against the competition. For example, looking at match3 games, the rush to beat other players can serve as a powerful incentive to use in-game currencies to purchase more moves, lives, or boosters.

Phased race events 

Some games have taken this basic race event template a step further by implementing a ‘phase’ system, meaning that the race event comprises of more than one race. Normally, this will add around three additional phases of racing for those who perform best in the first race. In the subsequent phases, the number of levels to beat (as well as any other objective requirements) will increase along with the racing rewards.

The Flower Climb race event in Lily’s Garden is a great example of the classic phase system in race events. In The Flower Climb, players race to complete a designated amount of the core blast match3 levels before anyone else in their group. In each phase, the top three to finish the race are rewarded and can move on to the next phase, which offers even better rewards but also requires the players to clear a larger amount of levels to win. 

How mobile games are experimenting with new types of race events 

Level racing might be the most common way to implement race events in level-based casual games, but it’s certainly not the only way. The core idea of seeing who can reach a set goal first opens up a number of possibilities for what that goal might be, depending on the game.

For example, some events have their own unique point systems implemented just for the event, with players racing to gather a set amount of points in order to win. Or, like in match3 games, players can be tasked with activating designated booster items in gameplay that can twist up the gameplay to freshen up the racing experience.

By any means, race events are not restricted to the Match3 space; there are many great examples of casual games from other fields implementing this type of event to add some extra flair to their LiveOps strategies. However, when it comes to games that don’t have straightforward level-based progression mechanics, developers have had to find creative workarounds that switch up the goal of the race to make things work. You can find examples of these below: 

Gossip Harbor®: Merge & Story’s Ziva’s Gold Rush event 

Ziva’s Goldrush in Gossip Harbor®: Merge & Story shows how race events can be implemented in a merge-2 setting by simply adjusting the goal type for the event. Here, the goal has been set as a specified amount of gold. Each player in the five-player race can obtain gold by normally merging items and completing orders in their own merge-2 progression. The top three players in each race get rewarded, and the best players get moved up to the next race with bigger stakes.

Phase 10: World Tour’s Kayak Event 

The casual card game Phase 10: World Tour implemented its own racing event in December 2022. In the event, players could engage in a five-person kayak race with the goal of playing a set amount of special Black Power-Up cards in normal Journey Mode matches. As the Power-Up cards are very rarely pulled from the deck, this event had a pay-to-win angle to it where purchasing Power-Ups was heavily incentivized. The Kayak race also had its own division phase system, where the top three players of each race moved up to a higher division.

World of Wonders: Crossword’s Hot-Air Balloon Race 

Words of Wonders: Crossword found a way to add excitement to word puzzles with their own version of a race event, the Hot-Air Balloon Race. The Hot-Air Balloon Race is essentially a point-gathering competition, where the player who obtains the target amount of points the fastest wins the race. During the event, players could obtain a random amount of event points by playing main progression levels in the core gameplay. The top three players to reach the goal are rewarded in this event.

How to add a unique twist to your own racing events 

Race events with phases and varying goal types are definitely a trusted, go-to event type in the casual space, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for further innovation and improvement. Some developers have added extra mechanics to their race events to keep things fresh and rewarding.

Combine level racing with win-streak mechanics 

An especially interesting example is the combination of level racing and win-streak mechanics, which we have spotted in a few match3 games so far. A great example of this event type is Royal Match’s Space Mission event, which takes the classic level race format and adds a win streak twist and a phase system to it. This means that in order to reach the goal and win the race, not only do the participating players need to clear the set amount of levels before others, they need to do it while carrying on a winning streak.

In the case of Space Mission, the number of levels that players need to clear in a streak goes up in every phase of the race, along with the rewards. For an added sense of competition, the group of players in each phase gets smaller, which means that the first phase has three levels to clear for a group of five players, the second phase has five levels to clear for four players, and the third phase requires the winner to clear seven levels in a group of three players.

Notably, adding win streak mechanics to a race event offers can offer more excitement to players while also making the races more challenging. The extra pressure on players could encourage them to use boosters and currencies to beat the levels, incentivizing monetization. Then again, win streak mechanics do add a whole other level of excitement and sense of danger to the race. 

This combination has been gaining traction lately, with similar events very recently popping up in Fishdom (Sailing Regatta), Triple Match 3D (Island Race), and BTS Island: In the SEOM (Kore Race) as well. With the added difficulty and a clearer pay-to-win angle, it will be interesting to see how popular this event type gets.

Integrating in-game cosmetic items into race events 

Another fun twist we’ve seen implemented in race events is the use of in-game cosmetic items and pets to highlight the players’ personalities during the race. Race events are a social experience, after all, so it makes sense to let players show off their customized look if the game supports cosmetic implementation. Simple customization could also be done just by letting players choose a signifier for themselves for the race, such as a certain color car or a boat, for instance.

A good example of this type of twist in race events is Cooking Diary’s Pet Race. In Cooking Diary, players can customize their own avatars with a variety of clothes, accessories, and hairstyles, as well as their in-game pets. That look can then be shown off during the Pet Race events, where each player’s pet will represent them in the traditional level race. 

Not only is this level of support for in-game cosmetic items a great way for players to express themselves more during events by showing off their favorite items, but it’s a great way of creating more monetization channels for your game, too.

Separate reward systems for race events

Another common characteristic of race events is that only the top players are rewarded, and players only have one shot to get any kind of reward for their participation. There’s a risk of frustrating players, especially in games that have upwards of ten levels to beat, who might feel they’ve wasted their time if they don’t end up at the top of the leaderboard.

Matchington Mansion has resolved this issue by adding a separate reward system to their race event, the Matchington Derby. In essence, Matchington Derby is a three-phase race event that also implements a one-hour timer for the racing instance. The top three players are still rewarded with the biggest prize pots as usual, but the twist here lies in that every player who manages to cross the finish line before the timer runs out is rewarded with separate points that cumulate over each participated race.

The top three players naturally get more points, but once the event ends, separate rewards are given out based on how many points players were able to gather, ensuring everyone feels rewarded for their participation which encourages higher player retention as a result.

Considering implementing race events into your own mobile game? 

Race events are most commonly used in match3 games but are easily adapted to work for other casual games by changing the goal objective. If you’re interested in implementing race events into your LiveOps calendar, here are some of the benefits of doing so: 

• Add structure to your LiveOps calendar: Race events typically occur every week, which can help you create a more streamlined LiveOps calendar while also letting your players know when to return for updates. 
• Increased session length: The competitive nature of race events means they commit to races 
• Increased monetization: Some race events can utilize in-game purchases so players can customize the appearance of their racing characters with cosmetic items or give themselves a boost with power-ups 
• Increased downloads: Adding a racing mode into your game is an easy way of introducing new gameplay mechanics that can attract new players

GameRefinery’s Live Events Tracker enables developers to stay on top of the latest trends and best practices in live events with daily analysis of event categories in the top-performing casual games (as well as midcore games). Race events are just one of over 30 event categories tracked in the Live Events Tracker tool.

The Live Events Tracker makes it easy to pinpoint new events as soon as they appear, check which days are the most popular to hold live events and estimate the revenue impact of events with reference to how similar events have been implemented in other games.

So, if you’re looking for advice on how to incorporate race events into your own LiveOps strategy, or you’re simply looking for inspiration on which live events have the most demonstrable impact on downloads and revenue across the top-performing casual games, contact us for a demo of our Live Events Tracker tool.

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

• Supercharge LiveOps With GameRefinery Event Tracking
• Episode 46: Unveiling the Top 3 Mobile Game Studio Secrets for Engaging Live Events
• Liftoff’s 2023 Casual Gaming Apps Report

The post [Event Spotlight] How Mobile Game Developers Are Driving Player Engagement With Race Events appeared first on GameRefinery.

This major privacy update has greatly impacted mobile marketers and advertisers by making it more difficult for them to access the data they rely on for user acquisition purposes. Snap, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube told the Financial Times that ATT was responsible for losses of nearly $10 billion at the time. 

ATT permission is usually requested via an in-app pop-up notification where users can choose to allow or deny tracking on a per-app/game basis. While companies must get permission from users before tracking or collecting their data, there aren’t any guidelines regarding when or where this pop-up notification should appear in-app. 

This got us wondering: is there an ideal time to ask users for data tracking consent? When do the top-grossing games display their ATT pop-up? And are there any additional tactics that the top-grossing games are using to encourage their players to agree to tracking?

We conducted a study to find out.

Analysis of ATT tracking pop-up data among US top-grossing 200 games 

During this study, we manually inspected whether sample mobile games display ATT tracking consent pop-ups during a hypothetical “first session” (= the first 25 minutes of gameplay). We chose this time frame because it is a reasonable amount of time for a new user to spend on a game and can provide insight into whether or not the pop-up is displayed early on in the user’s experience. 

However, it’s important to note that there may be games that are listed as not including any pop-ups, but do feature them beyond this sampling time frame. Therefore, while our study provides valuable insights into the prevalence of ATT tracking consent pop-ups during the first session, some games may still feature them later on in the user’s gameplay experience.

The study sample included the US top-grossing 200 list for iOS games, according to GameRefinery data that was accessed in late January, 2023. The list was analyzed and 99% of the games were inspected. The remaining 1% were not inspected because they were premium games (marked as “Na” in the charts below).

The data we gathered is valuable for game developers and publishers who aim to understand market trends and create successful games.

Furthermore, game developers can use this data to identify the features and characteristics that contribute the most to a game’s success, helping to guide the creation of new games or the improvement of existing ones. Through this analysis, we discovered when the most successful games in the US market were displaying ATT notifications.

72% of top mobile games display ATT pop-ups within the first 30 seconds of gameplay 

During the study, we found that the vast majority of sampled games (88%) included ATT pop-ups within the sampling time frame of 25 minutes. This indicates a general trend of app developers complying with Apple’s new privacy policy guidelines. 

However, it is worth noting that a small but significant percentage of games, around 11%, featured no pop-ups within the same time frame. This may be because the pop-up features much later in the game or they are not even attempting to get access to the identifier.

Our analysis also found that 81.4% of the 177 games with ATT pop-ups displayed them within the first 30 seconds of gameplay. The timing of the pop-ups ranged from one second to 15 minutes and 44 seconds from starting the application, suggesting that some games are waiting to build trust with users during their gameplay session before requesting permission to track their data.

Nearly 70% of the top-grossing 50 iOS games request ATT permission during the first 15 seconds of gameplay

ATT pop-up timing amongst the top-grossing 100 games (n=89) ranged from one second to 2 minutes and 22 seconds with 82% of the games displaying the pop-up within the first 30 seconds of gameplay. Almost 70% of the top 100 games displayed the pop-up window between the first six to 30 seconds of gameplay. 

While we’re unable to access data showing whether users accepted or denied these requests, our analysis suggests that game developers should prioritize displaying ATT pop-ups during the first 30 seconds of gameplay to increase their chances of users giving permission for data tracking. 

Among the top 50 grossing games (n=43), ATT pop-up timing ranged from one second to two minutes and 20 seconds. 84% of these games displayed the pop-up within the first 30 seconds, and 58% of top-50 games displayed the pop-up between 6 and 15 seconds, further consolidating the finding that a “golden window” for ATT pop-up timing exists somewhere during the first six and 30 seconds of gameplay.

This suggests that developers should aim to display the pop-up early, but not too early, in order to maximize user engagement and compliance with ATT requirements.

Do personalized pre-ATT prompts improve the chances of user opt-in?

Some of the mobile games we analyzed displayed an additional pop-up before requesting ATT opt-in permission from their users, which we’ll call a pre-ATT prompt. These additional pop-ups are delivered to convince the user to allow ATT tracking, and 23% of the top-200 games we analyzed included a personalized pre-ATT prompt within the time frame of the sampling. 

Top-grossing 100 games are more likely to display pre-ATT prompts

Our analysis found 26% (45/176) of sampled games with ATT pop-ups also included a personalized pre-ATT prompt. Interestingly, games that fall within the top-100 grossing chart were twice as likely to include a personalized pre-ATT prompt than games that rank 101-200. Out of the games ranked 1–100, 27 had personalized pre-ATT prompts, whereas only 18 games ranked 101-200 had personalized pre-ATT prompts.

Based on this data, our analysis suggests that personalized pre-ATT prompts may be more common in top-grossing games or games that aim to maximize revenue through targeted advertising.

Games that generate more revenue are more likely to request additional user information 

In addition to the above findings, our analysis also found a small percentage of games included additional prompts for user information. Specifically, 13% of the sampled games included some kind of additional prompts, such as requests for email addresses, phone numbers, age, gender, and other personal data. 

Like the findings above, the percentage of games displaying additional prompts varied depending on their ranking in the top-grossing chart.  17% of mobile games in the top-grossing 100 chart included an additional data prompt, compared to only 9% of games ranked between 101–200. This indicates that games that generate higher revenue are 89% more likely to request additional user information than games ranked between 101 and 200.

It is worth noting that this trend raises questions about the privacy and security of user data. While some users may not mind providing this information, others may feel uncomfortable sharing personal details. Game developers should be transparent about their data collection practices and ensure user data is properly protected.

Additionally, it may be beneficial for game developers to consider alternative ways to monetize their games, rather than relying solely on user data collection. This could help build trust with users and create a more positive user experience.

Displaying ATT notifications early could improve the chances of opt-in for users 

After analyzing the ATT frequency and the time notifications appear amongst the top-200 grossing iOS games, our data suggests that the first 30 seconds of gameplay is the sweet spot for displaying ATT pop-ups. 

It’s important to note that we weren’t able to access data showing whether customers were accepting or refusing these notifications, but the trend of higher-grossing mobile games displaying ATT notifications earlier during gameplay suggests that early requests are more successful. This deduction is based on the assumption that developers of higher-grossing mobile games are adjusting their ATT notification display time point based on their individual experience of how users are responding to their notification.

We’ve summarized the key findings from this data below: 

• 81.4% of the games displaying some kind of ATT-related pop-up did so within the first 30 seconds of gameplay.
• Among the top-grossing 50 games (n=43), 58% displayed the pop-up between the first six and 15 seconds of gameplay.  However, we believe that displaying the pop-up during the first five seconds of gameplay may be unpopular among top games due to a higher likelihood of users instinctively rejecting the pop-up.
• Our research also found that only 25.6% (45/176) of sampled games with ATT pop-ups included a personalized pre-ATT prompt.
• Games in the top 100 grossing were 50% more likely to include a personalized pre-ATT prompt than games in top-grossing ranks 101-200. 
• 13% of sampled games also included some kind of additional prompts for user information, including email, phone number, age, gender, etc.
• Top-100 grossing games were 89% more likely to include additional prompts than games among ranks 101-200.

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

• Mobile Game Publishers Are Bypassing Google and Apple Store Cuts With External Web Stores
• First Impression Seals the Deal – Introducing Onboarding Best Practices PART 1
• Power-up UA with a Friend Referral Program

The post What’s the Best Time to Request Permission From Users for ATT? (iOS) appeared first on GameRefinery.

In the past, hybridization was mainly seen in 4X strategy games that merged with puzzle and idle RPG mechanics, but in recent months this phenomenon has spread to titles of all shapes and sizes across the market – not just the hybrid-casual genre. 

In many respects, this change isn’t particularly surprising. Analysts have widely reported developers’ ongoing challenges with user acquisition targets as they wrestle with stricter app tracking policies, especially on Apple devices. Many developers have invested in more innovative gameplay mechanics to broaden the audiences they can advertise to, with the diversification of game genres being a natural extension of that.

This has led to some wildly unusual combinations. Most notably, digital trading-card games (TCG) have become more prolific after Marvel Snap, and TCG mechanics can now be found in the action-RPG Genshin Impact and the arcade-racer QQ Speed. Likewise, construction elements have become intertwined with the core mechanics of many titles, such as the Japanese-hit Slime Isekai Memories, where narrative progression is tied into its base building despite its focus as a turn-based RPG.

Below, we delve deeper into some of the most interesting hybrid mobile game examples that prove which genres are the most compatible for combining. 

QQ Speed 

An arcade racer implementing TCG mechanics 

The first game on our list is QQ Speed, an arcade racing game with a manga-inspired art style that’s been very successful in the Chinese market. The game gained a following thanks to its similarities to Nintendo’s hugely popular Mario Kart franchise, but it’s taken an unexpected turn with the addition of a new card battler mode.

Mechanically, the mode is relatively similar to Blizzard’s Hearthstone. Each turn, players have a set amount of mana they can use to play cards with a variety of attack and defense-related properties from their hand, with the ultimate goal being to reduce the enemy’s health to zero. Players progress through levels against PvE opponents and can upgrade and purchase new cards to build their perfect deck. An additional PvP mode was added to the card battler in an update shortly after launch, where players can really put their collection to the test.

These mechanics are unconventional for a racing game but aren’t surprising. After all, this is hardly the first time that QQ Speed has added a new mode that significantly differs from its primary mechanics; it once featured a Fall Guys-style minigame and a recreational area where players can hang out and chat with others.

Merge Vikings

Combining merge2 mechanics with progressive character and building vectors. 

Merge Vikings takes a unique approach to hybridization in the merge space by combining merge2 mechanics with build and battle gameplay. The game mainly focuses on asynchronous PvP matches, reminiscent of titles such as Boom Beach, with the goal being to wreak as much havoc on the opponent’s base as possible.

Merge Vikings is interesting because it replaces the typical merge2 meta layers, such as decoration and narrative, with character and building progression vectors. The game does this through permanent source buildings, which produce various merge items and currencies that players can use to upgrade their arsenal and defenses.

Just like in other merge2 games, the constraints of the merge2 board also provide some strategic puzzle elements to make Merge Vikings more engaging. As an example, players must choose which merge chains to focus on, which items they sacrifice when they’re running out of space, and how best to utilize their limited energy to win the match.

Merge Vikings is yet to implement IAP monetization, but given its merge chain progression is intertwined with character and building progression, we suspect this will lead to some exciting monetization opportunities further down the line. 

Goddess of Victory: NIKKE

A third-person-shooter action RPG with progressive base-building and relationship elements. 

Level Infinite’s action RPG, Goddess of Victory: NIKKE, became one of the most popular titles on the mobile market when it launched in November 2022 and is still very popular in Japan. The game is an almighty genre mishmash almost reminiscent of a AAA console game, carefully combining heavy story and character-driven RPG elements with hectic shooter gameplay.

The narrative is a vital part of the drive toward in-game progression. The sci-fi story takes place on a post-apocalyptic Earth where alien robots are trying to destroy mankind, forcing it to flee into underground colonies. The player is sent to explore the surface as the ‘Commander’ of a squad of female defense androids known as NIKKEs.

Goddess of Victory: NIKKE initially appears centered around fast-paced, third-person shooting, but its gameplay can actually be set to be completely automatic. Even with manual controls, the game heavily relies on aim assistance to lock onto targets. While this makes the shooting fun and approachable for more casual players, it becomes less appealing for those with more experience.

Instead, much of the game’s appeal comes from collecting and strategically managing a collection of NIKKEs acquired through gachas (with IAPs available). Each NIKKE triggers a series of small events when first acquired, aiming to get players to invest in the new character emotionally. The NIKKEs constantly strike up ‘spontaneous’ phone chat conversations with the player, and it’s possible to experience unique story sequences with them as relationships build. 

The game also features a base-building system, which increases characters’ attributes and is managed in a separate menu called The Outpost. Some buildings include an ‘Outpost Defence,’ which accumulates resources over time, and a ‘Synchro Device,’ which allows players to temporarily lift a NIKKEs’ character level to that of their higher level NIKKEs.

X-Hero

An idle RPG that regularly experiments with new genres through mini-game implementation, including hypercasual puzzlers, auto-battle chess, and casual casino. 

We discussed how the character collector, idle RPG, X-Hero, has been experimenting with different hyper-casual minigames (such as a hypercasual puzzle mode called SaveDog) to help drive user acquisition in our blog on the biggest mobile game development trends of 2022. Despite that, we’ve barely scratched the surface of the depth of hybridization within the game. 

X-Hero’s primary mode, X-War, takes players through maps full of levels to progress a simple storyline as they take on auto-battle RPG matches with a team of six heroes. The diversity on offer massively increases once you look at the other auto-battle RPG PvE modes. Players can tackle battles in the Time Travel and Galaxy Wanted modes, take on a Star Trek mode incorporating roguelite elements and explore the Discovery Hall, alongside numerous other modes such as PvP in Guild Wars and 1v1 arena.

For additional hybridization, X-Hero taps into the casual casino genre as well. The game features a Homeworld Slot mode with similar mechanics to the hit game Coin Master. Players spin a slot to gain rewards and steal from other players’ bases while constructing their own base for great benefits supporting the main idle RPG gameplay.

Genshin Impact

The open-world RPG added a permanent TCG minigame 

Genshin Impact hasn’t waned in popularity since storming onto the mobile and console marketplace in 2020 with its high-quality production values, cel-shaded visuals, open-world RPG mechanics, and strong narrative focus. The game follows the template of many open-world RPGs, with players invited to freely explore, climb, glide, and fight their way through the vast region of Teyvat as they take on various quests and activities.

The game’s more recent experimentations with hybridization have seen the permanent addition of a turn-based TCG minigame called Genius Invocation. This mode is designed for advanced players as endgame content and is played with 33 card decks, consisting of three hero cards and 30 other cards – players receive their first deck as part of the tutorial. Players can acquire additional character cards by defeating certain NPCs in a duel while completing specific objectives during the match.

Genshin Impact also previously put its own unique spin on Pokémon with a Fabulous Funghi Frenzy event, where players had to catch mushroom creatures and train them to fight in a tournament to progress the story and win special event currency, as well as a free four-star character.

Slime Isekai Memories

The turn-based RPG wraps 4X and tycoon mechanics around a base-building meta layer. 

Slime Isekai Memories may have fallen off the US market’s radar but this turn-based RPG based on a hit anime/manga series is still very much alive in Japan. Many players are likely drawn to the game because of its high production values and respect for its source material (the original cast voices in-game characters), but what keeps them engaged is its amalgamation of hero collection and base-building mechanics.

In the game, players collect characters and develop them for use strategically in battles to ultimately progress the main campaign, which follows a new story supervised by the original author. The base building meta, Build Nation, is directly incorporated into this; players cannot progress until they’ve sufficiently developed their base’s population by constructing new buildings or upgrading existing ones.

Build Nation also uses a resource generation system with various supplies, such as character upgrade materials, more commonly encountered in 4X and tycoon games. Hybridization has been critical to the success of many 4X strategy games, like Puzzles & Survival (4X and puzzle RPG) and Top War: Battle Game (4X base building with merge mechanics), so this crossover into more traditional RPGs simply further emphasizes the trend across the broader market. 

Why are hybrid mobile games becoming more popular? 

The mobile games market has always been known for experimenting and leading the way with innovation, and introducing new gameplay mechanics from other popular genres is an effective way of keeping players engaged. 

This has resulted in the rise of hybrid-casual games, a genre we explore in great detail in the Liftoff 2023 Casual Gaming Apps report, but it’s important to remember that hybridization isn’t limited to games in the casual genre – there are plenty of midcore and premium games experimenting with hybrid mechanics, too. 

So what are the benefits? Hybridizing your mobile game is a great way of broadening its appeal and boosting user acquisition. X-Hero’s SaveDog hyper-casual mini-game capitalized on the viral TikTok hype surrounding the Save The Doge game and helped push X-Hero to the top of the download charts by utilizing the mode in its UA strategy across social media platforms. While a lot of the players downloaded the game for the hyper-casual mode, many stayed after familiarising themselves with the game’s main mechanics. 

Similarly, hybridization can be a great way of getting players involved with game genres that they might not have sought out otherwise. Think of all the QQSpeed players that had never played a card battler but ended up falling in love with a new genre after it introduced a TCG mode. 

Hybridization can also open up new monetization layers for your game, especially if you’re introducing new gameplay mechanics from a genre with lots of monetization potential, such as the base-building mechanics that could supplement an RPG by introducing a new in-game store for upgrades. 

Finally, hybridization is a great way to gauge the reception of new gameplay mechanics, especially if you’re hybridizing through a mini-game or limited-time event in LiveOps. If these new mechanics have been positively received by fans, they can be implemented as a new full-time game mode. 

Top things to consider if you’re hybridizing your mobile game 

While the hybrid mobile game examples above prove that you can mix and match most genres, there are still some key things you should always consider. 

• Genre preferences change in different markets so think carefully about where your game is the most popular and how existing players might respond to the addition of less-familiar gameplay mechanics. 
• Take influence from viral trends on media platforms, such as TikTok, but remember that these trends won’t stay around forever. You can find more information on how to build better mobile games by leveraging TikTok trends here. 
• Play to your strengths. If your game has built a solid user base as an RPG, it is not necessarily a good move to move away from those RPG elements to chase trends in another genre and vice versa. Weigh up the pros and cons of introducing new trends and mechanics; balancing the expectations of existing players around bringing new players into the game can be tricky. 
• Always have an eye on the gameplay mechanics and genres that are trending in the market and think about how you can merge them with your existing mechanics to innovate. The adoption of TCG mechanics amongst some of the most successful mobile games is being done because TCG mechanics are very popular right now. 

If you enjoyed reading this post and would like to find out more about hybridization and other trends within the mobile market, then be sure to check out some of our other articles below:

• How minigames can be used to improve UA and player retention 
• Roguelike Elements in Mobile Games in China
• Why Renovation and Construction Elements Are Becoming More Popular in Casual Games

You can also find more information on the rise of hybridization in the casual market and how this has paved the way for the hybrid-casual genre in the 2023 Casual Gaming Apps Report.

The post The Rise of Hybridization in Mobile Games: How Developers are Genre Mashing Their Way to Success 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.

Publishers and studios are constantly looking for new ways to improve these, whether it’s with more powerful ad creative to boost UA or by adding new gameplay mechanics and features to improve player retention.

But many of the top-grossing mobile games have found one of the most effective ways of boosting UA and player retention is implementing minigames that feature different mechanics to the game’s usual core gameplay. 

As an example, a casual puzzler might introduce a reaction or thinking-based hypercasual minigame, while a midcore RPG might introduce a fully-fledged side mode with core gameplay elements from a completely different genre.

Minigames have continued to grow in popularity since the IDFA changes, especially amongst casual and midcore games. Looking at current popularity data of the highest-grossing games of the US market (top 200 grossing games), 23% of casual games and 47% of mid-core games are utilizing minigames. This shows that they’re important elements, especially when it comes to finding success in the midcore space.

Why implement minigames?

There are lots of benefits to implementing minigames in your game, although these benefits will depend on how you utilize them. They’re a great way of boosting engagement by providing players with new and exciting ways of enjoying an existing game. You can also use them as a way to test how players respond to new gameplay mechanics if you want to eventually integrate them as a permanent mechanic in your core gameplay loop.

Introducing minigames into your game also provides an opportunity to add new monetization elements. As an example, a puzzle minigame might feature consumable boosters or rewarded ads to help players in the levels, while a more complex standalone minigame might introduce a completely new monetized meta layer.

Also, one of the big benefits of minigames is being able to experiment with new genres, which means you’ll widen the motivational appeal of your game. This can make your player base larger and reduce your reliance on UA targeting, as adding these modes makes your game relevant to a larger audience. 

Speaking of UA, many of the top-grossing games are choosing to implement hyper casual-like simple but addictive minigames and utilize them in powerful ad creatives as part of their wider marketing efforts. These can be seen in numerous ads for mobile games on social channels, such as Austin’s Bad Dream in Gardenscapes.

Next, let’s go over different minigame archetypes and how some of the top-performing games have implemented these modes to reach the benefits mentioned above.

Different minigame types and examples

Minigames can be grouped into four main archetypes, from UA-boosting ones to retention-increasing ones:

1. UA creative minigame levels (pure UA approach): These often have quite a simple but hooking gameplay mechanic and are used in ad creatives mainly to boost UA and hook players in through the tutorial levels. Great examples are Royal Match’s King’s Nightmare levels and also Playrixes match3s Gardenscapes and Fishdom.
2. UA creative minigame as a side mode (hybrid approach): These take the first archetype further by having the UA creative minigame as a permanent side mode, combining the UA creative approach and retention increasing permanent mode approach. Great examples are idle-RPG X-Hero’s SaveDoge mode and 4x strategy King of Avalon’s Frost & Tears campaign mode.
3. Proper minigames in live events (retention approach): Usually an integral part of the game to support the main gameplay or the event loop. They often have more depth compared to the UA-focused minigames and are mainly used to bring refreshing game mechanics for players from other popular genres, boost engagement and long-term retention, and even sometimes add additional monetization layers. For example, League of Legends: Wild Rift had a minigame in their winter holiday event, while Lunar New Year was celebrated in Genshin Impact with four different minigames and in Homescapes with a merge minigame.
4. Permanent, standalone minigame modes (retention approach): These have a similar idea to the third archetype, but they are permanently available as side modes, sometimes even with more depth than the third archetype minigames. AFK Arena’s Forest Mania match3, Shadow Invasion’s shoot ’em up modes, and Genshin Impact’s new Genius Invokation TCG mode are great examples.

Let’s next look at more detailed implementation examples of these four main archetypes from some of the highest-performing games.

Archetypes 1 & 2: UA creative minigame levels and modes

If you’ve ever seen an ad for a mobile game on Instagram or social media, you’ve probably encountered the UA-focused minigames we mentioned above. Usually, these ads show an interesting gameplay mechanic with little to do with the main core gameplay and instead are from a sidemode or major part of the tutorial. 

According to some reports, one reason for this approach is that some games have seen their CPI (cost per install) numbers go lower with these types of ads. The mechanics of the minigames in these sidemodes and tutorials are often very simple but hooking, so they’re perfect for showcasing in ad creatives to hook players in.

Let’s look at three very different UA-focused implementation cases from match3 Royal Match, idle RPG X-Hero, and the 4X strategy game, King of Avalon.

Royal Match – King’s Nightmare levels

Royal Match has been a great success as currently one of the highest-grossing and downloaded games in the US. At its core, Royal Match is quite a simple but polished game with linear match3-level progression, simple room renovation meta, and a rich recurring event framework. 

Around February 2022, one version of its UA creative minigame levels got implemented in the game as special levels that pop up from time to time for the player as they progress through the linear match3 levels. The King’s Nightmare titled levels are timed match3 puzzle levels where you have limited time to complete the level to save the King. These special levels follow the similar match3 mechanics as the normal levels, but they feel more hectic due to the level’s timer. The King’s Nightmare levels are also completely optional for the player and can be simply skipped.

The levels not only bring a nice change to the slower-paced but harder main levels but also benefit the UA side. The same “King in trouble” gameplay has been used in several of the game’s UA campaigns and is also shown on the game’s App Store page. Looking at the massive download numbers, this is proving to be a successful strategy.

X-Hero – SaveDoge mode

Idle RPG character collector X-Hero introduced a minigame called “SaveDoge,” where players have to draw a protective barrier around an image of a dog stylized like the popular doge meme to protect it from bees. X-Hero has been utilizing this minigame in its ad creatives and app store icon/screenshots, but it’s not the only game doing this. Inspired by TikTok and other social media platforms, the Doge trend has also been used in a few other idle RPGs, such as Valor Legends, as well as in another popular Save The Doge hypercasual game.

Implementing this UA strategy in September 2022 led to X-Hero quickly storming the download and the top-grossing charts, peaking at number one in the US iOS top-download charts and 17 in the top-grossing.

Inside the game, the SaveDog mode is implemented to both the tutorial and as a permanent side game mode but has nothing to do with the actual RPG core gameplay or the futuristic superhero theme of the game. SaveDog mode has players progress through the extremely easy minigame via a linear map, with the completion of new stages earning them premium currency and gacha ticket rewards that can be used in the main game mode. 

In addition to the more shallow SaveDog mode, X-Hero features another more robust minigame as well. The game has a base building meta progression with a casual casino minigame tied to it that resembles the hit game Coin Master, bringing yet another special core gameplay layer. This game mode is an integral part of the whole game, as there are considerable benefits the base and its buildings bring.

X-Hero has started to change its UA minigames on a monthly basis and recently updated its strategy with a mode titled “Chess Wanted”, where players control police officers in a turn-based puzzle grid to prevent thieves escaping. You can find out more about the update in the GameRefinery February Analyst Bulletin. 

King of Avalon – Frost and Tears campaign 

Despite being a six-year-old 4X strategy game, King of Avalon is still holding its place in the top-200 grossing ranks of the iOS US chart. To keep up with the tight competition in the 4x strategy space, it recently changed its first time tutorial from a normal 4x strategy gameplay to a real-time-strategy battle levels where you defend against waves of “Unmelted” monsters, reminiscent of the White Walkers from Game of Thrones. The game also started running UA creatives and changed its Appstore page featuring gameplay from these levels.

The game’s tutorial includes several of these levels, as you first flee from the Unmelted and slowly uncover and clear your base of monsters and ice across the story. When that’s done, the actual base building and 4x strategy game starts. Differing from the usual UA focused simple minigames, the Frost and Tears tutorial and levels are very detailed and offer quite robust gameplay mechanics, that cater for both RTS and tower defense fans.

The players who enjoy the mode get to continue playing through them as the levels stay as a permanent side game mode titled Frost and Tears campaign. Each of these levels unlocks a great amount of rewards such as boosters and Hero characters for the game’s main 4x gameplay.

Archetype 3: Proper minigames in live events

While the most common live event types use simple task-based mechanics and involve playing the normal core gameplay, some have started bringing events that completely differ from the normal core gameplay mechanics.

Homescapes – Merge & Exploration minigame events

Match3 game Homescapes has been constantly innovating when it comes to features such as social elements, meta, or live events – likely one of the reasons it has been sustaining for years as one of the highest grossing match3s. The latest innovations lie on the live event minigame side where it has been adopting mechanics from other top casual subgenres merge and tycoon/crafting.

Merge minigames are the game’s latest event type, using merge2 grid puzzle mechanics familiar from some of the top merge games like Merge Mansion. You collect event points by completing merge tasks in the event board, which then unlocks progressive rewards in a reward track, such as collectible photos to an album, and boosters for the main match3 core gameplay. These events are monetized as well through an event store, where you can purchase useful merge items and energy required for the merges (instead of having to wait for it to replenish or complete the normal match3 levels to gain it), helping you immensely on completing the reward track.

Exploration events are another minigame event type, having mechanics familiar from some of the top tycoon/crafting exploration games like Klondike Adventures or Family Island. The events have their own map to explore by using event energy to clear various obstacles, with various tasks guiding you through the event. 

There are both progressive rewards (such as boosters) for completing task chapters, and collection rewards for finding items in the map that include an event exclusive decoration item (to decorate your mansion in the main game) as the final prize. 

The required energy works in the same way as in the merge events, and is replenished over time, gained by completing the normal match 3 levels, and directly purchasable. For additional monetization, there are purchasable dynamite boosters that can clear a bulk of obstacles, significantly boosting the event progression.

These merge and exploration events are on the same minigame event loop, with one almost always active, each time having a new theme based on e.g. the current season or holiday.

If you want to discover how top games or your competitors run their LiveOps, GameRefinery’s Live Events Tracker tool gives you a comprehensive way to analyze trends, identify patterns and understand how LiveOps is conducted in certain genres’ top games. Very nifty way to, for example, map out LiveOps requirements and content of your next live event project.

Adopting proven gameplay elements that players love from other competing casual subgenres is a clever way to add refreshing twists to the live events framework that in Homescapes’ case otherwise mostly consists of normal match3-related activities. 

Having these minigame events on a regular loop means Homescapes players are less likely to switch to a merge or tycoon/crafting competitor, as they’re getting the satisfaction of these genres from these additional game modes and reward systems.

Free Fire – Limited time minigame modes that tap on viral trends

As one of the top-performing shooters in the US mobile market, Free Fire is an extremely robust and diverse game in terms of shooter game modes, LiveOps, and also meta elements such as hero characters, pet collecting and upgrading, not to mention the vast amount of different cosmetics to collect. 

With such a heavy focus on LiveOps, players can usually expect to see one or two bigger themed live events active at once alongside some sort of limited-time game mode with special rules, and it’s not unusual for these limited-time game modes to have different mechanics to the core gameplay.

Two of the most interesting ones the game has run in the past are Pet Mania and Pet Rumble, where players compete as their pets instead of their hero characters. Both modes feature similar gameplay to viral hit games such as Fall Guys and Among Us that are popular with streamers and content creators. The events were run in Free Fire during the peak trends of their viral hit game counterparts.

The Pet Mania mode shares a lot of similarities with Fall Guys, as you compete against others in battle-royale elimination party games, running and jumping to avoid obstacles so you can survive and reach the finish line.

Pet Rumble on the other hand has similar gameplay to the hit game Among Us, being an asymmetric PvP mode where players are split into two teams: scientists and pranksters. Scientists have to complete tasks and identify/vote who the Pranksters are, while Pranksters infiltrate and try to eliminate the Scientists to win the match.

Not only do these modes cleverly offer the proven fun gameplay of the current viral gameplay trends, but also make the whole monetized collectible pet metalayer even more valuable as players get exposed to them and their cosmetics even more.

Free Fire has recently started running simpler minigames in their themed events, with almost every themed event having at least one that’s required to play to gain some of the event’s special currencies and rewards. 

To play these minigames you would usually have to get tickets from completing tasks through the game’s normal battle royale matches. Some examples of these minigames include Football Fable (football), Free Fire Valley (tycoon), and Grize Fighter (fighter).

Township – Platform of minigame events

Township is one of the highest grossing tycoon/crafting games in the US and has a huge focus on different live-events that are integrated into the main game and support the main tycoon/crafting core loop. One of these event types is minigames which the game runs regularly with a wide variety of different gameplay mechanics.

The most robust type of minigames are the puzzle events that consist of swapping and blasting mechanic match3s, such as the makeover events similar to the hit game Project Makeover. These events are monetized with consumable boosters, extra moves and lives, while the level progression is permanent and carries over from event to event – making them more of a permanent part of the whole game.

Other minigame types include a Mahjong solitaire puzzle that’s similar to one of the newest top grossing puzzle games, Zen Match, and also hypercasual-like minigames with more of a reaction and skill based gameplay. All the events reward you with important items and resources for the main crafting/tycoon core loop of the game, and many of them also have you compete against other players on leaderboards for bonus rewards.

You could easily write a full length blog post covering all of the minigames in Township, but to summarize, the game feels almost like a platform of different minigames of a variety of core mechanics from thinking based to reaction/skill based gameplay, which you are very incentivized to play to help you progress in the main farming/tycoon core game.

Archetype 4: Permanent, stand-alone minigame modes

Some of the more robust mobile games, especially in the mid-core category, have implemented modes with similar ideas to live event minigames, but are permanent and typically have more depth compared to the usual minigame mechanics. Also similar to event minigames, these stand-alone alternative modes take inspiration from totally different genres outside of the main game, and focus on increasing retention, engagement and sometimes direct monetization as well.

Mobile Legends: Bang Bang – Magic Chess mode

Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, the highest grossing classic MOBA game in the US, added a Magic Chess limited time, auto-chess made mode back in 2020. The mode was so successful it was eventually implemented as a permanent standalone mode, having its own separate meta elements, LiveOps, and monetization.

Instead of using your MOBA heroes as an avatar to play with in the auto chess matches, you use cute Little Commander characters, each of which have their own skills and collectible cosmetics. The MOBA heroes are then used as “troops” that you purchase and merge inside the matches, and they battle each other automatically on the chess board in the usual auto chess fashion. 

The Magic Chess has its own separate monetization to the main game, with purchasable Little Commanders and their skins, cosmetics like chess boards and emotes, which can be directly purchased, gained through the mode’s own Battle Pass, the Magic Chess Pass, and even sometimes through limited time gachas. The mode also has its own ranked PvP seasons offering competitive session-to-session progression, and automated weekly tournaments.

Having a completely separate mode with alternative mechanics to the core gameplay, such as Magic Chess bringing more strategic but relaxing gameplay to the otherwise hectic and fast-paced MOBA combat, can be super valuable. Not just for monetization purposes, but for retention and engagement as well. 

With Magic Chess mode, players have an additional alternative game to play without leaving the app. It’s also easy to pick up compared to a completely separate auto chess game, with the Magic Chess being found in the same familiar Mobile Legends: Bang Bang platform, with the same familiar hero characters.

There used to be an option to use hero skins from the main MOBA game on the Magic Chess mode’s hero characters that fight on the chess board, but this option was removed. It was a great way to make one of the main monetization drivers of the game feel even more valuable and expose players to them even further. It would not be surprising to see this option coming back in the future.

On top of the permanent Magic Chess mode, the game has also run other limited time minigame modes utilizing Little Commanders. Boommander is a gamemode featuring casual Bomberman-like Battle Royale matches, while Arena has similar gameplay elements to the top grossing tactical battler Clash Royale.

AFK Arena – Permanent match3 and roguelite modes

Another successful game that utilizes permanent minigame modes is the Idle RPG, AFK Arena. While the game features a variety of RPG modes, there are also other permanent standalone modes with completely different gameplay mechanics.

The game’s Forest Mania mode has you play casual match3 levels to progress in the mode’s linear map full of levels. The mode was implemented a few years ago but new levels are occasionally added.

The game’s newest mode, Shadow Invasions, uses top-down shoot ’em up gameplay with roguelite mechanics that look and feel similar to the recent popular hit PC game Vampire Survivors and the mobile hit Survivor!.io. You survive against hordes of enemies and level up to gain selectable skills with the goal to survive long enough to complete the level and progress in the linear map, with also an endless mode available to play.

The focus of these modes in AFK Arena is to first and foremost offer fun, alternative gameplay experiences, especially with the Shadow Invasions mode tapping on the recent roguelite trend. Neither of the modes are monetized in any way or connected to the main game, other than rewarding material items and gacha tickets, making them feel like game’s inside a game.

What are the benefits of implementing minigames?

Many top performing games are catering more and more towards wider audiences and bringing retention increasing features and mechanics, whether it’s through social and meta elements, genre hybridisation, or through offering minigames. 

As we saw from the listed examples, there are a bunch of ways from each of the main four archetypes to bring minigames to your game, with each implementation bringing its own benefits to the table. This means they can be used to: 

• Provide exciting and refreshing ways for both new and old players to enjoy the game, boosting player engagement and retention.
• Cater towards larger audiences and different player motivations, helping in attaining new players as the possible player base becomes larger. The minigames can also be implemented in an optional way without making the players who do not enjoy the particular game mode forced to participate.
• Quickly adapt to new viral trending game mechanics and to prototype new mechanics your players might enjoy, also possibly keeping your players changing from e.g. AFK Arena to Survivor!.io, as they can get their roguelite fix already from AFK Arena’s Shadow Invasions mode.
• Boost monetization by increasing amount of money sinks or boost the current ones either directly through e.g. energy, monetized continue or boosters, minigame mode specific content such as with Mobile Legends’ Magic Chess mode or indirectly through increasing retention or making the already monetized game elements more valuable like with the Pet modes in Free Fire.
• Boost UA through more powerful ad creatives, using trending game mechanics or minigames, Royal Match’s King’s Nightmare is a great example.

If you’re interested in more examples of minigames from the mobile market, you can find hundreds more by searching with the “Minigame” feature tag in the GameRefinery SaaS platform. Also, don’t forget the Live Events Tracker tool, with which you can analyze, visualize, and compare the performance for over 35 different types of live events and the impact of event duration and timing. Incorporate these learnings into your own mobile game to boost retention and UA!

The post Struggling with UA and player retention in a post-IDFA world? Minigames are the answer appeared first on GameRefinery.

Editor’s note: This blog post was originally published in February 2021. We’ve updated the blog post with new seasonal event implementation examples and best practices for introducing seasonal events into your mobile game.

But is there more to seasonal events than just storefront changes, skins and icons, and reskins of past events? In this post, we’ll cover all of that while also looking at best practice examples that will hopefully give you ideas on what you could consider for your seasonal promotions.

The data and examples shown here are gathered from the GameRefinery service, which you can access here. The examples we’ve included here are only a small handful of the thousands of seasonal event implementation examples on the GameRefinery SaaS platform, so if you’re interested in seeing more examples, check out the platform.

Not all seasonal events are created equal

It’s good to remember that while some events are important to you, they may not be culturally relevant to all your target countries. This is especially the case in the US and China, where Halloween and Christmas will be much more significant to a US audience than New Year for a Chinese audience.

Typically, the most significant seasonal events in the mobile game markets are New Year, Lunar New Year, Valentine’s Day, Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. However, several other smaller seasonal events provide an excellent opportunity to give players a content update, such as St. Patrick’s Day and Cherry Blossom Season in Japan. The updates are usually rolled out a couple of weeks in advance of the specific dates. 

Seasonal events in mobile games 

Here are the key dates to be aware of that are typically celebrated by the mobile games market.

Depending on the demographic and genre of your mobile game, you might also want to consider celebrating charity initiatives and wider awareness days. 

Brawl Stars, Angry Birds 2 and Sky: Children of the Light are just some of the mobile games with charity events that have raised money through the sale of limited-time accessories. Many mobile games are involved with the Playing for The Planet initiative, with studios raising awareness of environmental issues by hosting events on major calendar dates such as World Environment Day (5th June). 

Pride, which celebrates equality and human rights, has also become a major calendar date for several mobile game studios. Zoobaa, League of Legends: Wild Rift, Beatstar, Farmville, and Zynga Poker are all mobile games that celebrated Pride in 2022 through seasonal events which involved a UI refresh, limited-time characters and cosmetic items, and lots of money raised for non-profits championing LGBTQ+ rights. 

How mobile games implement seasonal content through LiveOps

There are plenty of ways to implement seasonal events into your mobile game, but they usually fall into one of the following categories. It’s important to bear in mind that the more effort you put into your seasonal events, the more rewarding they’ll be. 

Simple UI changes to represent a seasonal makeover 

If you don’t have the internal resources to launch a massive content update, giving your UI a seasonal makeover is a simple and effective way of getting in the holiday spirit, whether it’s a splash of holly and tinsel around the border of your main menu or pumpkins and ghosts hiding in the background. 

Event-related offers (e.g., Valentine’s Day skins in the shop) + UI changes

Of course, giving your UI a refresh isn’t going to do much when it comes to bringing in revenue, which is why most developers give their cosmetic items, such as skins, a seasonal makeover too. 

Limited-time event skins are not only a great way to boost revenues, but they’re also a great way to build retention and UA by encouraging players to play the game for limited-time items. Diablo Immortal’s first seasonal event was Halloween, and it was celebrated with the release of Halloween skins and armor sets made available through a special event store.

New content, event tasks, rewards, skins and much more 

Option three is bringing the elements mentioned above and wrapping them together with new content, event tasks, and rewards as part of a comprehensive seasonal content update. The more changes you make to the game, the more monetization mechanics you’ve got to play with. 

Content updates might involve a new narrative mission tied to the event, or event-specific game modes, minigames and challenges. The Chinese battle royale game, Game for Peace (和平精英/PUBG Mobile), updated its main map, UI and game modes with seasonal changes themed around Chinese New Year at the beginning of 2022, while the Match3 puzzler, Anipop, added new game mechanics as part of an event celebrating the 2022 Winter Olympics. 

Depending on the amount of new content and cosmetic items you’re introducing into the game, it might be worth adding a special event currency that can only be used to purchase event items during the event. This adds a new monetization channel into your game and means players can interact with monetization elements such as gachas knowing they’re playing specifically for event rewards. 

Seasonal event examples from top mobile games 

Let’s look at how some of these promotional features have been implemented in some of the most popular mobile games, and the impact they’ve had on download and revenue figures. 

Angry Birds Journey – The ‘Easter Kiosk’ Easter Event

Angry Birds Journey used Easter to introduce its first seasonal event since launching at the beginning of 2022. The Easter Kiosk event introduced Easter-themed eggs into the maps, which players had to collect and trade in for special limited-time event rewards. Purchasing all six of the Easter items rewarded players with a limited-time Easter icon for their avatar. 

Fate/Grand Order: Valentine’s Day Event 2022

The Japanese RPG, Fate/Grand Order, usually got big with its seasonal events and last year’s Valentine’s Day event was no different. Players ​completed event quests to progress through a new event story and collect Yojinbo points to unlock rewards. Using event characters (able to acquire through multiple Valentine’s Day gachas) in the event quests boosted the rates of event item drops and Yojinbo points – a great way to boost engagement.

There was also a limited-time event shop where players could spend event items to earn rewards. The Valentine’s Day event introduced a special event-limited feature called Buddy Rank, where players that take part in battles earn ‘buddy score’ and increase their ‘buddy rank. Characters were assigned with event-specific skills and leveling them up was linked to the Buddy rank system, adding a seasonal twist to the game’s traditional RPG mechanics. 

Merge Mansion: Valentine’s Day Event 2022

It’s not unusual for mobile games to reuse elements that were used in their previous seasonal events, which is what Merge Mansion did last year for Valentine’s Day. In the event, players could access a separate merge grid where their goal was to complete specific event tasks.

Completing these tasks rewarded players with a special event currency, which could be used to purchase limited-time decorative items in a special event shop. While the update didn’t tread much new ground, it caused a huge spike in revenue, proving just how important seasonal event updates can be. 

Sky: Children of the Light: Days of Bloom (Cherry Blossom Season event 2022)

Sky: Children of the Light (光·遇) has found huge success in China despite being developed in California. Due to its popularity in the East, Sky: Children of the Light hosts a lot of seasonal events catering for its most popular demographic, and while many associate cherry blossoms with Japan, the season is also celebrated in China.

Days of Bloom ran from March 22–April 4 last year and included a variety of petal-themed items and scenic changes, along with special daily quests and plenty of limited-time cosmetic skins and items to purchase. Seasonal events are a huge revenue driver for the game, as you’ll see from the graph below, and this cherry blossom update caused a large spike in daily revenue. 

Clash of Clans: Halloween 2022 event

Halloween updates are very popular amongst mobile games and usually run for a couple of weeks from the middle of October. Clash of Clans’ Halloween 2022 event is a great example of using seasonal events to create new revenue opportunities while keeping things relatively simple. 

For last year’s event, the game kept things fairly simple with limited-time Halloween-themed skins, units, and new challenges. Challenges were Halloween-themed and incentivized the use of Halloween units as they had specific completion requirements relating to the use of these characters. 

You can learn more about 2022’s most successful Halloween events in mobile games here. 

Unique examples of market-specific seasonal events

Christmas, New Year, Halloween and Easter are some of the most widely celebrated seasonal events, but there are plenty of more market-specific seasonal events that are worth tapping into depending on where your players are based. 

Our China and Japan market game analysts have collected some examples of seasonal events that hopefully inspire new ideas to drive player engagement if your target markets are in China or Japan. 

Seasonal events to consider in China

Qixi Festival 

The Qixi Festival, or “double seven,” since it’s celebrated on the 7th day of the 7th month of the lunar calendar, is the Chinese equivalent of Valentine’s Day. Lots of mobile games celebrate the event every year, with Revelation Online (天谕), Battle of Fishing (捕鱼大作战-欢乐真人千炮捕鱼游戏王者，柳岩推荐), Three Kingdoms Fantasy Land (三国志幻想大陆 – 国创加强版), and Shén wǔ 4 (神武4) all taking part in the festivities in 2022. 

Dragon Boat Festival 

The Dragon Boat Festival, aka. “double five,” is a traditional summer festival celebrated on the 5th day of the 5th month of the lunar calendar, which is usually in June. Traditions for the day include big dragon boat paddling races organized on the rivers of virtually every village and city, as well as eating a special kind of steamed and stuffed dumpling made of sticky rice called zongzi.

PUBG Mobile, which is known as 和平精英  “Game for Peace” in China, included special dragon hovercraft in its Dragon Boat Festival event, where players could win game merchandise and gift cards for the Chinese eCommerce company, JD.com. 

Singles’ Day 

Also known as ‘Double Eleven’ day is an unofficial holiday in China, known for being the largest shopping day in the world by consumer spending. Originating as a day to celebrate single people, it has been heavily commercialized by online retail companies such as Alibaba, and it is also extremely common for mobile games in China to feature IAP events around the day.

Merge Go! (幻兽爱合成) had a Singles’ Day event with limited-time IAP bundle offers and a points system where passing certain IAP thresholds would earn the player additional gifts.

Seasonal events to consider in Japan 

Here are some of the popular seasonal events that typically pop up in Japan’s market’s games.

Golden Week

Golden Week is a week celebrated in Japan from 29 April to early May that encompasses four of Japan’s 15 national holidays, and Hanami, which means “flower viewing” in Japanese, the traditional custom of enjoying the beauty of cherry blossoms.

Last year, Umamusume Pretty Derby, Project Sekai Colorful Stage feat. Hatsune Miku, State of Survival, and Guardian Tales all celebrated Golden Week with the addition of new story content and items. 

Japanese New Year (Shōgatsu) 

In winter, Japan celebrates the Japanese New Year (Shōgatsu), an annual festival with its own customs, and lots of mobile games typically take part in the celebrations. Umamusume Pretty Derby’s (ウマ娘 プリティーダービー) New Year’s story event followed the Umamusume as they attempted to learn karuta (a traditional Japanese card game and a popular New Year’s pastime) and compete in a tournament, while The Seven Deadly Sins featured log-in bonuses.

Tips for introducing seasonal events into your mobile game 

Introducing seasonally-themed events to your game can deliver significant benefits, as seen in many titles across all genres. By implementing a combination of features including event-specific currencies, stores, seasonal gachas, unique game modes, and collaborations, you’re opening up new monetization channels while also providing players with great value for money thanks to new content. 

Here are some tips to help you implement any seasonal events you’re planning smoothly: 

Plan carefully and roll your seasonal event out gradually

It’s important to build anticipation for your seasonal event. Make sure it’s well promoted through marketing channels such as newsletters and social media platforms so players have a chance to download the game and start playing before the big content drop. 

Consider a phased approach for the release of new content rather than releasing everything on day one. This will keep your players revisiting the game daily, rather than rushing through the experience at launch. 

Combine your gachas with seasonal events

Gachas are a great monetization mechanic and can be easily reskinned and customized to accompany seasonal events. 

Run a collaboration/crossover event as part of your seasonal event

In-game collaborations are a trending feature and it’s not unusual for mobile games to collaborate with other games and non-gaming brands as part of their LiveOps. If you’ve got the budget, incorporating a well-known IP into your seasonal event plans could be a great way of boosting downloads and revenue. 

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

• How to Leverage Trends and Motivations to Build Better Casual and Hyper-Casual Games
• How Mobile Game Developers Are Using In-Game Collaboration Events to Boost Player Retention
• How Mobile Game Developers Boosted Downloads and Revenue With Halloween 2022 Events

The post Drive-Up Your Revenues with Seasonal Events appeared first on GameRefinery.

Editor’s Note: This piece was updated in February 2023 to reflect a significant rise in the daily revenue of Eggy Party in the Chinese iOS market.

When a game with a unique style and appearance becomes a hit, it doesn’t take long for new games to emerge, hoping to emulate that success by using the same gameplay mechanics, visual style and features. You can also see this happening in the mobile market with new game modes, such as the Fall Guys-style gameplay that’s now used in side modes in Garena Free Fire and QQ Speed (GKart). 

That said, there’s a big difference between a quick cash-in and a mobile clone that becomes a superior version of the game it’s taken inspiration from by adding new gameplay features and generally being more enjoyable to play. And that’s exactly the case with the chart toppers Stumble Guys and Eggy Party, two mobile clones of the 60-player knock-out party game, Fall Guys. 

Why isn’t there a mobile version of Fall Guys? 

Fall Guys became an overnight hit shortly after its release in August 2020 on PC and PS4. By the beginning of December, Fall Guys had reached 11 million sales on PC while also becoming the most-downloaded game on PlayStation Plus, and the game is now available on Xbox and Nintendo Switch. So, considering how successful it’s been (and still is), why hasn’t its publisher, Mediatonic, released the game on mobile devices? 

BiliBili, a Chinese games and entertainment company, secured the rights to publish a mobile version of Fall Guys shortly after its release, but Mediatonic hasn’t announced any plans to release the game on mobile in the West. It’s worth noting that Mediatonic is owned by Epic Games, and given the publisher is in a long-running legal battle with Apple over disputes around App Store practices, it might be possible that Fall Guys doesn’t make it to mobile in the West until a resolution is found. 

That said, there are arguments for and against releasing a mobile version of Fall Guys. With Stumble Guys and Eggy Party already proving so popular, there might not be much of a market left for a mobile version of Fall Guys to conquer. Then again, the success of Eggy Party and Stumble Guys has provided solid proof of concept and shown there is an appetite for this genre amongst mobile players.

Either way, if Fall Guys does eventually make it to mobile, it will have to make some changes to set itself apart from the competition – so let’s take a look at what the competition is doing. 

Stumble Guys vs. Eggy Party: Similarities and differences

Stumble Guys 

You’d be forgiven for mistaking Stumble Guys for Fall Guys. Developed by Kitka Games and acquired by Scopely Games in September 2022, Stumble Guys is a knock-out party game with a similar visual style and gameplay mechanics to Fall Guys. It was released in February 2021 and supports a maximum number of 32 simultaneous players rather than the 60 in Fall Guys. 

Players race, jump and dash through three rounds of obstacle courses (maps). After each round, a limited number of players that reach the finish line or survive the obstacles make it through to the next round, until a shortlist of finalists is chosen for the last course and a winner is crowned. As of December 15 2022, players can also take part in games via a ‘custom party’ that allows them to tailor search criteria for specific matches, such as competitive modes or playing with friends. 

Similar to Fall Guys, there’s a lot of variation in the map types, which range from races to the finish line and team-based games to survival modes as sections of the map disappear. Maps for both Stumble Guys and Fall Guys have continued to expand in terms of play types over style, although Stumble Guys doesn’t have any memory game maps.

Until very recently, Stumble Guys didn’t feature any limited-time collaborative maps (such as the Sonic The Hedgehog map in Fall Guys), but that’s no longer the case after Scopely announced a collaboration with Hot Wheels. The collaboration introduces a new map, Hot Wheels Hustle, to the map pool, complete with racing mechanics as players race around a Hot Wheels-themed racetrack. 

The shared similarities between Stumble Guys and Fall Guys means Stumble Guys has been able to capitalize on the popularity of Fall Guys. As of October this year, the game has been downloaded over 265 million times and generated over $60 million in revenue through IAPs since its release, with most of its traffic coming off the back of Fall Guys’ move to a free-to-play title. 

As the only established alternative to Fall Guys on mobile devices, Stumble Guys has built considerable momentum around hype for Fall Guys, especially on the day that Fall Guys became a free-to-play title. It’s likely that Stumble Guys activated UA campaigns around this time period and we also know the game has been building a solid fan base thanks to influencer marketing on platforms such as TikTok and YouTube, which is one of the reasons why the game is so popular in Latin America.

Stumble Guys was also the third most downloaded game of 2022, according to data from mobilegamer.biz, beating the likes of established mobile games including Candy Crush Saga and Roblox. In total, Stumble Guys raked in over 219 million downloads.

Fall Guys is more robust in terms of features and the various gameplay mechanics on offer, but Stumble Guys contains some mechanics that aren’t present in Fall Guys. This results in Stumble Guys having more of a focus on competitive playing and tournament-style matches. 

Tournaments and additional gameplay modes 

While the main focus of Stumble Guys is on the 32-player knockout mode, it constantly hosts a variety of tournaments that aren’t present in Fall Guys. Some of the tournaments cost gems (in-game currency) to enter, the cost of which typically ranges between 10–50 gems. Gems can be earned via free daily gacha spins or purchased in packs – but they’re genuinely earned really slowly, which incentivizes entry into the tournaments because of the massive rewards on offer for winners. 

These tournaments often have special rules and reward winners with a prize pool of gems that can be used to purchase skins through gachas, battle passes, and skip battle pass tiers. Some of these tournaments are hosted in collaboration with social media influencers (as seen by the thumbnail for the main event above) and cost gems to enter.

Examples of the special rules in tournaments include 1v1 and 2v2 modes – matchmaking variations that aren’t present in Fall Guys. Ultimately, the presence of tournaments in Stumble Guys means players have another major game mode to sink their time into and this improves the chances of them staying engaged in the long term.

Special emotes

While both games feature emotes, Fall Guys’ emotes are more cosmetic in nature, while the special emotes available in Stumble Guys are permanent boost skills that can be used to your advantage in matches, adding a competitive twist to the game. 

At the time of writing, there are five special emotes in the game: Punch, Slide, Hug, and Banana. They’re only unlockable through the game’s premium Battle Pass track as the end reward, incentivizing progression. Given how advantageous these special emotes are, they also bring a pay-to-win element to Stumble Guys. 

The Punch emote lets you hit other players out of the map, while the Slide emote means you can maneuver obstacles and dodge the punches of other players. Hug is similar to the grab emote in Fall Guys while the recently added Banana emote is similar to Mario Kart as you can throw bananas as traps to trip up other players. 

Overall, the addition of special emotes adds an additional competitive twist to the game.

Monetization

Fall Guys’ free-to-play model generates revenue through battle pass purchases, a paid currency (Show-Bucks) used to purchase rare cosmetic items, and a variety of cosmetic items available to purchase such as skins, accessories, bean colors, patterns, titles and banners. 

Stumble Guys uses many of the same monetization methods but also monetizes through incentivized ads, which give players spins on a lucky wheel for a chance to win prizes, and forced ads, which can be removed by purchasing the starter pack. Similar to Fall Guys, players can also purchase limited-time exclusive skins that can be purchased through limited-time gachas (although the limited-time skins in Fall Guys are purchased directly through the store). 

As the special emotes are only available through Battle Pass premium tiers, Stumble Guys’ Battle Pass is also a major revenue driver. 

What is it that players love about Stumble Guys?

The maps, graphics, characters, and general aesthetic of Stumble Guys will win over a lot of Fall Guys players who want a Fall Guys experience on mobile. As Epic doesn’t share download and revenue figures for Fall Guys, it’s harder to tell which game is more popular. But if we look at Discord figures, Stumble Guys seems to have the larger community (773k members in comparison to Fall Guys’ 284k) and we also know Stumble Guys reached 265 million total downloads as of October this year. 

As you can see from the player motivations chart above, Stumble Guys has an advantage over other platform games as it taps into the competitive nature of players that enjoy social experiences. Competition is at the heart of the Fall Guys experience, but Stumble Guys’ additional competitive elements, such as special emotes, tournaments, and 1v1 and 2v2 gameplay modes, give it a major competitive edge.

The one area where Stumble Guys could improve is its LiveOps. With the exception of new Battle Pass seasons, limited-time skins and tournaments, there aren’t many updates to Stumble Guys, although a recent Halloween update did cause daily iOS revenue to jump by 600%, highlighting the importance of more regular LiveOps.

Compare that to Fall Guys, where the game regularly collaborates with major franchises such as Sonic The Hedgehog and He-Man to host limited-time events with new maps, modes and gameplay mechanics. Other collaborations have included: 

• Ratchet & Clank (Clank Challenge) 
• Horizon Zero Dawn (Aloy’s Challenge) 
• Sackboy (Sackboy’s Challenge) 
• Halo (Spartan Showdown) 

Now that Scopely owns the Stumble Guys IP, we could see a busier LiveOps calendar for the game with more branded collaborations, given the recent Hot Wheels announcement. This is a major partnership and was announced just two months after the acquisition, and given many of Scopely’s games are based on IP including WWE, Looney Tunes and Wheel of Fortune, we know that Scopely recognises the value of IP integration with gaming. 

Eggy Party

Eggy Party (蛋仔派对) is essentially Fall Guys with an eggy makeover – all of the characters have round, egg-like designs. The game is published by Netease and, at the time of writing, is only available in China, but it has quickly become one of the most popular games in the country.

Following its latest update, which introduced a new season with a themed battle pass, limited-time gacha and a new concert area, the game ranked among the top three grossing games in the Chinese iOS market at the end of January. This followed a gradual rise in daily revenue which peaked at over $1.4M. Eggy Party also currently ranks as the most downloaded iOS game in the country.

A worldwide release for the game is planned under the name ‘Eggy Go,’ but a release date hasn’t been set. That said, players in the UK and Netherlands can currently register for a closed beta test, but only on Android devices.

Visually, the game is very impressive, perhaps more so than Fall Guys. It features the same party game knockout mechanics as Fall Guys and Stumble Guys, with 32 players dodging obstacles and racing to the finish line in a variety of maps until enough players are eliminated for a champion to emerge. 

Similar to Stumble Guys, Eggy Party takes the Fall Guys formula and builds on it by adding new gameplay mechanics and features, many of which enhance the skill-based elements of the game while encouraging social engagement.

Passive skills and active skills

While Stumble Guys uses special emotes to encourage gameplay of a more competitive nature, Eggy Party offers some very light RPG/power progression mechanics through the addition of passive and active skills. 

Six unlockable passive skills give players a passive boost such as shortening the cooldown times for active skills. There are six active skills to unlock, including invincibility for a short time, invisibility for a short time and becoming a “bomb” that detonates after a short fuse (and damages other players), but they can only be used in the final sections of knock-out matches. 

Additional gameplay modes and looping live-event modes

Eggy Party has a lot to offer in terms of additional gameplay modes, namely PvE options (Fall Guys and Stumble Guys are PvP only), a ranked PvP mode with a dynamic leaderboard system, and a 4v4 mode. And similar to the tournaments in Stumble Guys, Eggy Party runs two or three events simultaneously with unique rules and mechanics. 

Custom map creator

While Fall Guys has announced a custom map creator is on its way, we don’t know when it’s arriving and Eggy Party players can already make their own custom maps using the game’s creative mode. There are lots of in-depth features and plenty of useful tutorial videos to guide players through the creation process.

Heavy focus on social elements

Mobile games in the Chinese market tend to utilize a variety of social features such as voice chat, non-competitive co-op, and relationship systems – all features that have grown by 10% in popularity over the last year in the top 20% of most-downloaded Chinese games. 

While the core gameplay loop of Eggy Party is based around competition, there are plenty of features providing a more casual social experience. The main menu for the game is actually a social hub rather than a static menu, where players can socialize with each other and take part in mini-games such as archery and basketball, as well as driving around in karts. 

There’s an in-game streaming platform that players can use to watch other Eggy Party games that are in progress, and the game also features the Friendship/romance mechanic where players can form friendships with other players and build their friendship level by completing tasks.

Monetization

Eggy Party’s cosmetic-driven economy is the primary monetization focus, especially as players can buy and send cosmetic items to their friends. Players can purchase character skins, accessories, avatar frames, emotes, and dances, and the addition of a main social hub likely incentivizes players to dress up their avatars and show off their outfits to other players. 

In addition to direct purchases for cosmetic items, they’re also available through gachas, battle passes, a piggy bank, limited-time IAP offers, and as awards for completing events and matches. 

And speaking of events, it’s worth noting that Eggy Party has already featured an in-game collaboration with the survival horror game, Identity V, another Netease title. The focus on in-game cosmetics alongside Netease’s massive portfolio means it’s likely we’ll see plenty of branded collaborations and collaborations with other games in the future, especially if the title goes global.

At the time of writing, searching for Eggy Go on Google brings up a Google Play link, but it doesn’t work when you click through. Similarly, there’s an APK for Android but many of the reviews say it doesn’t work. 

What is it that players love about Eggy Party? 

In many ways, you can consider Eggy Party the definitive version of Fall Guys. The game includes plenty of features that aren’t available in either Stumble Guys or Fall Guys, especially the focus on social elements and additional gameplay modes. 

It’s unusual for a party game to find success in China, given the market’s tendency for gacha games, RPGs, and MOBAs, but the variety of gameplay mechanics to choose from in Eggy Party means there are more reasons to keep playing. If players get fed up with competing in the knockout mode, they can simply socialize with other players in the main hub, play mini-games or watch others compete in matches via the in-game streaming hub. 

What are the main differences between Fall Guys, Eggy Party, and Stumble Guys? 

While all of the games share common traits in terms of core gameplay mechanics and monetization, they do appeal to specific demographics and motivations. 

Fall Guys has a strong position in the casual market for PC/console players. It has more maps than Eggy Party and Stumble Guys (over 70 in total) and supports a maximum number of 60 players in matches. There aren’t really any other games like it on PC/console, although Fall Guys does have to compete for players’ attention whenever there’s a major AAA release on console/PC.

Fall Guys is more robust than Stumble Guys and its collaborations with brands/IP are a major advantage as they introduce special levels. A lot of lapsed players look forward to new collaborations as it’s an opportunity for them to re-engage with the game. 

Stumble Guys doesn’t have as many features as Fall Guys but will be enjoyed by anyone that’s played Fall Guys and wishes the game had more competitive elements. Additional special emotes add a new competitive dynamic to matches, as do tournaments, and there’s more longevity in the game due to its various game modes. Over 55% of its players are aged between 25–44 (iOS US). 

Eggy Party may not have as many maps or support as many players as Fall Guys, but in many ways, it’s the definitive Fall Guys experience as it includes new social features, gameplay mechanics, and player growth skills not present in Fall Guys. As you can interact with other players outside of matches in the social hub, there’s more of an incentive to purchase character skins. It will be interesting to see how the game performs when it’s released globally as Eggy Go.

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

• Tower of Fantasy – Is the Game Really a Genshin Impact With a Social Twist?
• The New 4X Strategy Hit, The Ants, Stands Out With Its Unique Theme and Heavy Emphasis on Social Elements
• 10 Years of Puzzle & Dragons – Evolution of a Mature Game

The post Stumble Guys vs. Eggy Party: Which Fall Guys Clone Is the King of Mobile? appeared first on GameRefinery.

More than half of the top 20% performing games in the Japan iOS market utilize promotional collaboration events to boost their revenue and downloads. In-game collaborations are particularly popular across midcore games as publishers of these games tend to have established contacts they can partner with. As an example, collaboration events are used by more than 70% of the top 10% of highest-grossing games in the China iOS market.

Depending on the type of IP you want to license, collaborations also provide an opportunity to freshen up your narrative elements and gameplay mechanics. As an example, PUBG Mobile’s collaboration with the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion introduced giant Mechs into its battle royale map that would attempt to shoot down players, while Cookie Run Kingdom’s collaboration with the K-pop band BTS saw the action-RPG gacha game adding a rhythm game mode. 

There will always be a place in the market for seasonal events and anniversary events, of course, but there’s a growing trend of mobile games now licensing IP from film, TV, anime, celebrities, music, manga and even other games and incorporating that IP into their anniversary and seasonal events. One such example is Garena Free Fire, which celebrated its fifth birthday with an in-game concert featuring none other than the prince of pop, Justin Bieber. 

What makes a successful in-game collaboration event?

Like any event, in-game collaborations take a lot of planning and there’s a lot you need to consider before you start thinking about how a potential partnership might be monetized and activated. 

To start with, you need to make sure that the IP you’re interested in licensing is a good fit for your game. Does it match your target demographic? Will your current players find it interesting? How well does the franchise – if it’s a film or TV show, for example – lend itself to your gameplay mechanics? Does it provide an opportunity to do something different or significantly expand what you’re already doing? What kind of cosmetic items could this partnership introduce into the game and would they suit your game’s world? 

All of these questions need to be considered early on as they’ll help you find the best partners to collaborate with. You should also think about the timing of your collaboration and if there are any upcoming events or releases that you can tap into as part of your launch. If you’re planning on collaborating with a TV or anime franchise, this might involve the launch of a new season, film or TV series, such as the mobile game Vikingard collaborating with the TV show Vikings to promote the launch of its spin-off series, Vikings Valhalla. 

The best in-game collaboration events are often mutually beneficial. For mobile game developers, collaboration events are an opportunity to engage lapsed players, increase retention rates, add new content and boost monetization. The IP you’re partnering with has an opportunity to reach all of your players with their brands and align their brand with gaming – a sector that more and more companies are interested in. 

To figure out what makes a brand collaboration successful, let’s look at some recent examples of in-game collaboration events in mobile games. 

Simulation RPG Vikingard collaborates with TV show, Vikings

Developed by Netease, Vikingard is a casual simulation RPG set in the Viking era. As well as embarking on an epic Viking voyage and a wide variety of fights, players tend to a kingdom by growing crops and upgrading buildings with construction and management sim mechanics. Netease is certainly no stranger to in-game collaborations and capitalized on the excitement around the launch of Vikings: Valhalla by hosting a collaboration with the TV series, Vikings. 

This collaboration pushed Vikingard into a US top-200 grossing spot while leading to a 25% increase in downloads. Largely considered a success, the in-game collaboration introduced a variety of crossover events and several main characters from the TV series, including Ragnar and Lagertha. A new Vikings-themed Battle Pass was also introduced with unique mechanics, as it included three reward tracks rather than the usual two. 

New characters could be unlocked in two ways. Players could either complete crossover events to earn character tokens which could then be used to unlock them, or the characters could be purchased directly through IAP bundles. This resulted in a nice mix of monetization elements and also non-monetized content as players were able to gain many of the rewards from the collaboration for free if they just put enough time into the game.

The collaboration was a great fit for both sides, and we were impressed with how detailed the character models were, with many of them looking just like their real actors. One of the most impressive outcomes of this collaboration is that the game has managed to keep consistent daily revenues since the event, which suggests that new players are engaging with the game, re-engaged players are starting to spend again, or a combination of both. 

One Piece Treasure Cruise (ONE PIECE トレジャークルーズ) + other mobile games collaborate with One Piece Film Red

Here’s an unusual one: a collaboration with the manga series One Piece to promote the latest movie, One Piece Film Red, didn’t involve just one game, but six! The collaboration involved two One Piece games – One Piece Treasure Cruise and One Piece Bounty Rush – as well as Monster Strike, Knives Out, Puzzle & Dragons, and Granblue Fantasy. 

One Piece is one of the most successful manga/anime brands of the 20th century. The film made the equivalent of $100 million after 46 days after its release and is the highest-grossing movie of 2022 in Japan so far. 

What’s interesting here is that the movie didn’t collaborate with any other games except the six mentioned above. This means that games from One Piece’s publisher Jump Magazine, such as Jumputi Heroes, were left out of the campaign. 

Joint progression was enabled across all the games in the collaboration other than Knives Out and One Piece Bounty Rush. Players completed collaboration-related missions and dungeons in their respective games, so when a certain amount of tasks had been completed during the event in One Piece Treasure Cruise, players could earn valuable rewards in Monster Strike and vice versa. 

In all of the collaborations featuring joint progression, characters from One Piece were naturally introduced as new time-limited characters, quests and special stages. This is impressive, given that all the games involved with the collaboration vary in style and gameplay. As an example, Granblue Fantasy is an RPG with heavy social ements, while Puzzle & Dragons is a Match3 puzzle game.

Due to the success of the One Piece film, all of the games involved with the collaboration benefited from new downloads and increased revenue. You can see the huge impact this had on Puzzle & Dragons above, causing an 800% increase in revenue on iOS. If you’re interested in learning more about this collaboration, it’s discussed in greater detail in the GameRefinery August Market Highlights. 

Mobile Legends Bang Bang’s collaboration with Kung Fu Panda

Collaborating with a big brand is no guarantee of success, as Mobile Legends Bang Bang’s collaboration with the animated martial arts comedy film, Kung Fu Panda, proves. Mobile Legends Bang Bang has collaborated with various brands over the years for in-game events including, Star Wars, Transformers, and Hello Kitty, but its collaboration with Kung Fu Panda didn’t perform anywhere near as well. 

While there’s no certain way of telling why Kung Fu Panda didn’t get players excited, we can compare it to its last two promotional collaborations: Hello Kitty and the second Transformers collaboration. 

Both of these collaborations were highly successful in generating revenue and new downloads due to the way limited-time gachas with exclusive collaboration skins were incorporated into the game’s monetization strategy.

It’s worth noting that the latest Kung Fu Panda film was in 2016, and while there’s a new film coming in 2024, it’s still a fairly dormant franchise for the most part. The collaboration skins weren’t as exciting as Hello Kitty or Transformers which may explain why they didn’t convert into sales. As an example, the main Kung Fu Panda skin was for a hero that’s already a panda, so it doesn’t really add anything different to that character’s appearance. 

In the Kung Fu Panda films, Lord Shen is a peacock, but the Lord Shen skin for the Ling hero is just a themed peacock outfit, which players were disappointed with according to YouTube comments for the announcement. The only skin that dramatically changed the appearance of a character was General Kai’s skin for the Bang Bang character Thamuz, but General Kai isn’t a major character in the films, so there’s less of an incentive to purchase the skin. 

There were major differences between the three limited-time gachas used across all three collaborations. First, the Hello Kitty and Transformers skins cost 225 gems for one gacha pull and 2250 gems for ten pulls in comparison to Kung Fu Panda’s 100 gems for one pull and 1000 gems for ten pulls. 

The Hello Kitty and Transformers gacha pools had different mechanics and also looked more appealing and engaging. The Hello Kitty gacha was heavily themed with striking grab machine visuals with a piggy bank system, bingo bonus mechanics on every ten pulls, four Hello Kitty skins, and many others from the game. Mobile Legends Bang Bang’s highly successful auto-chess mode also had its own limited time gacha for separate autochess skins.

Compare that to the reasonably bland Kung Fu Panda gacha screen, which only had three collaboration skins and no other special skins from the game. Overall, this means there was less of an incentive for players to engage with the Kung Fu Panda collaboration as the rewards didn’t justify multiple gacha pulls.

Finally, the special/collab limited-time skin collectibles album was moved to a different location in the game’s menu. This made it much more difficult to find, especially as the gacha page for the Kung Fu Panda collaboration was missing the direct link to the collectible album, something that was present in the Hello Kitty and previous Transformers collaboration. 

Collectible albums are a great engagement mechanic as they give players a sense of reward for playing gachas as they’re able to look back at the prizes they’ve won. In this case, the poor visibility for Kung Fu Panda’s collectible album meant that some players might have missed it and therefore wouldn’t have been incentivized to engage with the limited-time gacha as often.

PUBG Mobile’s collaboration with Neon Genesis Evangelion

What happens when one of the mobile market’s most successful battle royale games partners with one of the biggest names in anime? Not only was PUBG Mobile’s collaboration with Neon Genesis Evangelion a great success in terms of the revenue and downloads it generated for the game, but it’s also a fantastic example of how to introduce new content and put a fancy twist on existing gameplay mechanics. 

Elements and enemies from the anime were implemented into the main battle royale mode for PUBG: Mobile. As an example, a giant 6th Angel mech was roaming around the map and would shoot any players in sight, adding a unique twist to the typical battle royale gameplay style that players are familiar with. The map was also updated with landmarks from the anime, which players had to explore to complete PUBG Mobile’s Cycle Memories (collectibles album). 

So, how was all of this monetized? F2P players had a chance to earn themed rewards from the anime by simply playing the primary gameplay mode, which rewarded exploration points that could be used in the collaboration side event. These points unlocked prize milestones and players had the chance to unlock themed character skins from the anime. Visually, the skins were very impressive and featured various designs from the anime. 

Most of the themed skins were temporary and would automatically be removed from players’ inventories at the end of the collaboration, but players could turn these into permanent skins by purchasing them. Players with excess exploration points could spend them in a gacha draw once all of the reward events’ milestones were reached. The gachas featured more unique skins from Neon Genesis Evangelion, which incentivized players to keep playing the primary gameplay mode to unlock additional points. 

Alongside the changes to the primary gameplay mode in PUBG: Mobile, the collaboration also introduced two minor side events which followed the same progression formula: play matches and complete challenge milestones for themed rewards. The vast amount of collectible cosmetics offered here might explain why the game enjoyed such a high revenue spike.

So, how was all of this monetized? F2P players had a chance to earn themed rewards from the anime by simply playing the primary gameplay mode, which rewarded exploration points that could be used in the collaboration side event. These points unlocked prize milestones and players had the chance to unlock themed character skins from the anime. Visually, the skins were very impressive and featured various designs from the anime. 

Most of the themed skins were temporary and would automatically be removed from players’ inventories at the end of the collaboration, but players could turn these into permanent skins by purchasing them. Players with excess exploration points could spend them in a gacha draw once all of the reward events’ milestones were reached. The gachas featured more unique skins from Neon Genesis Evangelion, which incentivized players to keep playing the primary gameplay mode to unlock additional points. 

Alongside the changes to the primary gameplay mode in PUBG: Mobile, the collaboration also introduced two minor side events which followed the same progression formula: play matches and complete challenge milestones for themed rewards. The vast amount of collectible cosmetics offered here might explain why the game enjoyed such a high revenue spike.

Cookie Run: Kingdom collaborates with BTS

Cookie Run: Kingdom classes itself as an ‘RPG and city-builder hybrid,’ which means it has plenty of options for introducing new gameplay elements and monetization features. It’s heavily focused on gacha mechanics due to the collectible nature of the game, where players collect cookies (characters) using the game’s gacha mechanics to enter into battles and earn rewards. 

Starting in October this year, the game collaborated with the Korean boy band, BTS, for a massive collaboration taking place over 100 days! In addition to Cookie Run Kingdom’s auto-battle RPG core gameplay, the collaboration introduced a new game mode combining rhythm game elements with a three-lane endless runner. Seeing two distinct game modes combined in this way was an impressive highlight of the event, especially as the focus on rhythm/endless runner gameplay would alternate according to the background song (such as the gameplay switching when the song moves into the chorus). 

There are performance stages for each BTS song featured (Dynamite, Butter, MIC Drop, Permission to Dance, Mikrokosmos, Yet To Come,) with the songs playing over the top of the rhythm game and endless runner section. To incentivize repeated plays, each song had its own set of achievements to clear and players that managed to complete them would be rewarded with a specific title using lyrics from that song.

The collaboration also introduced the seven members of BTS into the game as characters. Each member had skins based on their appearance in music videos and Cookie Run marketing videos, where BTS members were asked to design and draw their own Cookie Run Kingdoms. This resulted in a massive selection of 94 decors to collect. Characters, skins and decors could be unlocked through a themed BTS gacha that required a special event currency, obtainable through event tasks, playable stages and also through IAP offers. 

Another layer of monetization was added into the collaboration through a special hang-out area for the BTS characters. This was a unique area with the appearance of a fancy truck that could be stylized through new decors unlocked via the BTS gacha.  

Special themed tasks were also added to Cookie Run Kingdom, which rewarded players with event currency. Players could also purchase a special BTS-themed Battle Pass and there were plenty of limited-time IAP offers to choose from, too. Finally, to incentivize new downloads for the game, Cookie Run Kingdom has invested a lot of time into promoting the campaign across social media and other formats while a daily login bonus encouraged repeated plays. 

In addition to BTS promo videos, the Riddle Kingdom part of the collaboration tasked players with solving emoji puzzles on social media to earn clues that could be written into the game as part of a code to unlock premium currency and event gacha currency. Players could also win a collaborative Cookie Run Kingdom and BTS artbook as a prize in real life. 

Are you interested in adding promotional collaborations to your mobile game? 

In addition to the five examples above, you can find detailed breakdowns of in-game collaboration events for thousands of games across different genres and markets on the GameRefinery platform. Just search for the game you’re interested in learning more about and use the ‘Update History’ tab to browse new features that have been added into the game as part of promotional collaboration events. 

Similar to what we’ve done above, by correlating these updates with spikes in revenue and downloads, you can work out which collaborations have been a hit with players and others that haven’t been as successful. Use these learnings to shape how you introduce promotional collaboration events into your game in the future!

The post How Mobile Game Developers Are Using In-Game Collaboration Events to Boost Player Retention appeared first on GameRefinery.