Posted by Moonlit Wang, Partner Development Manager at Google Play Games, & Tammy Levy, Director of Product for Mobile at Kongregate
In today’s world of game-as-a-service on mobile, the lifetime value of a player is a lot more complex, where revenue is now the sum of many micro transactions instead of a single purchase with traditional console games.
Of course you don’t need a sophisticated statistical model to understand that the more time a player invests in your game, and the more money they spend, the greater their LTV. But how can you design and improve monetization as a mobile game developer? Here are 5 tips to help you improve game-as-a-service monetization, with best practice examples from mobile games publisher, Kongregate:
1. Track player behavior metrics that have a strong and positive correlation with LTV
2. Optimize for long-term engagement and delight your best players
Retention is the first metric that can distinguish great games from mediocre ones. Games with higher retention rates throughout the user’ lifecycle, monetize better consistently. Retention is king, and more importantly, long-term retention should be prioritized. Therefore, when designing your game, aim to create a sophisticated and engaging experience to delight your most committed fans.
Kongregate decided to keep the higher priced Super Shard Bot in the store, although both packs resulted in very similar retention rates:
4. As well as what monetization features to implement, take into consideration why, when and how to do so
5. Take into account local prices and pricing models
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