EBOOK

The gaming app

insights report
Unlocking growth opportunities
for mobile marketers
 The gaming app insights report
Contents
Introduction������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 3
An optimistic future for mobile games ������������������������������������������������� 3
The state of play on the mobile games market ��������������������������������� 6
Privacy challenges and finding new users ������������������������������������������ 8
Methodology and key takeaways.......................................................... 10

Strategic insights for a winning game plan......................................... 12

Top apps, install patterns, sessions, and retention rates................13

KPIs and cost: Finding the best value users...................................... 23

The crossplay era starts now................................................................. 32

Revenue streams and lifetime value ��������������������������������������������������� 33

User LTV, in-app revenue, and average revenue per user........... 34

Conclusion ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 42
Reigniting app growth and reaching the next level ���������������������� 42

2
INTRODUCTION

The gaming app insights report

Embracing change and opportunity:
An optimistic future for mobile games
The past 18 months have been challenging for mobile gaming. Mergers and acquisitions have fallen,
investment is harder to come by, and some of our colleagues have sadly lost their jobs. But it’s not all
doom and gloom. We’re already seeing green shoots of revival in many verticals. Innovation in some
cutting edge genres such as hybrid casual is resulting in breakout hits and generative AI is leading to
faster production and even more tailored creatives than has previously been humanly possible.

Despite the difficulties, the slow pace of growth, the In this report you’ll take a deep dive into Adjust data and
increasing install costs and decreasing returns, there’s light— hear from AppLovin and SparkLabs for expert insights on
and a great deal of success—to be found at the end of the implementing the right marketing mix and activating the
tunnel, if you seek out the right opportunities and channels. right channels, leveraging connected TV (CTV) advertising
We’re seeing, for example, top results for gaming studios for maximum impact, and creating high-quality creatives
investing in LATAM markets, and seeing the numbers turn at scale. In 2024, it’s the marginal gains that will be the
around across the board, particularly in verticals like racing, difference between success and failure in a market where
simulation, arcade, board, action, and of course hybrid casual. every cent counts.
Once product-market fit is found, after successful soft-
launches, picking the right channels makes scaling profitably
easy. We might not be back at 2021 levels of engagement,
but the line is slowly moving in the right direction.

3
 The gaming app insights report
“The perception that mobile gaming is stagnating due, in part,
to a crowded market overlooks one positive by-product of this
competition: growth. We meet daily with partners who are launching
new products successfully and at a rapid pace–in fact, Monopoly
GO! became a top-grossing game in the same year it was released.
In 2024, scaling games must be a collaborative process. To build
games that have broad appeal, it’s essential to team up with growth
partners who arm you with the data and insights necessary to kick off
campaigns quickly and provide a feedback loop for experimentation.”

Daniel Tchernahovsky
VP, Global Business
Development

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 The gaming app insights report
“Mobile games have been disproportionately impacted by the global
economic downturn, with consumer spend declining two years in a
row. The outlook for 2024, however, is significantly more optimistic,
and Adjust data reveals not only a high-level turnaround picking up,
but areas of opportunity and growth that are already performing
ahead of the curve. By investing in the right tools, prioritizing next-
gen tech, AI, and personalization, games developers and studios
can scale on new channels and platforms, regain install and session
volume, and find users that play and pay.”

Tiahn Wetzler
Director of
Content & Insights

5
The state of play on the

The gaming app insights report

mobile games market
Gaming app installs and sessions had Gaming app install and session growth Gaming app install and session growth percentages
a less than optimistic 2023. Installs January 2022 - December 2023 (Global) YoY 2022 - 2023
decreased by 2% and sessions by 7%.
Things are currently looking up, however, Installs 15% Installs
with installs in Q4 2023 seeing a 7% YoY Sessions Sessions
boost, a trend we predict will continue— 10%

sessions in January 2024 increased 3% 7%

compared to January 2023. 5%

1%
0%
While LATAM was the only region to see
-2%
YoY growth in 2023 (up 7% on the installs -5%
-3% -3%

side and a small but welcomed 1% on the -6% -6%

-7% -7%
sessions side), Q4 was significantly better. -10% -9%

APAC’s YoY installs increased by 3%,

JAN 22
FEB 22
MAR 22
APR 22
MAY 22
JUN 22
JUL 22
AUG 22
SEP 22
OCT 22
NOV 22
DEC 22
JAN 23
FEB 23
MAR 23
APR 23
MAY 23
JUN 23
JUL 23
AUG 23
SEP 23
OCT 23
NOV 23
DEC 23
EMEA’s by 12%, North America's by 6%, -15%
Global APAC EMEA LATAM North America
and LATAM continued its upward streak,
rounding out Q4 with a 19% YoY jump.

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 The gaming app insights report
BN % % BN

240 4 4 177
The global gaming market's value As of 2023, mobile represents Mobile gaming revenue is In-app ad spend in the U.S. alone
is anticipated to reach $240 billion half of all revenue generated in projected to increase by 4% YoY will hit $177.4 billion by the end of
in 2024 and $269 billion in 2025. the games market. Consumer in 2024, reaching US$111.4 billion. 2024, alongside $43.85 billion in
spending did, however, decrease in-app purchases.
by 2% in 2023—but grew by 4%
outside of China.

% % M BN

6.7 87 304 1.48

Gaming app developers are 61% of game developers have The most popular game in 2023 Honor of Kings was the top
increasingly porting titles to started using AI in the creation of was Subway Surfers, with 304 grossing game on iOS and
PC and console. Console has a elements within their games and million downloads. The top title on Android in 2023, with an
projected +6.7% CAGR by 2026 87% believe it will dominate the iOS was Monopoly GO!, with 49 estimated $1.48 billion in earnings.
and PC games were the fastest industry over the next 10 years. million downloads. PUBG Mobile was next ($300
growing segment in 2023 million lower) at $1.14 billion.
(+5.2% YoY).

7
Privacy challenges

The gaming app insights report

and finding new users
iOS INSIGHTS IN ACTION
Successful app marketing on iOS means mastering the art
of optimizing App Tracking Transparency (ATT) opt-in rates Mobile game developer LoadComplete,

while developing a SKAdNetwork (SKAN) strategy that famous for their idle RPG title Legend of

delivers ROI-driving results. With Google’s Privacy Sandbox Slime, was able to lower CPI on iOS by 8.3%,

on Android around the corner, a post-device-ID mindset—and lower CPA by 6%, and increase conversion

tech stack—are essential to continuing uninterrupted growth rates by 51%.

and effective campaign optimization in the mobile games

Using Adjust’s measurement and analytics
advertising and measurement landscape.
solutions, LoadComplete was able to confidently
and successfully run a dedicated iOS 14.5+
Consented, granular iOS data provides not only immediate
campaign, driving sustained iOS growth, skillfully
information for effective attribution, but lays the foundation to
maximizing their volume of conversions, and
build a SKAN strategy that works—in terms of conversion value
harnessing lowest-cost bidding.
mapping as well as feeding the machine-learning algorithms
with the data they need to make precision predictions.

Read the full

case study here:
CASE STUDY

Adjust + TikTok
x LoadComplete
TikTok x LoadComplete

8
 The gaming app insights report
Gaming app ATT opt-in rates Q1 2024 vs. Q1 2023 Gaming app ATT opt-in rates Q1 2024 vs. Q1 2023 (Global)

Global all Action

Global games Adventure
APAC Arcade
India Board
Indonesia 49% Card
Japan 30% Casino
Philippines Casual
Singapore 27% Family
South Korea Hybrid casual
EMEA Hyper casual
DACH Music
France Puzzle
Turkey Racing
UAE 49% RPG
U.K. & Ireland Simulation
LATAM Sports
Brazil 49% Strategy
Mexico Swap
North America Trivia
U.S. Word
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%

Q1 2023 Q1 2024 Q1 2023 Q1 2024

In good news for the mobile games industry, ATT opt-in rates are not only significantly Pivoting to subverticals, hyper casual has the highest rate (47.5%, up from 43.4%), likely
higher than average compared to the rest of the app industry, they’re also consistently due to the inherent player understanding of cross-promotion and targeted advertising.
growing. Comparing Q1 2023 to Q1 2024, the global average climbed from 36% to 39%. The biggest increase ise seen for casino games, up from 12.3% to 27%, while the lowest
The highest rates are seen in Indonesia, the UAE, and Brazil, all sitting at 49%. The lowest rates reported are for family and trivia, at just 13.6% and 12.9%, respectively. These low
rate is Singapore (27%) which grew by one percentage point YoY. figures are likely the result of strict rules and regulations around advertising to children,
with apps often choosing not to serve the prompt.

9
Methodology and

The gaming app insights report

key takeaways
The methodology Key takeaways
VERTICALS:
Games (all), action, adventure, arcade, board, card, casino, casual, family, hybrid casual, hyper
casual, music, puzzle, racing, role playing (RPG), simulation, sports, strategy, swap, trivia, word. %
Gaming app installs grew 7% YoY in Q4 of 2023 and
REGIONS:
Global, APAC, EMEA, LATAM, North America.
7 sessions are up 3% in January 2024 compared to
January 2023.

COUNTRIES:
Austria, Brazil, France, Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, Philippines, Singapore,
South Korea, Switzerland, Turkey, United Arab Emirates (UAE), United Kingdom (U.K.), %
Many gaming subverticals saw strong performance in
United States of America (U.S.).

DATASET:
61 2023. Racing installs grew by 61%, simulation by 53%,
and arcade by 38%. Arcade sessions increased by 19%,
A mix of Adjust’s top 5,000 apps and the total dataset of all apps tracked by Adjust. Our data adventure sessions by 7%, and simulation by 6%.
comes from two sources, one including a list of 45 countries and one with approximately 250
based on the ISO 3166-1 standard.
%
Hybrid casual games’ median day 1 retention rate is
29
DATE RANGE:
January 2022 - January 2024 29%, two percentage points higher than hyper casual,
and above the global median of 28.3%—the cost per
RATIOS AND SHARES:
Reattribution is expressed as a ratio, where X:1, meaning a value of 0.7 (0.7:1) would mean that for click for hyper and hybrid casuals is the same, but
every 100 installs, there are 70 reattributions. Stickiness and organic share are represented as a hybrid casual’s click-through rate is two percentage
percentages, meaning a stickiness ratio (daily active users (DAU) / monthly active users (MAU)) points higher, and the average revenue per monthly
of 0.34 would be represented as 34% and an organic share of 0.12 would be represented as 12%.
active user is a huge 800% higher.
All dollar amounts represented are USD.

10
 The gaming app insights report
#
The median number of partners gaming apps are
6.5 working with globally dropped from 6.5 in 2022 to 6 in
2023. LATAM on the whole and Turkey individually were
the highest, with 6.5 per app in 2023.

$
The U.S. has the highest CPM of any market globally at
15.9 $15.86. The next highest is Japan at a much lower $7.
The U.S. does, however, also have the highest ARPM of
any country at $6.75.

M
The longest gaming app session lengths regionally take
48 place in APAC at 35 minutes per session. Indonesia has
the longest sessions as an individual country (48
minutes) and the subvertical with the longest sessions is
action, with 45.7 minutes.

11
PART 1

The gaming app insights report

Strategic insights for a
winning game plan
Top apps, install patterns, sessions,
and retention rates.

12
 The gaming app insights report
Top mobile games by download 2023
GLOBAL APAC EMEA LATAM NORTH AMERICA

1 Roblox (RBLX) Ludo King Roblox (RBLX) Roblox (RBLX) MONOPOLY GO!

Free Fire:
2 Subway Surfers Subway Surfers Royal Match
Winterlands
Roblox (RBLX)

3 Ludo King Candy Crush Saga Subway Surfers Subway Surfers Royal Match

Indian Bikes
4 Block Blast!
Driving 3D
MONOPOLY GO! Stumble Guys Subway Surfers

EA SPORTS FC
5 Candy Crush Saga Free Fire MAX Block Blast!
Mobile Soccer
Block Blast!

Free Fire: Words of Wonders: Block Crazy Robo Attack Hole -

6 Winterlands
Roblox (RBLX)
Crossword World Black Hole Games

Magic Tiles 3:
7 Royal Match 8 Ball Pool Going Balls 8 Ball Pool
Piano Game

EA SPORTS FC
8 8 Ball Pool Hill Climb Racing
Mobile Soccer
Block Blast! Candy Crush Saga

Craftsman:
9 Race Master 3D -
Car Racing
Free Fire: Winterlands Candy Crush Saga
Building Craft
Wordscapes

Snake.io - Fun
10 MONOPOLY GO! My Talking Tom 2 My Perfect Hotel
Online Snake
Gardenscapes

Source: Apptopia

13
 The gaming app insights report
Gaming app installs and sessions by subvertical 2023 (Global)

2% 2% 3% 1%
2% 3%
8% 12% Action Hyper casual
3% 7% Adventure Music
18% 4%
Arcade Puzzle
4% 1% 5%
Board Racing
27%
2% Card RPG

5% 12% Casino Simulation

14%
Casual Sports
5%
Educational Strategy
1% 5%
9% 7% 3% Family Trivia
2% 14% 1% 6% 4% 2% Word
1% 2%
1%
1% 1% 3%

Installs Sessions

Of all gaming app installs in 2023, action represented It’s always interesting to note the significant difference
the highest portion at 18%, followed by hyper casual and between hyper casual installs and sessions share, as
puzzle (both 14%), casual (9%), and simulation (7%). Looking it demonstrates the necessity this vertical faces in
at sessions, action accounted for even more of the pie at monetizing its users—or cross-promoting them to the
27%, followed by sports and puzzle (both 12%), board (7%), next title—as quickly as possible post-install.
casual (6%), and hyper casual and RPG (both 5%).

14
 The gaming app insights report
For individual countries, session and install Gaming app install and session growth YoY Gaming app subvertical install growth
growth for gaming apps were charted 2022 - 2023 percentages YoY 2022 - 2023 (Global)
across the board. The highest YoY installs
growth was seen in Singapore at 9%, 20% 70%
Installs Installs
followed by the Philippines with 6%, and Sessions 61% Sessions
Mexico with 5%. In terms of sessions, South 10%
6%
9% 60%
53%
5%
Korea saw a 2% boost, but most other -3% 1% -6%
2% 2% 3%
-6% 50%
0%
markets went backwards, with Singapore -1% -2%
-4% -4% 40% 38%
falling a sizable 37% compared to 2022. -10%
-6% -7%
-11% 30%
30%
-14%
-16%
Despite not-so-great install and session -20%
20%
20% 19%
15%
numbers for gaming overall, 2023 was 12% 13%
-30% 9%
10%
actually a great year for many subverticals. 7%
3%
6% 5% 4%
2% 1% 2%
Racing installs grew by a huge 61%, -40% -37% 0%

simulation by 53%, and arcade by 38%.

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 The gaming app insights report
For every 100 installs to gaming Gaming app reattribution share Gaming app reattribution share by region and
apps globally in 2023, just two were 2022 - 2023 (Global) country 2023
reattributions, down from four in 2022.
Unsurprisingly, hyper casual had the lowest
2022 All 0.02
share at 0.01:1 (the same as puzzle), while All
2023
APAC 0.02
India 0.02
word, simulation, and board were all in line Indonesia 0.02
Board Japan 0.05
with the vertical’s 0.02:1 average. Philippines 0.02
Singapore 0.06
South Korea 0.03
Hyper casual
EMEA 0.01
Looking at the regional and country split, DACH 0.04
France 0.03
Singapore charted the highest rate of Puzzle Turkey 0.02
UAE 0.03
reattributions at 0.06:1, followed by Japan U.K. & Ireland 0.03
Simulation LATAM 0.02
at 0.05:1. The lowest rate was seen in EMEA Brazil 0.02
Mexico 0.02
(0.01:1), while DACH (Germany, Austria, and Word North America 0.02
U.S.
Switzerland) had a significantly higher rate 0.02

of reattributions than their region at 0.04:1. 0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0.035 0.04 0.045 0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.07

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 The gaming app insights report
ACTIONABLE DATA FOR
SCALABLE RESULTS
Mobile game production and publishing
company INDIEZ was able to increase
installs to their top title Car Parking 3D by
20%, increase ROAS by 50%, and scale ad
spend by 40%.

Thanks to Adjust, we can now identify cam-

paigns and ad networks that bring the most
valuable users, which ultimately helps us to
properly distribute our budget and make the
right marketing decision in each market en-
suring the best overall performance.

Lan Nguyen
CEO

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 The gaming app insights report
Gaming app organic install share 2022 - 2023 (Global) Gaming app organic/paid install share 2023

90% 2022 Global

APAC
80% 2023
India
Indonesia
70% Japan
Philippines
60% Singapore
South Korea
50% EMEA
DACH
40% France
Turkey
30% UAE
U.K. & Ireland
20% LATAM
Brazil
10% Mexico
North America
0% U.S.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
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Between 2022 and 2023, the overall share of organic installs Looking at the regions, APAC had the highest share of organic
to gaming apps dropped from 57% to a remarkably even 50%, installs in 2023 at 48%, followed by EMEA at 41%, North
indicating a decrease in organic interest, along with a potential America at 36%, and LATAM at 33%. The country with the
incremental drop due to the overall decrease of paid activity. highest organic share was Singapore (38%) followed by the U.S.,
Word and strategy games, however, increased their organic Indonesia, and Japan, all at 35%.
share, up from 40% to 44% and 64% to 65%, respectively. The
biggest decrease was seen for arcade games, which dropped
from 49% organic installs to 39%.

18
 The gaming app insights report
Gaming app session lengths by region Gaming app session lengths by subvertical
and country 2023 2022 - 2023 (Global)

All All 2022

APAC
Action 2023
India
Indonesia 48 Adventure
Japan
Philippines Arcade
Singapore Card
South Korea
Casino
EMEA
DACH Hyper casual
France
Puzzle
Turkey
UAE RPG
U.K. & Ireland 24
Simulation
LATAM
Brazil Sports
Mexico
Strategy
North America
U.S. Word

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

Time in minutes Time in minutes

Session lengths were the longest in APAC in 2023 (35 minutes), The longest session lengths in both 2022 and 2023 were seen
followed by EMEA (29), LATAM (27), and North America (25). in the action vertical, which decreased slightly from 45.8 to 45.7
The highest individual country was Indonesia at 48 minutes, minutes, still well above the global average of 31.5. Adventure
followed by the Philippines at 46. The shortest session lengths increased from 28.8 to 29.7, hyper casual jumped from 14 to
took place in the UK and Ireland (24 minutes). 16.4, and RPG dropped from 41.5 to 40.4.

These differences are largely driven by demographic and player Increasing session lengths or optimizing to monetize earlier can
preferences, with APAC markets tending toward action and be achieved by prioritizing personalization in the user journey,
RPG titles, and the UK & Ireland preferring hyper casuals and and leveraging AI for customization.
arcade games.

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 The gaming app insights report
Gaming app sessions per user Gaming app sessions per user per day
per day 2023 (Global) on day 0 by region and country 2023

2.5
2.5 Day 0

Day 1 2.08
2 1.95
2
1.78

1.5 1.5

1 1

0.5 0.5

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The dip in app sessions per user per day from day 0 to day 1 was Indonesia had the most sessions per user per day on day 0 in
fairly consistent across gaming subverticals in 2023. The average 2023 at 2.08. APAC was the top region at 1.95, reflecting more
number of sessions for all games dropped from 1.93 to 0.63. installs to higher-retention genres. The next highest region
Simulation had the highest figures, decreasing from 2.06 to 0.77, was EMEA (1.9), then LATAM (1.89), and North America (1.81).
while hyper casual had the lowest, decreasing from 1.86 to 0.51. The UAE held the lowest number of sessions at 1.78, with more
installs going to hyper casual or puzzle titles. North America,
These differences are marginal but crucial in identifying the the U.S., the U.K. & Ireland, and Brazil all averaged 1.81 sessions
sweet spot for retention, or friction point where churn occurs, per user per day.
to optimize and monetize.

20
 The gaming app insights report
Gaming app day 1 retention rates Gaming app day 1 retention rates by region
by subvertical 2023 (Global) and country 2023

33% 30%

31%
29% 27%
29%
27% 25% 25% 25%
27%
24%
25%

23%
21%
21%

19% 18%
17%

15% 15%

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The global day 1 median retention rate for gaming apps dropped APAC was the only region to outpace the global median in
from 29% in 2022 to 28.3% in 2023. Looking at subverticals, 2023, with a day 1 rate of 29%. Indonesia and India also came
we see some variance in the number of users returning the day in at 29%, followed by Japan, Singapore, EMEA, LATAM, and
after install. It’s particularly interesting to highlight the hybrid Mexico, which all sat at 28%. On the lower end of the scale were
casual figure, which outperformed the global median to reach South Korea, the UAE, and Brazil, all with a day 1 rate of 25%.
29%, and was a significant two percentage points higher than
hyper casual. The highest rate seen was sports (31%), followed
by casino, puzzle, RPG, and simulation—all 30%.

21
APPLOVIN INSIGHTS

The gaming app insights report

Finding new campaign scale
NEW CHANNELS FOR NEW
The year marks a significant shift becoming more efficient with the rise GROWTH
in mobile gaming growth. Growing of generative AI tools. With the growing San Francisco-based gaming company
global smartphone penetration and presence of live-action in mobile ads, CTV Magic Tavern, known for titles including
improvements in mobile technology can be a natural extension for ad creatives Matchington Mansion and Project
are making games even more accessible in this cross-channel approach. Makeover, added CTV into its channel
to a wider audience. Connected TV is mix, decreased eCPI by more than 65%,
the fastest-growing channel in the U.S., Advancements in AI technology—including increased day 0 ROAS by 4x, and more than
projected to hit $30 billion in ad revenue the algorithms that power AppDiscovery, doubled day 7 ROAS.
this year. With viewers engaging over two AppLovin’s UA platform, streamline
hours a day with their connected devices, campaigns by bringing the performance
CTV is also becoming a performance power of mobile to CTV. This creates Measurement is critical to your CTV market-

channel for growth. This mix underpins more scale and the ability to find new ing strategy. We use Adjust reporting to really

a significant expansion of supply users at the advertiser’s target ROAS. break down the data—to see what exchange

opportunities for marketers, enabling IAP publishers, in particular, are seeing drove which installs and revenue, down to ad

them to explore new, innovative user significant growth with CTV—helping placements, and we immediately saw great

acquisition strategies. games like Royal Match climb to the #24 results by optimizing the placements.

spot in U.S. downloads last April (up from

Central to these strategies is the utilization the #115 spot in November 2022). Jasmine Cao
of data-backed, performance-driven ads. Growth Manager

The ability to test, tweak, and optimize

towards what works is crucial in scaling
campaigns effectively, a task that's

22
PART 2

The gaming app insights report

KPIs and cost: Finding
the best value users
Cost per install, impression, and
click + partners per app.

23
 The gaming app insights report
APPLOVIN INSIGHTS

The availability of genAI tools significantly

increased in 2023 and is revolutionizing
workflows for savvy creative teams that
focus experimentation on learning and
team adoption.

SparkLabs, AppLovin’s in-house creative

team, was able to scale their usage of AI
in creative conception and production by
nearly 3x compared to the previous year.

Generative text-to-speech, for example,

enabled the near-instantaneous creation
of voiceovers for videos, reducing
turnaround times by keeping these tasks
in-house.

24
 The gaming app insights report
Gaming app IPM by region
Gaming app IPM 2023 (Global) and country 2023

8
16 7.46
APPLOVIN INSIGHTS
13.88 7 6.67
14
6
6.27
HUMAN PRESENCE INCREASES
12
5
AD ENGAGEMENT
10 9.03
4 3.79 Because our brains are wired to focus
8
3 on faces, adding a human presence
6 2.49
4.73
4.56
3.95 2 to creatives inspires connection and
4 3.59 3.58
2.77 3.13
2.48
1 empathy between the ad and the viewer.
2 1.66 1.68

0
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0
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Whether live action or an avatar, ads
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Hyper casual games had the highest rate of installs per mille Some regions and markets significantly exceeded the global compelling narrative are an effective way
(IPM) at 13.88, followed by hybrid casual at 9.03. The adventure benchmark, including Brazil at 7.46, EMEA at 6.67, and India at to engage with audiences.
and RPG genres had considerably lower IPMs, at 1.66 and 1.68, 6.27—all of which have a higher rate of hyper casual and hybrid
respectively. This was likely due to a more niche audience or casual placements than their lower-IPM counterparts. On the
fewer ad placements in these games. Where hyper casual and flip side, the figures for Singapore (2.49), South Korea (4.07),
hybrid casual put more emphasis on reach and faster turnover, Japan (4.09), Indonesia (4.63), and the DACH countries (3.79)
genres like RPG are generally searching for whales or dolphins. are all lower, due to the higher prevalence of placements—and
interest in—titles in the RPG and adventure subverticals.

25
 The gaming app insights report
The patterns for cost per click are very
similar to cost per install, with adventure Gaming app eCPC 2023 (Global)
and RPG emerging as the more expensive
subverticals. The global median cost per
0.45
click is $0.03, compared to adventure’s 0.41
$0.41 and RPG’s $0.34. Hyper casual and 0.4

hybrid casual both come in at just $0.02 0.35 0.34

per click—a strong value indicator for hybrid,

0.3
which generates higher returns than hyper,
0.25
but requires a similar (or even identical)

$USD
investment per click. 0.2

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26
 The gaming app insights report
Gaming app eCPC by region and country 2023 TRANSFORMATIVE GROWTH

0.1
Leveraging AppLovin and Adjust, top-tier
0.09 trivia, word, and puzzle games developer
0.09
Super Free Games was able to grow
0.08
0.08
campaign spend from $35,000 a month to
0.07
$350,000, boost the number of $30,000+
0.06 campaigns by 34%, and increase ranking in
the Word category from 70 to top 10.
$USD

0.05

0.04

0.03 Adjust and AppLovin are instrumental to

our UA strategy. With Adjust’s SpendWorks,
0.02

0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01

we’re able to quickly identify our top chan-
0.01
nels and strategically allocate campaign
0
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measurement insights also power AppLovin’s

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advertising engine, allowing us to quickly

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launch advanced campaigns optimized to the
down-funnel goals we care about most.

There’s also a lot of difference between CPC throughout regions and individual markets. Liam Petersen
Despite North America and the U.S. charting around the middle for IPM, the CPC and CPI Co-Head of Studio,
are much higher than any other market, at $0.08 and $0.09, respectively. Next are Japan,
South Korea, and DACH, all $0.04. The Philippines, Turkey, the UAE, Brazil, Mexico, and the
LATAM and EMEA regions all tie at a lower $0.01.

27
 The gaming app insights report
Gaming app eCPI 2022 - 2023 (Global) Gaming app eCPI by region and country 2023

5 2.5
2022
4.5 2.14
2023
4 2

3.5

3 1.5
1.29
$USD

$USD
2.5
1.05
2 0.97
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The median eCPI gaming app marketers can expect to pay at Cost per install varies markedly between regions and countries.
a global level rose from $0.52 in 2022 to $0.99 in 2023. The While the numbers are largely influenced by the subverticals
biggest increase was seen for simulation, which rose by $1.23, most downloaded, comparing median eCPI to LTV or revenue
from $1.45 to $2.68. Hyper casual unsurprisingly had the lowest metrics can unlock exciting areas of opportunity for localization
cost per install, but did also rise considerably, up from $0.09 to and marketing spend. The lowest median eCPI was seen in
$0.32. Role playing games bucked the trend and took $0.42 off India at just $0.05 per install, while the highest was in the U.S.
their median eCPI, decreasing from $4.50 to $4.08. at $2.14. Japan was the next most expensive ($1.29), followed by
South Korea ($1.05), and DACH ($0.97).

28
 The gaming app insights report
Gaming app CTR 2023 (Global) Gaming app CTR by region and country 2023

All APPLOVIN INSIGHTS

All
APAC
Action India
Indonesia GENRE-BENDING
Adventure 1% Japan
Board 17% Philippines EXPANDS AUDIENCE APPEAL
Singapore 8%
Casual South Korea Incorporating popular mechanics from
Hybrid casual 30% EMEA 21%
DACH other successful game genres into ad
Hyper casual 28% France
Puzzle
Turkey creatives has shown promise for attracting
UAE
RPG U.K. & Ireland larger audiences. For instance, a hyper
LATAM
Simulation
Brazil 22% casual game could broaden its appeal
Sports 1% Mexico
North America by adding casual game features like
Word U.S.
metaplay or live events, while mid-core
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%
games may find success by borrowing
the simple, intuitive mechanics of hyper
casual games.
Hybrid casual was showing its strength again as the subvertical Of all regions and countries, Brazil had the highest median CTR
with the highest performing click through rate (CTR)—30%— with 22%, followed by EMEA at 21%, and LATAM on the whole
once again outperforming hyper casual, which also charted an with 19%.
impressive 28%. The only other subvertical with a higher CTR
than the global median (12%) was board (17%). The lowest CTRs The lowest CTR was seen in Singapore (8%), followed by South
were seen for adventure and sports games, at just 1% each. Korea, Indonesia, and the Philippines, all of which had a 9%
median rate.

29
 The gaming app insights report
Gaming app CPM 2023 (Global) Gaming app CPM by region and country 2023

All
All
APAC
Action India 0.25
Indonesia 0.41
Adventure 7
Japan
Board Philippines 0.53
Singapore
Casual South Korea
Hybrid casual EMEA
DACH
Hyper casual France
Puzzle Turkey
UAE
RPG U.K. & Ireland
LATAM
Simulation 6.65
Brazil
Sports 2.25 Mexico
North America 15.08
Word 6.09 U.S. 15.86

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16

$USD $USD

$5.56 is the median cost per mille (CPM) a gaming app North America’s median CPM is drastically more expensive
advertiser can expect to pay across the board, globally. The most than any other market, and the U.S. alone is even pricier.
expensive subvertical is simulation ($6.65), followed by word The former comes in at $15.08 and the latter at $15.86. The
($6.09), and, interestingly, hybrid casual is next at $6.05—despite average returns are also significantly higher in the market, but
its cost per click being low, impressions in relation to ad spend considering that the next most expensive is Japan ($7), the
are at the higher end of the spectrum. The lowest CPM goes to difference is stark. With high spend required, marketers should
sports games at $2.25, followed by casual at $3.94. ensure they’re leveraging the best possible analytics to make
informed decisions around where to pause and where to scale.

30
 The gaming app insights report
Gaming partners per app Gaming app partners per app by region
2022 - 2023 (Global) and country 2022 - 2023

12 2022 7 2022
6.5 6.5
APPLOVIN INSIGHTS
2023 2023
6
10

5
STANDOUT WITH
8
4 4 4 INNOVATIVE METAPLAY
4
6 Understanding what motivates gamers
3

4 can inform successful creatives—for

2
example, the desire to be social could
2 1
result in ads that emphasize the
0 0 competition or community elements
of a game. Because of this, metaplay
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ads are gaining both popularity and

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variety, leveraging gameplay mechanics
that go beyond the core gameplay to
attract casual players. Creating ads that
The median number of partners gaming apps are working with According to the regional and country breakdown, LATAM as appeal to gamer motivations improves
globally dropped from 6.5 in 2022 to 6 in 2023, reflecting the a whole and Turkey individually are the markets where gaming accessibility and helps a game stand
tightening of budgets and potential streamlining of channel apps work with the highest median number of partners—both out in a crowded market.
mixes to save on spend. Trivia apps worked with the most 6.5. Next are Singapore, France, the UAE, and the U.S., all of
partners in 2023 (10), followed by hyper casual (9), and adventure which (in line with the global median) work with 6 partners. On
(8). The vertical with the fewest partners was puzzle, which the lower side, apps in India, Indonesia, and Japan all worked
dropped from 9 to just 5. We recommend studios reinvest in with just 4 partners in 2023.
activating new channels to unlock scalable growth opportunities.

31
 The gaming app insights report
Adjust PC | Console Measurement
Revenue from PC and console gaming is expected to Gaming app developers, marketers, and studios can
reach $1.81 billion and $1.02 billion, respectively, in 2024 measure from PC ad to PC app, console ad to console
and increase to $1.28 billion and $1.03 billion in 2025. It’s app or cross-device from pc ad to console app, CTV ad
a market that’s back on the rise and is an exciting new to PC app, and CTV ad to console app.
channel for gaming app developers and studios to explore.
As multi-platform gaming increases in popularity, so does
the opportunity.
...By expanding your app
to PC and console, you
THE CROSSPLAY ERA STARTS NOW
can tap into an extensive
By expanding your app to PC and console, you can tap into
an extensive audience of paying players while offering new, audience of paying players
exciting, and seamless experiences to your existing users. while offering new, exciting,
Adjust’s PC | Console Measurement provides full visibility
into the impact of your marketing campaigns on PC and and seamless experiences
gaming consoles. With unified analytics and stunning to your existing users...
visualizations, you can easily and effectively unpack cross-
platform and cross-device performance and optimize ROI.

32
PART 3

The gaming app insights report

Revenue streams
and lifetime value
User LTV, in-app revenue,
and average revenue per user.

33
 The gaming app insights report
APPLOVIN INSIGHTS

Further rise of hybrid monetization

Hybrid monetization continues to be a key strategy this year By understanding user preferences and behavior through
as games that previously focused on monetizing through data analysis, teams can incorporate hybrid strategies that
in-app purchases are incorporating ads and those primarily appeal to different user segments. This approach not only
ad-based are adding more subscription and IAP options. By increases overall revenue potential, but aligns closely with
diversifying revenue streams, publishers can tailor the game player satisfaction and long-term retention.
experience to a broad range of player behaviors, which
improves lifetime value (LTV). More studios are switching to the hybrid monetization
model because of its flexibility to extract the most value
In-app bidding streamlines IAA by maximizing revenue out of each player, a crucial advantage in the current
per impression, while reducing manual waterfall operations. industry landscape. Because in-app bidding automates
This frees up valuable time for monetization teams, allowing ad monetization, it's increasingly giving teams more space
them to adopt a more product-focused mindset that to design engaging experiences that keep players coming
supports overall game development and growth. back for more.

34
 The gaming app insights report
Gaming in-app revenue January 2022 - January 2024 (Global) SCALE VOLUME AND REVENUE
By benefiting from accurate attribution data
and Adjust’s analytics solution Datascape,
game developer Widogame was able to
expand their number of advertising channels
from just one to 10. This resulted in an almost
5,000% increase in installs and revenue
growth of more than 2,200%.

We love that Adjust is actively developing

every day and offering new features. Not
only are we constantly receiving incredibly
fast support…we are provided with valuable
market insights and benchmarks.
APR 22

OCT 23
OCT 22
JAN 22

APR 23
JUL 22

JAN 24
JAN 23

JUL 23
Lana Phung
CMO

In-app revenue for gaming apps experienced a notable 6% YoY increase in 2023,
a very positive signal considering the overall decline in engagement.

This rise was most sharply seen in December, when in-app revenue climbed 17% above
the annual average and 21% YoY— coinciding with the boost in installs in Q4. We anticipate
these figures will continue climbing throughout 2024, as January 2024 has already seen a
13% YoY increase.
35
 The gaming app insights report
Gaming app cumulative LTV Gaming app cumulative LTV by region
2023 (Global) and country 2023

3.5 1.4
Day 0 Day 0

3 Week 0 1.2 Week 0

Month 0 Month 0
2.5 1

2 0.8
$USD

$USD
1.5 0.6

1 0.4

0.5 0.2

0 0
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Subverticals with higher eCPIs often deliver a larger LTV within Globally, the median month 0 LTV for gaming apps was $0.92,
the first month. RPG, for example, leads with a median LTV of with a large variance across regions. APAC’s median of $0.72 is
$3.31 per user, followed by adventure games at $2.35, both of brought down significantly by markets like India and Indonesia,
which were at the higher end of eCPI costs. with their high share of hyper casual installs. Japan, however, had
the highest median at $1.21, followed by South Korea ($1), and the
However, these categories don't recoup the initial install costs U.S. ($1.03).
by the end of the first month, indicating a strategic gap, or a
longer period required to amp monetization. It's best practice to EMEA's and LATAM's low LTVs, $0.36 and $0.17, respectively,
employ a strategy that drives median LTV up over time. were also impacted by specific markets with high volume in
lower-revenue verticals. DACH outperformed the EMEA median
by 105%, landing at $0.74.
36
 The gaming app insights report
MIGRATING FOR BETTER RESULTS
By switching from another MMP to Adjust,
mobile games developer Hypercell Games
was able to work to predict LTV, resulting in
saving 17% of budgets, decreasing the cost
of a specific title’s promotion by 40% while
increasing its total revenue by 23%.

Switching to Adjust really reduced our data

lag. This highly increased the speed at which
we are able to evaluate marketing campaigns
to make decisions.

Jurijs Saveljevs
CTO

37
 The gaming app insights report
Gaming app ARPM 2023 (Global) Gaming app ARPM by region and country 2023

All
All
APAC RAPID APP GROWTH
Action India
Indonesia
Adventure 7.71
Japan
Fast-growing mobile games publisher
Board Philippines
Singapore
Mamboo Games, known for hyper casual
Casual 5.26
South Korea
Hybrid casual 3.34 EMEA
and hybrid casual titles including Worm
DACH
Hyper casual 2.49 France Out and Green Button, doubled its month-
Puzzle 1.36 Turkey
UAE over month installs and increased its
RPG U.K. & Ireland
Simulation 7.05 LATAM 1.4 partner number by 42% by making quick,
Brazil
Sports 7.15 Mexico informed decisions thanks to data the
1.14 North America 6.97
Word
U.S. 6.75 team fully can rely on.
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

$USD $USD

Previously, we had no sufficient depth

of data analysis, so we weren’t able to
In 2023, the median ad revenue per mille (ARPM) for mobile The U.S. had the highest ARPM of all countries analyzed ($6.75), track CPI, by, for example, different
games was $3.10. A subvertical analysis reveals that adventure just below the North American median of $6.97. LATAM, Brazil creatives. Now we can monitor and op-
games had the highest ARPM at $7.71, surpassing sports and and Mexico were significantly lower at $1.40, $1.52, and $1.56, timize accordingly. Adjust offers a huge
simulation, which earned $7.15 and $7.05, respectively. Word, respectively. Within APAC, South Korea came in with one of the amount of metrics for us, making our
puzzle, and board games had the lowest ARPMs at $1.14, $1.36, highest numbers across the board ($5.26), followed by Japan at data analysis super easy, yet thorough.
and $2.05, respectively. Hyper casual games, known for high ad $4.77, and Singapore at $3.68.
engagement, came in at $2.49, but were once again eclipsed by
Maxim Sabadash
hybrid casual with a significantly larger $3.34. CTO

38
 The gaming app insights report
Gaming app ARPMAU 2023 (Global) Gaming app ARPMAU by region and country 2023

6 1.4
1.25
5.12
5 1.2
1.03
1
4 3.69
0.8
$USD

$USD
3
0.6
0.6
2
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In 2023, the average revenue per monthly active user The U.S. had the highest ARPMAU at $1.25, 62% above the
(ARPMAU) across all mobile gaming subcategories was $0.77. global median of $0.77. Japan followed at $1.03, while APAC
It’s interesting to note the differences between revenue from overall displayed varied figures, resulting in a median of $0.55
MAUs and standalone ad revenue, with RPG emerging as the due to countries like India and the Philippines reporting lower
clear leader on the MAU side ($5.12). Adventure games also numbers—$0.07 and $0.14, respectively. EMEA’s numbers sat
performed well, earning $3.69 per MAU. Hyper casual games, around the middle, with DACH once again the highest at $0.60.
which are known for their large turnover of users but low LATAM, as well as Brazil and Mexico individually, had the lowest
monetization from IAP, had the lowest ARPMAU at $0.18. This is ARPMAUs, all below $0.20. Regional marketers must focus on
below the burgeoning hybrid casual, which stood at $0.23 per high-converting monetization tactics for sustainable profitability.
MAU, a significant 39% increase.

39
 The gaming app insights report
Gaming app ARPMAU IA 2023 (Global)

6
5.25 CONTINUOUS OPTIMIZATION FOR
5
CONTINUOUS GROWTH
3.87
4 Known for top tier titles including Bingo World,
Solitaire TriPeaks, and Happy Land, VividJoan is a
$USD

3
top-five casual games earner in multiple markets.
2
With Adjust, they increased campaign ROI by 32%,
1 ROAS by 15%, and reduced decision making time
0.09 0.01 by 30%.
0
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Adjust guided us in setting up conversion values.

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Since VividJoan’s products are largely dependent on

in-app purchases, we were advised to increase the
volume on our paid campaigns. When setting up the
Shifting the focus, the average IAP revenue per monthly active user
conversion values, Adjust provided us with the best
(ARPMAU IA) also varies greatly across subverticals. The overall median
practices and supported us in optimizing live cam-
for gaming apps in 2023 was $0.84 per MAU.
paigns. And Datascape helps us to visualize all our
data, acting as a business intelligence system to us.
RPG stood out with an impressive $5.25 in-app revenue per MAU, with
adventure games next at $3.87. Hyper casual games reported minimal in-
app revenue at just $0.01 per MAU, reflecting the pure ad-based revenue Bo Wu
Director of Paid Campaigns
model. While hybrid casual’s figure was also low ($0.09), it’s 800% higher
than hyper casual—an incredibly strong indicator of its success in adding
monetization elements to the UX.

40
 The gaming app insights report
The regional and country figures follow a similar
pattern to ARPMAU in general, this time with Japan Gaming app ARPMAU IA by region and country 2023
generating the highest in-app revenue from MAUs
($1.15), followed by North America ($1.08) and the 1.4

U.S. individually ($1.05).

1.2 1.15
1.08
APAC’s median ($0.67) was again lowered by India 1.05
1
($0.07) and the Philippines ($0.17), despite Japan’s
high numbers, along with the relatively high figures in 0.8 0.75

$USD
Singapore ($0.75) and South Korea ($0.74).
0.6

EMEA was on the lower side at $0.35, with DACH 0.4 0.35
charting the biggest number in the group ($0.62),
followed by the U.K. & Ireland ($0.50). 0.2 0.17

0.07

0
LATAM’s numbers were the lowest again, but the

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overall regional median of $0.21 was higher than

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ut
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both Mexico ($0.17) and Brazil ($0.13), individually.

or
U

N
Considering the high number of hyper casual, puzzle,
word, and hybrid casual titles in the markets, it’s not
surprising. Although ARPMs are higher, the figures
could still stand to improve via mechanisms like the
implementation of more precise analytics and AI-
driven personalization.

41
CONCLUSION

The gaming app insights report

Reigniting app growth and
reaching the next level
Now, as ever, success for mobile games and LTV. As new genres like hybrid casual are (including cross-platform play) from the ad/
developers, studios, and marketers, requires demonstrating, adding in-app monetization creative through to later stage gameplay, you
precision analytics and a ruthlessly data- elements to their titles has dramatically can create a holistic strategy that will place
driven approach to user acquisition and increased revenue across a range of KPIs. you at the forefront of the gaming growth to
measurement. With the era of hyper-growth Approaches like hybrid monetization mean come. One thing is for sure, interest in games
over and with returns no longer coming revenue streams can be diversified across IAP, and mobile gaming is as strong as ever.
as easily, success and scale require a new ad revenue, and subscriptions, by allowing Success will be defined by how and where
framework. It’s not the what that’s changed, a single title to appeal to a broad range of we find these users and by the effectiveness
it’s the how. Where marketers could segments. Embracing and developing for of delivering the appropriate, tailored
previously rely on extremely granular data to this kind of flexibility means being able to experiences to them.
gain the percentage points needed to prove maximize revenue from every install.
ROI, it’s now essential to onboard next-gen,
privacy-centric technology solutions that As studios and their marketing teams
enable similar growth without the same increasingly adopt new technologies and
dependency on device-level data. approaches to advertising and monetization,
we anticipate an overall turnaround in the
Similarly, as user expectations around numbers for the mobile games industry
top-tier experiences increase, leveraging throughout 2024 and beyond. By staying
generative AI for personalization that better ahead of the curve on privacy changes and
matches creatives to in-app experiences the tools that solve for them and by adapting
can not only increase CTR but retention to more personalized user experiences

42
ABOUT ADJUST ABOUT APPLOVIN

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around the world to measure and grow their apps across platforms, connect to their ideal customers. The company provides end-to-end
from mobile to CTV and beyond. Adjust works with companies at every software and AI solutions for businesses to reach, monetize and grow
stage of the app marketing journey, from fast-growing digital brands their global audiences.
to brick-and-mortar companies launching their first apps. Adjust’s
powerful measurement and analytics suite provides visibility, insights For more information about AppLovin, visit:
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