Mistplay

🚨New data alert: [Report] How social & community fuels organic growth for mobile games 📈 Our 2024 survey of thousands of North American mobile gamers delves into how social and community factors influence user acquisition, retention, and in-game spend. Dive into the data behind why publishers must invest in social and community strategies as another avenue to mitigate the impact of industry headwinds, offset the increasing pressures to paid media performance, and ultimately support efforts to achieve sustainable growth. “In this competitive industry with many similar titles, a focus (or lack of focus) on social and community efforts can have a meaningful impact at scale, and be the difference between struggling to gain traction, and breaking into the top category rankings.” Justin Gerrard, Senior Director of Organic Growth at Mistplay Get the report to unlock insights you need to fortify your mobile growth strategy. 🔐👇 https://lnkd.in/eJCY5F4z

Are you headed to Tokyo Game Show this month? Mistplay will be hosting an exclusive after-party on September 27th alongside AppLovin, Adjust, Remerge, and ThinkingData for industry leaders to enjoy food, drinks, and games (with prizes!). Interested in attending? Reach out to below to request your invite. *This event is for advertisers and publishers only. Request your invite now! 👇🎟️ https://lnkd.in/ehAuBNwN

While app store domination has long dictated the mobile gaming ecosystem, the emergence of DTC as a viable path to profitability has opened new avenues for publishers to foster a more direct relationship with their player base. Now, as the Digital Markets Act (DMA) comes into effect, more publishers are likely to launch their own DTC web shops to improve their IAP margins. Learn more about this shift (and what it means for the industry) in our article on up-and-coming monetization strategies to help publishers succeed 👇 https://lnkd.in/drKzx9x4

Getting your game into the hands of players across the globe has generally had to pass through at least one of two gatekeepers – Apple, for iOS, and Google, for Android. These two companies have effectively held a “monopoly” on their platforms’ app distribution for the last decade, and made sure to benefit from it, with each taking up to a 30% cut on in-app-purchases and subscriptions. Now, as these app store giants are being taken to court in the EU and US, publishers are finding new ways to reduce reliance on the app store giants – like clawing back their margins through Direct-to-Consumer web shops and exploring alternative distribution channels. In our latest article, we dive into the latter, examining the pros and cons of diversifying your distribution strategy and leveraging alternative channels to get your game into the hands of players worldwide. 👇 https://lnkd.in/epT7uBTt

💡62% of spending players who had a negative support interaction stopped playing the game, while 34% left a negative review. Community sentiment can make or break the virality potential of word-of-mouth marketing, and customer support can have a lasting impact on that sentiment. Publishers need to have a rock-solid support strategy to get to the root of what drives positive sentiment and ultimately work towards fostering a loyal and engaged player base. Get the full findings on how social & community impact mobile game growth in our report 👉 https://lnkd.in/d4d_RMZg 👈

⚡Innovation spotlight: Space Ape Games Chrome Valley Customs 🚗 While Match 3 is a popular mobile genre ranking as the leading genre by US consumer spend as of 2023 (mostly among middle-aged women), this specific title teaches an old genre a new trick by designing it specifically for an audience less tapped by Puzzle games – young men. By flipping the genre on its head and tailoring the game for male gamers through its car-centric design, Chrome Valley Customs has shaken the industry with its remarkable success. With over $1.5 million USD in monthly revenue across iOS and Android platforms, and having grown to over 1 million monthly active users (MAU) in less than a year, Chrome Valley Customs stands as Space Ape's most significant launch in 11 years – and an inspiration for publishers worldwide. 💡 Takeaway: Innovation in re-imagining established genres and reaching under-served markets can lead to unprecedented success and audience engagement in a competitive mobile landscape. Check out more examples of mobile game innovation in our article 👇 https://lnkd.in/dejrzm5J

💡Churn tip: Don’t neglect support. There’s no such thing as a perfect product. When you have an active mobile game that frequently rolls out new feature updates and events – key pieces of any good retention and engagement strategy – there’s bound to be issues along the way. That means your Support team and system must be deeply rooted in the gameplay and player experience. 💬 “Customer Support’s fast response times are key to retention. If CS can respond to the user and solve their issues fast, they are more likely to open that app up again. A big part of this is to marry your support data with your user data. This will help you surface issues to your Dev team, prioritize fast response times with your valuable users, and open the door to improve what users are reaching out about.” – Sam Coffey, Director of Customer Support at Mistplay See the rest of the tips in our article on leaky bucket syndrome in mobile gaming: https://lnkd.in/efDASQ3a

💡 One in five spenders (21%) consider a game’s online community when deciding whether to install a new game and over half (51%) consider player ratings and reviews. Understanding mobile gamers' decision making process to install a game is essential in turning an impression into a conversion. By understanding how much weight players put on peer reviews, ratings, and app store listing factors, publishers can better optimize the acquisition funnel to drive successful installs and grow their player base. Get the full findings on how social & community impact mobile game growth in our report 👉 https://lnkd.in/e2rNKqsC 👈

💡 While in-app advertising, word-of-mouth referrals, and app store exploration remain top game discovery channels, both paid and organic social media marketing are also effective for UA. A single-minded focus on paid channels may lead to missed opportunities elsewhere as earned and shared channels have become increasingly pivotal in shaping successful mobile game growth. With word-of-mouth recommendations and social media ranking highly as game discovery channels, publishers must invest in social and community strategies to fuel organic growth and help reduce the overall cost of acquisition. Get the full findings in our report now 👉 https://lnkd.in/etWeN9xz 👈

Haven't grabbed our social and community report yet? Get the latest data in our highlight article covering three ways that mobile game communities fuel growth. 📱🌱 Spoiler alert: Community can have a big impact on IAP spend. Read on to find out how! 👇 https://lnkd.in/eWKHvUP4