Download leaders hold better than the highest-grossing titles

Mobile games with the highest number of downloads had a better retention rate than the highest-grossing titles.

The Boston-based analytics firm Apptopia conducted a study that examined user retention rates in 16 popular mobile games.

Apptopia experts have found that gamers remain the most loyal to games with a high overall rating, regardless of whether they are profitable or not.

Retention of players by genre and popularity (April 2017, US market)

“If you want to make money from mobile advertising, you need a higher retention than games with in-app purchases usually give. Publishers need to choose the monetization method that suits their target audience the most,” said Apptopia brand Ambassador Adam Blacker.

As a personal example, Blacker told how he quit playing Boom Beach mobile strategy after a couple of weeks because he was tired of constantly spending money to maintain himself at a level sufficient to compete with other players.

Adam Blacker also added that such titles as “three in a row” Toy Blast monetize advertising and do not require additional costs just to have a good time playing.

Games with the highest retention rate for 14 days (April 2017, US market)

“The maximum drop in retention occurs in the first week. After seven days, it drops by only a few percent until the 30th day,” Blacker noted.

PS According to Apptopia, the retention of 14 days for the Clash Royale strategy on Android in April was 5.7%.

 Source: Venture Beat