Steady growth in casual and hyper-casual genres over the past few years has created a unique opportunity for publishers to increase revenue by using the right combination of monetisation elements in their games.
Hypercasual games reached 9.2 billion downloads worldwide in 2021, according to App Annie's 2022 State of Mobile Gaming.¹
For those publishers who haven't yet determined how to make ads work in their game, we've pulled together a number of trends, proven techniques, and examples from other mobile game studios in a useful guide you can download here.
Trends in hyper-casual and casual
With its wide audience reach, easy-to-play gameplay mechanic, and impressive growth, we are seeing the emergence of a few exciting hyper-casual monetisation trends.
Multiple monetisation paths
Publishers are increasingly diversifying their monetisation channels to include both hybrid in-app purchases (IAP) and in-app ads (IAA). When developers build ads into their game from the start, they see positive results on retention and revenue.
Rise of the Meta-game
As more and more mid-core game elements are making their way into hyper-casual games, we are seeing the rise of the meta-game and with it, a number of unique gameplay experiences.
Evolving hyper-casual into hybrid-casual
This evolution builds on the rise of the Meta-game. The integration of new genre game elements into hyper-casual gameplay is driving the transition to hybrid-casual.
Best practices for hyper-casual and casual games
Find a balance with in-app ads and in-app purchases
In-app ads are a natural fit for casual and hyper-casual games. And, as Clement Xue, Head of Activision Blizzard Media shared, building into the game at the development stage allows you to optimise monetisation in a player-friendly way.
In a recent case study, Xue said: "Advertising needs to be integrated into the game during game design, alongside in-app purchases, so that there's a strong value proposition for players to watch ads and/or pay for IAP whilst ensuring that the economy is well-balanced."
Expert mobile game publishers and developers know how to diversify their monetisation strategy by understanding when to offer IAP and when to offer IAA.
Choose player-friendly ad formats that complement your game
Gamers surveyed in the research we conducted with 2CV in July 2020 shared that they feel rewarded video is twice as useful as all other formats because it gives them something to use immediately in their game.²
If you want to offer a transparent value exchange between players, advertisers, and your own goals as a publisher, consider these innovative ad formats that have revolutionised the ad experience:
Interstitial ads – These work well in casual and hyper-casual games, where a thirty-second pause is a standard part of gameplay. Auto-play interstitial videos offer a full-screen, immersive ad experience.
Rewarded video ads – players receive an in-app benefit in exchange for their completed video view.
Master your rewarded video integration
The most successful ad integrations happen when they're built into your game from the start. To protect the player experience and alleviate challenges like player churn, consider how you can use rewards at the right entry points. Note which integrations are a better fit for hyper-casual or casual games, as there are some nuances.
The best types of rewarded video integrations for hyper-casual games help players advance to the next or highest levels, usually in one session. A simple example is out-of-lives which helps players advance in their game, even though they are out of lives.
The best types of rewarded video integrations for casual games help players advance when a bit more time investment is required to progress through the levels. This type of reward is more likely to include hard or soft currency. For example, daily reward multiplier is best suited to games that will require the player to return regularly (i.e. daily) to progress.
Build for retention and lifetime value
To maximise revenue for your casual or hyper-casual game, look at the levers that can impact your monetisation strategy. For a full picture of game ROI, the most successful developers start by looking at player lifetime value (LTV).
Gismart, a leading developer and publisher of entertainment focused-apps and one of our client partners, expanded its portfolio into hyper-casual in 2019. While its team had limited experience with in-app ads, their goal was to strike a balance between LTV and the user acquisition funnel without harming retention.
The results? As published in a recent success story, implementing rewarded video ads and optimizing entry points with the Meta audience network team enabled the Gismart team to increase LTV by 5% and ARPDAU by 5-7%.
Get more tips and proven strategies
For all four success factors – including the six most common rewarded video entry points for casual and hyper-casual games – download the full guide: Winning with in-app ad monetisation: Success factors for casual and hyper-casual mobile games.
¹ App Annie 2022 State of Mobile Gaming. Downloads across iOS, Google Play. China is iOS only. Genre breakdown based on App Annie Game IQ Taxonomy as of 7 January, 2022.
² Mobile Games Advertising Report 2020, 2CV (commissioned by Meta Audience Network) - a quantitative and qualitative study in UK, US, DE, FR, TR, BR, AR, KR, JP, RU and VN between March to May 2020 on the changes in the mobile game advertising since 2017 and how advertising impacts players, July 2020.
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