Average retention rate of mobile games

Discussion in 'Public Game Developers Forum' started by SpiritBomb Studios, Sep 5, 2015.

  1. SpiritBomb Studios

    SpiritBomb Studios Well-Known Member

    Oct 16, 2013
    84
    0
    0
    Game Developer
    Saigon, Vietnam
    Hi,
    One of my game has this retention rate (calculated by Google Analytics)
    [​IMG]

    It is an endless arcade artillery game.
    Looking at the retention rate table, do you think this is good or bad?
    What is the good retention rate of mobile games nowadays?
     

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  2. PikPok

    PikPok Well-Known Member

    Nov 26, 2009
    938
    1
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    Wellington
    Those retention rates are "average" but that doesn't mean they are good, as most games don't retain well enough to be sustainable.

    Ideally, your D1/D3/D7 retention rates would look closer to something like 45%+/25%+/15%+. If you can get to those numbers or above then it starts becoming much easier to build a sustainable critical mass audience.

    Improving your retention early on is probably the best bang for your dev buck at this point, as improvements there will flow down the chain, so focusing on improving D1 is a good idea. Consider on what you can do here to improve first impressions and engage people on the very first time they play, as well as other things like push notifications and daily rewards as a nudge and draw respectively to get people back that next day.
     
  3. Columbo

    Columbo Well-Known Member

    Sep 1, 2014
    102
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    I remember hearing a while ago that the rule of thumb for retention should be:

    D1:40%
    D7:20%
    D30:10%

    Not sure how accurate or out of date those figures are though.

    FWIW, my title seems to be about halfway between the 40/20/10 figure and your figures.
     
  4. SpiritBomb Studios

    SpiritBomb Studios Well-Known Member

    Oct 16, 2013
    84
    0
    0
    Game Developer
    Saigon, Vietnam
    @PikPok @Columbo: Thank you very much for sharing information.
    My game is already published for some time, and I'm deciding to move on to the next game or update the existing one.
     
  5. RareSloth

    RareSloth Well-Known Member
    Patreon Bronze

    Some games just aren't build for retention and I think that's OK too.

    Some games you are happy to consume once and then set aside... There's no reason every game has to retain player attention over long-term. Not every game should annoy you with push-notifications or try to lure you with daily rewards.
     
  6. SpiritBomb Studios

    SpiritBomb Studios Well-Known Member

    Oct 16, 2013
    84
    0
    0
    Game Developer
    Saigon, Vietnam
    @RareSloth: but retention rate is important to measure how successful a game is, especially for freemium games.
    Because user acquisition cost is getting higher and higher, it's critical that our game can keep existing users for longer time.
     
  7. RareSloth

    RareSloth Well-Known Member
    Patreon Bronze

    You're right, this is what everyone is shouting.... And I agree. Without retention its hard to monetize. I'm just saying that not every game needs or should try to retain players forever. If every game is fighting to retain players, its going to be an even harder battle to compete... Especially if you don't have the budget.
     
  8. pjgames25

    pjgames25 Member

    Oct 31, 2015
    10
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    Seattle
    @RareSloth I totally agree. Furthermore, sometimes it's better to have a game that is well thought of--even if only played once. This potentially allows the player to develop a positive relationship to the game/developers, and could make him/her more likely to play the next release.
     
  9. Blackharon

    Blackharon Well-Known Member

    Mar 15, 2010
    978
    0
    16
    Game Designer for Ludia
    Canada
    Generally speaking: if your game can't retain users, it'll be better to monetize up front and not go the freemium route.
     

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