When it comes to in-app advertising, no matter the genre, every game has the same goal: maximizing revenue.
Some genres mainly rely on ad revenue, while others use it as an additional revenue stream.
There is no universal formula that works for all genres. So let’s see how it’s done across several different genres.
Hyper-Casual Games
This free to play, simple, and minimalistic genre climbed the top charts over the past few years. Hyper-casual games are what made in-app advertising so popular in the first place.
Hyper-casual games are made and designed to integrate in-app ads. These games typically offer in-app purchases as well, but their main revenue stream lies in in-app ads that make 95% of their earnings (Adjust).
The gamers in this genre are a unique audience that has to be approached strategically and in accordance with their motivation to play. In most cases, they play while commuting, to pass time, or relieve stress.
Yes, these players expect ads – however, they would prefer to see them less frequently.
Of course, introducing one ad in 10 minutes isn’t a good strategy in this genre since the sessions are typically short. According to Adjust, the average session length for hyper-casual games is 2 minutes and 39 seconds.
During a play session, you should introduce as many ads as possible, but you should do it wisely. According to Adjust, the optimal number of ads in hyper-casual games is 2-3 in a minute’s time.
When it comes to ad formats, the most commonly used are rewarded video ads and interstitials. The crucial thing when integrating these ads is optimizing their frequency and formats.
Strategy Games
In most cases, strategy games monetize with in-app purchases. However, it’s not ideal to rely on them only.
Going overboard with the IAP model might result in players churning. For this reason, it is a better idea to feature a hybrid monetization strategy that includes IAP as a primary and IAA as a secondary monetization source.
According to Facebook’s Gaming report, 76% of strategy players across four markets are open to in-app ads. In fact, more than 60% of users say they are interested in installing a new game if the ad makes it appealing.
Role-Playing Games
RPG is another genre that is primarily based on in-app purchases. Only about 12% of its revenue comes from ads (Unity).
According to Facebook’s Gaming Report, 77% of RPG players are open to in-app ads, so not including them might mean missing out.
Generally, RPG players prefer longer and less frequent ads rather than short and frequent ones. Another thing they respond well to are rewarded video ads.
In this genre, you are most likely to stumble upon opt-in rewarded video ads. And it does not happen often. Why is that?
As this genre is quite competitive, players should be prevented from gaining too many resources. For this reason, RPG games often introduce long cooldowns and frequency capping.
Puzzle Games
The majority of puzzle games profit comes from ad revenue – 56% (Unity). To get the most of it, there are several things you should know.
There is one atypical thing that affects this category – ad restrictions. Since this category includes a lot of games that are intellectual property, it comes with restrictions on ads that can be displayed.
That being said, let’s talk about puzzle gamers’ ad preferences. According to Facebook’s Gaming Report, they would also rather have one long ad appear in 10 minutes of gameplay than short and frequent ads. Wishes are one thing, but, in order for publishers to make money, ads have to appear much more often.
In-app ads have an impressive effect on session length and number of sessions in puzzle games. App Annie’s data shows that introducing ad SDKs into Puzzle games increased play sessions by 133% and the number of installs by 109% after three months.
Source: Blog.udonis
We hope this article helped you in understanding the benefits of a successful ad monetization. If you feel like you need some more guidance, feel free to contact us!
