How to grow IAP revenue by 375%? SayGames Special with Anton Volnykh

This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session #112. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let’s not forget this is a 4 a.m. conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously.

Panelists: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jakub Remia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠r,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Felix Braberg, Matej Lancaric⁠

Special guest: Anton Volnykh

Youtube: https://youtu.be/M5p00E7Su3g

Join our slack channel here: https://join.slack.com/t/two-and-half-gamers/shared_invite/zt-29stniv6f-oLJzhx2U_mRB_ppXnJ9hvQ

Agenda

00:00 Epic intro

03:36 Admiring Say Games' Work

09:19 Transitioning to Hybrid Casual Games

14:08 Consequences of Different Approaches

27:45 UA Automation and Internal Tools

29:40 Building Analytics System and SDK

31:32 Shift from Ad Revenue to IAP Revenue

32:28 Testing and Data-Driven Decision-Making

33:27 Scaling the Game Economy with Currencies

36:21 Balancing Interstitial Ads and User Retention

42:20 Optimizing Monetization through Ad Segmentation

57:48 Building Games at the Right Pace

01:01:36 Working Towards Bigger Games and More Revenue

01:03:32 Learning from Teams with App Monetization Experience

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Matej Lancaric

User Acquisition & Creatives Consultant

⁠https://lancaric.me

Felix Braberg

Ad monetization consultant

⁠https://www.felixbraberg.com

Jakub Remiar

Game design consultant

⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakubremiar

Anton Volnykh

https://www.linkedin.com/in/antonvolnykh/

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Takeaways

SayGames focuses on automating processes and using internal tools to operate their games.

They work closely with their teams to help them transition from hypercasual to hybrid casual games.

They have a continuous process of iterating and improving their games.

They have built their own analytics system and SDK.

They have seen a shift from primarily ad revenue to a significant amount of IAP revenue. Testing is crucial in game development and monetization, and data-driven decision-making is essential for success.

Interstitial ads in games should be carefully balanced to avoid negatively impacting user retention.

Segmenting users' ad experiences based on factors like platform and user behavior can optimize monetization.

Continuous learning and adaptation are necessary in the gaming industry to stay competitive and achieve success.

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Felix Latest Article -

https://www.felixbraberg.com/post/the-end-of-gam-and-admob-placement-refreshes