Most new social game players quit after just one day

Player churn has always been a major problem with social games, as many users tend to lose interest shortly after they start playing a new title. A new report from social game analysis firm Playnomics recently examined this trend, and found that 85 percent of all new U.S. players acquired between July and September stopped playing their social games after just one day. Beyond those first 24 hours, it proved more difficult for developers to keep players around, as 95 percent of all the users in Playnomics' study stopped playing their new social games by the end of September. In fact, most users tend to fell off within the first three days – after that, it seems they become far more likely to stick with a new title. If a user keeps playing a social game for a full seven days, for instance, Playnomics found that their overall playtime would increase exponentially compared to players who didn't make it through the first week. It seems that if you can get your players to stick around for that long, you're far more likely to hold onto them for the long term. When it comes to monetizing those players, Playnomics said that users tend to spend the most money on social games on Fridays and Saturdays, since more players tend to log on during that part of the week. Meanwhile, players spend the least money on Mondays and Tuesdays, even though the users who play on those days tend to spend more time doing so. Playnomics even examined user engagement on a geographical level, and found that within the U.S., Oregon sports the most-engaged social game players, while southern states like Georgia and South Carolina are the least engaged. Globally, the Middle East proved to be the most engaged region, overtaking Latin America. [Image credit: Playnomics]