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Mistplay’s 2023 Mobile Gaming Loyalty Report Provides In-depth Look at What Drives Loyalty for Today’s Mobile Gamers
RPG, Strategy, and Simulation Games are the highest-rated game genres in the Mistplay Loyalty Index
October 26, 2023
5 Min Read
[This unedited press release is made available courtesy of Game Developer and its partnership with notable game PR-related resource Games Press]
Mistplay | Montreal, CANADA — October 26, 2023 — Mistplay, the #1 loyalty app for mobile gamers, today released the 2023 Mobile Gaming Loyalty Report, shedding important new light on the factors driving player loyalty in today’s ultra-competitive app landscape. The report offers deep and fresh insights into the range of influences that make players loyal to their favorite games, as well as actionable takeaways that game developers can use to increase their games’ retention, engagement, monetization, and other key metrics tied to lifetime value (LTV).
Based on an analysis of over 500 mobile games and millions of players across the Mistplay platform, the report provides a first-of-its-kind Loyalty Index that quantifies and ranks the loyalty value of the top mobile gaming genres based on a set of monetization and engagement metrics including retention, repeat purchase rate, average sessions per user, and others. By further tapping into Mistplay’s engaged community of mobile gamers, the Loyalty Survey answers important questions about what motivates player’s gaming habits, why they choose to install new games, what keeps them playing and spending, and more.
The 2023 Mobile Gaming Loyalty Report spotlights loyalty as the key to profitable growth for mobile games, measuring loyalty across the user journey so that it can be optimized accordingly based on gaming genres and player preferences. For instance, Mistplay’s report depicts the intricate fluctuations between average playtime per session and number of sessions per genre and quartile. Lifestyle games, for example, show the highest average sessions per user, but rank seventh out of 13 genres when it comes to the average playtime per session. It’s also important for developers to understand how player motivations and negative factors impact loyalty; the Loyalty Survey found that the third top motivation for continuing to play a game was enjoyment of new content & updates, yet at the same time 39% of gamers will quit playing if a mobile game releases a poorly received update and it isn’t fixed within a week.
“Player loyalty is perhaps the single most important element for mobile publishers to focus on as the industry continues to evolve,” said Jason Heller, CEO of Mistplay. “It's the lifeblood of strong LTV and long term enterprise value for gaming publishers. Loyalty can be a challenge to measure by just a single metric, and its complexities must be carefully considered within the context of each game. We designed the Mobile Gaming Loyalty Index and our Player Survey to help publishers and developers take a deep dive into what loyalty really means. We also want to help the industry understand that cultivating player loyalty isn't just an empty buzzword to throw around, but a required set of mindsets, behaviors, and capabilities to operationalize.”
A sampling of other key findings from the 2023 Mistplay Gaming Loyalty Report include:
RPG and Strategy games garner the most loyalty: Role Playing Games (RPG) ranked the highest score on the Mistplay loyalty rating out of all genres, with a score of 75 out of 100, followed by Strategy games (70), Simulation games (67), and Lifestyle games (61), respectively.
Lifestyle games see the highest average sessions per user. These games also drive strong monetization by ranking first for share of spenders by D30 and third for repeat purchases. With bite-sized and compellingly-repeatable gameplay tasks, these games are designed to bring players in multiple times throughout the day and spend incrementally to achieve their aspirations.
Puzzle games are king for pure retention. The genre ranks first for D30 retention, and with a large delta between the overall and top quartile, there’s plenty of opportunity for growth within this category as games continue to engage a large casual audience.
Loyalty begins from the very first ad impression: With half of players choosing to install a game within a few days of first seeing an ad, making an impression is crucial – and one thing players look for is authenticity in advertising, with 71.7% of mobile gamers reporting it’s important to see actual gameplay footage in ads. But keep in mind that you won't get everyone, as 36.7% of players typically ignore ads entirely.
High-value spenders have different gameplay and spending motivations: Players who spend over $100 on mobile games are 28% more likely than other players to play at least eight games per week; They’re also 55% more likely to spend money to keep pace with other players than other spenders are (22.2% to 14.3%).
A sense of progression keeps players motivated: The top two reasons why mobile gamers continue playing a game are the desire to continue progressing (56.8%) and to avoid abandoning their progress (50.3%).
To download the complete report, visit www.mistplay.com/reports/mobile-gaming-loyalty-report-2023
About Mistplay
Mistplay is the #1 loyalty app for mobile gamers. Our community of millions of engaged mobile gamers uses Mistplay to discover new games to play and earn rewards. Headquartered in Montreal and launched in 2016, Mistplay has climbed the ranks as a media source for game publishers, most recently ranking Top 5 Best media sources for Global ROI and Retention in the 2023 Singular ROI Index. Follow Mistplay on LinkedIn for company news and updates or read more about how to partner with us at https://www.mistplay.com/advertising.
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