Joining the Unity Ads as part of its acquisition of game sharing and ad network outfit Applifier, Mika Kuusisto has been part of the team that's added a significant new revenue stream for developers using the development platform.
The more than $3 million it announced at GDC 2015 for indie hit Crossy Road was one headline for the service that's used by the likes of Rovio, Sega, Supercell and King.
But now Kuusisto is on the move, again with revenue on his mind, as he takes the role of chief revenue officer at Talking Tom publisher Outfit7, which also involves its own UA and monetisation service Bee7.
We spoke to Kuusisto to find out more about the role and his goals for the future.
PocketGamer.biz: What excites you about joining Outfit7 and Bee7?
Mika Kuusisto: I am super excited to join Outfit7 to support their growth beyond +250 million MAU and more than 2.8 billion downloads.
Leading global business development for Unity Ads and bringing them to fastest growing video networks in the world with my amazing team has been extremely fascinating and simply great. But I just couldn't say no to an opportunity to lead all revenue streams for one of the biggest app publishers in the world.
I couldn't say no to an opportunity to lead all revenue streams for one of the biggest app publishers in the world.Mika Kuusisto
Moving from service provider to a studio is a natural step for me and I will also look after Bee7 revenues and bringing my network experience in to the executive team to grow that business.
What will you be doing on a day-to-day basis as CRO?
My role is to make sure all current and new revenue streams for both businesses are steady, growing and meeting our targets - this includes advertising, in-app and licensing revenues among others.
While Outfit7 is a steady business, there are always opportunities to find new revenue sources.
Bee7 on the other hand is a start-up having an amazing success since launching last year, and provides a huge growth opportunity for the company.
How do you think Bee7 can help mobile game developers improve their business?
Bee7 provides rather unique monetisation platform for developers to engage with their audience. We want to put user experience first and provide game suggestions when users are looking for something new.
This is enhanced with further engagement tools to keep players coming back to your game, and built on the basis of Outfit7 success - basically we offer developers the similar solution that Outfit7 has been using to build their +250 million monthly active user base.
You can find out more about the service Bee7 offers here.
