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Next Games enjoys 80% opt-in rate for rewarded video ads, driving ARPDAU of $0.06

Sustained revenue

Next Games enjoys 80% opt-in rate for rewarded video ads, driving ARPDAU of $0.06

In a case study published by Unity Ads, Finnish developer Next Games - the studio behind Compass Point: West and The Walking Dead: No Man's Land - has revealed some impressive statistics showing how players are engaging with its in-game ads.

It's not new knowledge that Next Games are experts with in-game ads - indeed, Mitchell Smallman gave tips on their implementation at Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki 2015 - is nonetheless impressive to hear that its success has proven so consistent.

Rewind

Back in August 2015, Next Games reported that 75% of those playing its debut game Compass Point: West were watching ads daily, driving $0.06 per player in daily ad revenue.

Now, almost a year later and across two live games rather than one, the stats are almost as healthy.

“75-to-80% of our player base opt in to watch video ads," writes Next Games CMO Saara Bergström. This engagement is having a tremendous impact to revenue, by driving $0.06 average revenue per player per day.”

There are a couple of slight differences worth noting in the way the data is presented, though. 

Firstly, "opt in" is a vaguer term that doesn't imply the same level of frequency as that 75% watching an ad daily in Compass Point: West back in August 2015. 

This engagement is having a tremendous impact to revenue.
Saara Bergström

Secondly, unlike in the older data, that $0.06 figure seems to be including all revenues - not just those generated through advertising.

However, this new data takes into account both Compass Point: West and The Walking Dead: No Man's Land - the former over a year into its life, the latter seven months - and remains impressively strong despite the age of the games in question.

Integral

But why is it that players have taken so well to Next Games' in-game ads? According to Bergström, it's because the team treats it as a design challenge.

“We tapped into our lead game designer to work on the integration, rather than using a UI artist who might just slap a somewhere to ‘watch ads’ button up,” she says.

As a direct result, it becomes an itegral part of the core loop for returning players.

“When you create a positive player experience that keeps them coming back for more, rewarded video ads
become part of the gameplay," Bergström continues.

"In the end, the increased engagement and retention from a good video ads experience puts money in our pocket from the increased lifetime value of our players.”

You can read the full Unity Ads case study here.


Features Editor

Matt is really bad at playing games, but hopefully a little better at writing about them. He's Features Editor for PocketGamer.biz, and has also written for lesser publications such as IGN, VICE, and Paste Magazine.