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. 

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.