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Non-organic mobile game installs have grown 3.4% since Q3 2016

AppsFlyer digs deep in its State of Gaming App Marketing report

Non-organic mobile game installs have grown 3.4% since Q3 2016

Non-organic installs of mobile games grew 3.4% over the last year with iOS non-organic installs growing five times as much as Android, according to AppsFlyer.

The mobile analytics firm has released its latest State of Gaming App Marketing report, which studies installs, retention, and CPIs. The report looked at 1,300 apps from 40 different countries during Q3 2017.

The report argues that non-organic install growth has been driven by more and better data being available to developers, as well as the need to avoid "broken" organic discovery on app stores.

Growth on iOS was attributed to a leap in non-organic installs in China, where 30% of installs on iOS are now paid rather than organic. Other regions in Asia, including South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan, also saw significant growth.

Holding on

In terms of engagement, global retention rates haven't changed much compared to Q3 2016. Only 12.6% of users continue to play games on day 10, with this figure dropping to 5.9% on day 27.

Retention was better on average for organic installs, which were 60% more likely to be retained over time compared to non-organic installs. iOS also fared better than Android, with iOS users retaining 18% better over time.

Organic users also had a higher number of average sessions than non-organic users. While non-organic installs saw 41 sessions on average over 90 days, organic installs had 89 sessions.


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Ric is the Editor of PocketGamer.biz, having started out as a Staff Writer on the site back in 2015. He received an honourable mention in both the MCV and Develop 30 Under 30 lists in 2016 and refuses to let anyone forget about it.