Following the implementation of Anzu.io’s in-game ads within Cooking Fever, developer Nordcurrent has seen its average revenue per daily active user increase three times over in the US.

In fact, in-game ads now represent more than 5% of Nordcurrent’s total revenue.

Then and now

Established back in 2002, Nordcurrent has grown into the role of Lithuania’s biggest game developer and publisher, and celebrated 20 percent growth in 2021. Its mobile title Cooking Fever, released in 2014, has become the company’s flagship game with 15 million monthly users and nearly 400 million total downloads.

Anzu’s intrinsic ads were integrated one year ago in April 2022, and in the time since, Nordcurrent’s in-game ad revenue has more than doubled outside the US. Its eCPM from in-game ads, meanwhile, has quadrupled.

Nordcurrent has since worked with Anzu again to update ad placements to support video, as well as to integrate such ads into Cooking Fever’s PC version.

"After seeing a significant impact on revenue from the ads and receiving no negative feedback from players, we are excited to expand Anzu’s solution to more of our titles," said Nordcurrent head of marketing Simonas Sturys.

"It has been great to work with Nordcurrent on bringing intrinsic in-game advertising to Cooking Fever, a well-known and highly respected mobile title. We are seeing a promising trend across the industry, with game developers introducing in-game ads to established titles to benefit from an additional reliable and consistent revenue stream," said Anzu director of supply and growth Maor Wurembrand.

Anzu revealed in March 2022 that it had raised $20 million in a funding round, bringing its total capital up to that date to $37 million since 2017.

Especially for International Womens Day, we interviewed Victoria Trofimova, co-founder and CEO of Nordcurrent about attitudes towards female gamers, what women in games are bringing to the industry, and more.