Genre matters: Where is the money in mobile gaming?
summary
Recommendation: focus on genres that hit 60–180 day break even (uac payback 3–9 months) rather than hyper‑casual velocity or year‑plus puzzle/social casino LTVs. Expect hyper‑casual examples like $0.20 UA → $0.24 in 5 days (~20% monthly ROI) versus midcore $3 → $4.20 in 360 days (~3.3% monthly) or $5 → $8 over a year (~2.5% monthly). Use time‑adjusted metrics such as monthly ROI or IRR, model cohorts with the free F2P calculator, and consider non‑dilutive lending against receivables/residuals to scale.
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chapters (15)
- 0:00Mobile gaming finance intro
- 1:56Profitable game genres
- 6:08Break-even strategy
- 9:43ROAS vs time-adjusted returns
- 15:44Monthly ROI calculators
- 17:31Hyper casual vs capital games
- 20:19Financing models for studios
- 26:57Farming analogies
- 28:45Advice for founders
- 29:06Q&A: PC game VC interest
- 31:58Q&A: Investment stages
- 33:22Q&A: Scaling sustainable ROAS
- 36:15Q&A: New gaming markets
- 40:31Q&A: Underperforming investments
- 43:01Summary
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