You could have the most incredible game on the market, with mind-blowing graphics, addictive core gameplay, or a storyline that keeps players on the edge of their seats. But if players don't stick around, all of that doesn’t matter.
The secret to long-term success isn't just attracting new players—it's keeping them engaged. That’s where retention comes into play. It’s the key to turning a one-time download into a loyal player and will keep your game thriving in the competitive mobile gaming market.
In this blog, we’ll show you exactly how to keep players hooked using metrics and benchmarks, the best way to calculate retention rates, and the importance of user feedback.
Ready to level up your retention game? Let’s get started!
Understanding Mobile Gaming App User Retention
Retention is a game’s ability to keep players engaged over time. Without it, even the most well-designed game can struggle to maintain player interest and long-term success. It is commonly measured by how many users continue playing after their initial interaction, with a focus on daily or weekly retention rates.
Retention is broken down into key metrics, such as:
Day 1 Retention – The percentage of users who return to the game one day after installing it.
Day 7 Retention – Users who continue playing a week after installing.
Day 30 Retention – Users who are still active a month after their first play session.
Why Is Retention Important for Mobile Games?
Retention is the backbone of a gaming app’s success and directly influences its revenue. High retention means:
Increased Lifetime Value (LTV): The longer users stay engaged, the more opportunities they provide for in-app purchases and ad views.
Better User Acquisition ROI: Acquiring new users is expensive, but retaining them ensures the investment pays off.
Stronger Community & Virality: Engaged players often invite friends to play together in multiplayer games like Call of Duty Mobile or PUBG, creating organic growth through social interactions and shared experiences.
Tracking the right metrics and comparing them against industry benchmarks is crucial to measure and improve retention.
Key Metrics and Benchmarks for Gaming Apps
Retention rates can vary significantly across different game genres. Here's a breakdown:
1. Day-1 Retention
This metric indicates the percentage of players who return to your game the day after installation. According to data from AppsFlyer, the average Day-1 retention rate for mobile games is approximately 29.46%. Genre-specific rates are as follows:
Match Games: 32.65%
Puzzle Games: 31.85%
Hyper-Casual Games: 29.31%
Strategy Games: 25.39%
2. Day-7 Retention
This measures the percentage of players who are still active a week after installation. The average Day-7 retention rate is around 8.7%. Genre-specific rates include:
Match Games: 13.98%
Puzzle Games: 12.18%
Hyper-Casual Games: 5.90%
Strategy Games: 8.06%
3. Day-30 Retention
This reflects the percentage of players who remain engaged a month after installation. The average Day-30 retention rate is about 3.21%. Genre-specific rates are:
Match Games: 7.15%
Puzzle Games: 5.35%
Hyper-Casual Games: 1.38%
Strategy Games: 3.12%
These benchmarks highlight the varying degrees of player engagement across genres, emphasizing the importance of tailoring retention strategies to your specific game type.
Common Industry Challenges in Retaining Users
Retaining users in mobile gaming presents several challenges:
1. Initial Engagement: Hooking Players from the Start
Capturing players' interest immediately is crucial. A well-structured onboarding experience can set the tone for long-term engagement.
Interactive Tutorials Over Static Walkthroughs: Instead of lengthy text-based instructions, integrate guided, playable tutorials where users learn by doing—like Clash Royale, which introduces mechanics through an engaging battle.
First-Session Reward System: To ensure players feel an immediate sense of progression, offer an enticing Day-1 reward, such as an exclusive character, bonus coins, or an upgraded weapon.
Smart Push Notifications: If a player leaves mid-tutorial, send a friendly reminder, such as "You’re just one step away from unlocking your first power-up!" This will nudge them back into the game.
2. Content Depth and Variety: Keeping Players Excited
Players crave fresh experiences, and stagnant content leads to high churn. Regular updates prevent monotony.
Seasonal Events & Time-Limited Challenges: Games like Pokémon GO introduce special events that offer unique rewards, keeping players engaged with exclusive content.
Varied Gameplay: Call of Duty mobile’s multiplayer modes offer standard 5v5 matches, battle royale, and limited-time events, ensuring assorted gameplay.
Personalized Progression Paths: Offer multiple modes (storyline, multiplayer, side quests) to cater to different playstyles, keeping the experience varied and engaging.
3. Balancing Difficulty: Avoiding Frustration or Boredom
A game that’s too easy loses appeal, while excessive difficulty can drive players away.
Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment (DDA): Use AI to tweak difficulty based on player skill. Games like Candy Crush gradually adjust puzzle difficulty based on player performance, preventing stagnation.
Checkpoint-Based Progression: Instead of forcing a complete restart upon failure, introduce mid-level checkpoints, allowing players to retry without frustration.
Skill-Based Matchmaking: In multiplayer games, match new players with similarly skilled opponents rather than experienced veterans to prevent early drop-offs.
4. Monetization Strategies: Making Revenue Without Alienation
Over-monetization can deter players, while a well-balanced model sustains both engagement and profitability.
Ad Timing Optimization: Instead of interruptive forced ads, implement rewarded ads, where players voluntarily watch ads for in-game bonuses.
Fair Free-to-Play Models: Avoid pay-to-win mechanics and focus on cosmetic microtransactions, such as players watching an ad to receive extra coins without pay-to-win pressure when playing 8-Ball Pool.
Subscription-Based Perks: Offer non-intrusive monetization, like VIP passes (Clash of Clans' Gold Pass), that provide steady incentives without making free players feel left out.
5. Technical Performance: Ensuring a Smooth Gaming Experience
Bugs, crashes, and slow load times can instantly push users away.
Pre-Launch Stress Testing: Use AI-driven load testing to simulate high player traffic and identify potential crashes before a major update.
Offline Playability Options: Allow some gameplay elements to work without an internet connection, reducing frustration due to connectivity issues.
Bug Bounty Programs: Engage dedicated players in beta testing by offering rewards for reporting issues—ensuring a polished experience upon launch.
By understanding these challenges and implementing targeted strategies, you can enhance user retention and ensure the long-term success of your mobile gaming app. Now, let us understand how to calculate retention and churn rates.
Calculating Retention and Churn Rates
Tracking retention and churn rates isn’t just about numbers—it’s about understanding player behavior. If you know why users stay and why they leave, you can make data-driven decisions to improve engagement.
1. The formula for Calculating Retention Rate
Retention rate is a critical metric that measures the percentage of users who continue engaging with your mobile gaming app over a given period. It provides insights into how well your app maintains user interest and prevents churn. The standard formula for retention rate is:
Retention Rate Formula
(Number of users at the end of a period - New users during the period) / Number of users at the beginning of the period) x 100%
Example Calculation:
If you start with 10,000 users on Day 0 and still have 3,000 users active on Day 7, your Day 7 retention rate is = (3,000 / 10,000) into 100 = 30%
Cohort Analysis
This analysis showcases the retention rate from Day 0 to Day 7, showing how the percentage of active users decreases over time. In this example, we start with 10,000 users, and after 7 days, we have 3,000 active users, resulting in a Day 7 retention rate of 30%.
2. Examples of Typical Churn Scenarios in Gaming
The churn rate is the flip side of retention. It measures the percentage of users who stop using the app over a period.
Churn Rate Formula:
Churn Rate = (Users Lost During Period / Total Users at Start of Period) × 100
For example, if you had 10,000 users at the start of the month and 4,000 users churned (stopped playing), your monthly churn rate is (4,000 / 10,000) × 100 = 40%. This means 40% of users stopped playing during the month.
Common Churn Scenarios in Gaming Apps:
Low First-Session Engagement (Day-1 Churn): Players download but quit because the onboarding experience is not engaging.
Solution: Optimize your tutorial to be interactive, concise, and rewarding.
Lack of Progression Mechanics (Mid-Term Churn): Users drop off around Day 7 because they feel the game lacks excitement.
Solution: Introduce rewards, daily challenges, and personalized content updates.
Aggressive Monetization (Paywall Churn): Players leave when confronted with excessive ads or expensive in-app purchases.
Solution: Balance monetization by offering freemium content and reasonable upgrade paths.
Technical Issues & Poor Performance (Anytime Churn): Bugs, slow load times, or crashes frustrate users and lead them to uninstall.
Solution: Optimize performance with regular updates and proactive bug fixes.
Lack of Depth in the Core Play (Gameplay Churn): Players quickly lose interest because the core mechanics feel repetitive or shallow.
Solution: Add variety within core gameplay loops to make them more satisfying and keep players thinking about new approaches to progressing.
Lack of New Content (Long-Term Churn): Players become disengaged because the game fails to offer fresh content over time.
Solution: Regularly release new levels, challenges, themes, and in-game events to keep the game feeling dynamic. Create seasonal content and collaborate with influencers or franchises to introduce special events.
3. Understanding the Relationship Between Retention and Churn Rates
Retention and churn rates are two sides of the same coin—high retention means low churn, and vice versa.
Key Relationships to Consider:
Churn Rate = 100% - Retention Rate: If your Day-7 retention is 30%, your churn rate is 70%.
Retention drives revenue: A 5% increase in retention can boost profits by 25-95%, according to Bain & Company.
High churn signals deeper issues: If your churn rate spikes after a new update, it indicates potential dissatisfaction with recent changes.
Now that you understand how retention and churn rates shape your game’s success, let’s explore how user feedback can help refine your engagement strategies.
Importance of User Feedback and Iterative Improvement
Enhancing user retention in mobile gaming apps is pivotal for sustained success. You can significantly improve user engagement and retention rates by focusing on collecting and analyzing user feedback, implementing A/B testing, and continuously updating your app based on user preferences.
1. Collecting and Analyzing User Feedback
User feedback offers invaluable insights into your app's performance from the user's perspective. By actively seeking and analyzing this feedback, you can identify pain points, understand user needs, and prioritize feature enhancements. Methods to gather user feedback include in-app surveys, reviews, and usability testing.
For instance, implementing in-app feedback forms makes it convenient for users to share their experiences directly. Analyzing this data helps make informed decisions to improve the app's design and functionality.
2. A/B Testing to Fine-Tune Features and Content
A/B testing allows you to compare different versions of app features or content to determine which performs better in terms of user engagement and retention. You can identify what resonates most with your audience by testing variables such as UI elements, messaging, or feature placements.
This iterative approach ensures that updates are data-driven and aligned with user preferences, leading to a more engaging user experience.
3.Continuous Updates Based on User Preferences
Regularly updating your app to reflect user preferences and feedback demonstrates a commitment to user satisfaction. Continuous improvement, guided by user insights, helps refine functionality and boost engagement. Incorporating user feedback into your development process ensures that the app evolves in line with user expectations.
For instance, games like Candy Crush offer a prime example of how app updates can keep the user experience fresh. New levels are consistently added and are often accompanied by new mechanics, puzzles, or seasonal themes, encouraging players to return and challenge themselves further. Similarly, Royal Match has integrated mini-games based on its creative advertisements which not only aligns with what players see in the ads but also adds an element of surprise and novelty, enhancing the gameplay experience.
To further enhance your app's performance, consider using AI-powered tools like Segwise's creative insights and AI monitoring. Segwise offers data-driven insights into ad creative performance and provides proactive monitoring to catch issues before they impact your ad budgets. By integrating such tools, you can optimize your user acquisition strategies and ensure a seamless, engaging experience for your users.
Conclusion
User retention is the ultimate metric determining your game's life cycle. It’s more than just tracking numbers; it’s about understanding what keeps players coming back. By continually evolving your game based on user feedback, you ensure that every player stays engaged and invested in its success.
With Segwise’s AI-powered creative analytics, you can easily track what makes your ad creatives successful, while predictive ROAS and automated monitoring help mitigate financial risks. Seamless integration with all major data sources ensures you’re always on top of your marketing efforts, empowering you to implement data-driven strategies that keep players coming back.
Take the first step toward optimized user retention with Segwise and transform your gaming app experience!
