Free-to-play games monetized via in-app purchases and ads. ARPDAU and whale concentration define monetization — a sliver of payers drives most revenue — while genre-indexed retention curves (D1/D7/D30) decide whether a title survives. Benchmarks only make sense within a genre.
Representative companies
- Supercell — Clash of Clans live-service economics
- Roblox — UGC platform, durable engagement
- King — Candy Crush casual whale economics
Primary metrics
The metrics that define health for a gaming business.
- DAU/MAU stickinessRetentionB2C: OK 25 / Good 40 / Great 50+ (a16z). B2B SaaS avg ~31% (Mixpanel). NOTE the 20%/50% rule is CONSUMER, not B2B.
- D1 / D7 / D30 retentionRetentionSocial: D1 50/60/70, D7 35/40/50, D30 20/25/30 (a16z). Games median: D1 ~22%, D7 ~3-4%, D28 <3% for 75%. The '40/20/10' heuristic is TOP-TIER, not median.
- ARPPURevenueGames: top 5% ~$66/day; typical IAP ~$10-20/mo. AI apps yr1 LTV/payer ~$30 vs non-AI ~$21.
- ARPDAURevenueHypercasual ~$0.01-0.05; casual $0.03-0.10; hybrid-casual $0.15-0.50; midcore $0.08-0.20; social casino $0.20-0.80+. Genre is everything.
- RPI (revenue per install)RevenueHard paywall D60 RPI ~$3.09 vs freemium ~$0.38 (8x).
- IAP conversion / payer %RevenueLifetime payer ~2-5% (~5% strong F2P avg); daily conversion >0.5% is good.
- Whale concentrationRevenue~50% of IAP revenue from 0.15% of players (2014); top 10% of payers ~64% (2015). Real but ~10yr old.
Secondary metrics
Omega Point BenchmarksGaming