Mobile Game Metrics

If you work in gaming development, the proper tracking of mobile game metrics is the key to success in mobile game business. As the mobile game industry continues to grow and remain highly competitive, the ability of a game to cut through the volume goes beyond whether or not the game is good, developers must look at the mobile game metrics to make the adjustments necessary to ensure the game is successful. 

We’ve previously discussed the various strategies you can use to increase player retention, but we have yet to take a closer look at the mobile game metrics that are key to ensuring that your game is successful. These metrics can allow you and your team to make adjustments and optimize your game for increased engagement and game play, setting you on a path to mobile gaming success. 

Here are the key mobile game metrics you should be paying attention to. 

Installs
This might seem like an obvious metric to track, but the number of game installations will indicate whether or not your game is on a path to success. The higher the number of installations, the more users you will have, the more ad revenue you will see, and so on and so forth. 

Retention Rate
The retention rate will give you insight into the game performance and the player experience. You can measure retention at various points in the player life cycle, for example you can measure it at day 1, 7 or 30 and at each point it will tell you something different about the player and whether or not they are enjoying the game enough to stick around, or if improvements to the game need to be made to keep players engaged. 

Session Time & Count
How much time are players on the app? Session time and session count can give you the insight you need to measure player engagement. It can be assumed that the more time a user spends on the platform, means that they are more likely to enjoying the game and the player experience. Session count is another metric to consider, and it is the average number of sessions played per user in a given period of time, like a day or a month. It is important to note that session length and count can vary between different genres, so it is important to look at your competitors or similar games to benchmark session time. 

Daily and Monthly Users 
Daily active users are those users that have engaged with the game in a 24 hour period, whereas monthly active users are those users who have engaged in the last 30 days. Both metrics are important to measure as they tell you how often players are playing the game, a large indicator as to whether or not your game will be a success. 

Revenue Per User
How much is a user spending? This will be a huge indicator as to whether or not your monetization strategy works. Are players spending money? If so, how much? How can you change your strategy to get them to spend more? 

Average Transaction Value & Time to Purchase
Similar to measuring the revenue per user, you can also measure the average transaction value of each player. This metric defines the average value of an in-app game or transaction
you can measure the time to purchase. Additionally, you can measure the time to purchase. How much time has passed since the player downloaded the game and then made their first purchase within the game? By monitoring these two metrics, you will be able to make adjustments to your ad placements, and even in app incentives to encourage players to make a purchase. 

These metrics will give you a very clear idea of where you need to make adjustments or changes within your game, what parts of the experience are players engaging with most, and most importantly whether or not your game is set up for a sustainable and successful future. 

If you are looking for more insight into user engagement metrics, connect with us. ​