two & a half gamers

This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session #60. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let’s not forget this is a 4 am conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously. Panelists: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jakub Remia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠r, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Matej Lančarič⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Felix Braberg⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Special guest: ⁠Manuel Prueter⁠ Youtube: ⁠https://youtu.be/79dnIjfWbRA⁠ Agenda 00:00 Intro 01:10 Manuel intro 02:18 Jakub is cheap 03:48 Is mobile really dead? 05:37 King of Organic Downloads 06:52 How to think about ASO? 08:28 How to get into Auto Collection similar games? 09:08 Stop with keyword stuffing 09:38 Google loves revenue (as quickly as possible) 10:05 App health intro 10:49 What are ANRs? 12:02 Magic number for ANRs is 0.47% 12:20 Why 0.47%? 12:48 mmmmmm 12:53 Put on your tinfoil hat pls! 14:23 How does the app loading process look like? 17:50 When do most ANRs occur? 18:32 You don't know when mommy is calling 19:28 Why is this app on pause consuming so many resources 19:38 Ways to mitigate ANR's 21:05 Manuel spilled already all the meat about ANR's :( 22:31 but shares more actionable tips about ANRs 23:40 Removing firebase help decrease ANRs by 25% 25:35 Tinfoil hat part 2 27:15 When to update the SDKs? 28:04 How ANRs influence the organic downloads 29:45 Lost organics, buy more users with UA 30:22 Slowcode, what is it? 31:07 Look at home first! 32:06 Million-dollar question: How hard is it to implement SDKs? 33:43 It's a business decision! 36:10 How to project ad revenue? 36:22 Remo gets excited and eventually asks a question! 38:11 Am I working for the paper bin now? 39:18 Do you exclude devices for showing ads? 41:03 Shout-out to Xiaomi devices 41:24 What are web view and ad loading? 43:30 No Ads for you, sir! 44:10 Manuel loves all SDKs 46:27 How do you structure the team around updating SDKs? 47:46 If you had to choose, what would you implement: SKD or a new feature? GitHub resource mentioned in the podcast - ⁠https://github.com/AppLovin/AppLovin-MAX-Unity-Plugin/issues/165#issuecomment-1504341154⁠ Please share the podcast with your industry friends, dogs & cats. Especially cats! They love it! Hit the Subscribe button on Youtube, Spotify, and Apple! Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me If you are interested in getting UA tips every week on Monday, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠lancaric.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & sign up for the Brutally Honest newsletter by Matej Lancaric New article: ⁠https://lancaric.me/ua-manager-life-post-idfa-reality⁠

This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session #59. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let’s not forget this is a 4 am conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously. Panelists: ⁠⁠⁠Jakub Remia⁠⁠⁠r, ⁠⁠⁠Matej Lančarič⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Felix Braberg⁠⁠⁠ Youtube: https://youtu.be/Ct-h1YmYEiY Agenda 00:00 Intro 01:08 Ad mon beef 02:02 Phil Collins in Korean games 03:12 UA flamboyant session intro 03:38 UA flamboyant checklist 05:20 Epic UA flamboyant session intro 07:31 How to do a proper UA & creative review? 12:15 CPI benchmarks 14:50 Goal setting for the UA team 18:25 Well, it depends... 20:34 Growing UA budgets 22:22 Maven Matej doesn't only acquire payers? Pche! 24:01 Campaign structure consolidation 26:17 You should always have a margarita 26:25 UA diversification 28:40 Creatives are made for players, not Art directors 31:08 Political ads THE OG's of fake ads 31:23 Generative AI in UA workflow 34:29 Where to get inspiration for creatives? 35:38 Confused Travoltas 37:08 Fake ads = lower retention, BUT! 39:30 Matej is saying some controversial shit 39:45 Meme & AI creatives 42:37 Anatomy of the well-performing creative 46:08 You keep the charade! 46:40 Videos leveraging Youtubers with channels and their audience 51:05 2nd best UA manager on the podcast has spoken! 52:39 Article for you guys: ⁠https://lancaric.me/hybrid-casual-sssnaker-habby-post-idfa-ua⁠ Please share the podcast with your industry friends, dogs & cats. Especially cats! They love it! Hit the Subscribe button on Youtube, Spotify, and Apple! Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me If you are interested in getting UA tips every week on Monday, visit ⁠⁠⁠lancaric.substack.com⁠⁠⁠ & sign up for the Brutally Honest newsletter by Matej Lancaric ⁠https://lancaric.me/ua-the-new-frontier-of-game-dev

This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session #58. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let’s not forget this is a 4 am conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously. Panelists: ⁠⁠Jakub Remia⁠⁠r, ⁠⁠Matej Lančarič⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Felix Braberg⁠⁠ Youtube: https://youtu.be/ojqMHg0d03c Agenda 00:00 Intro 00:50 Special guest Philips 02:47 Jakub goes full systems & vectors on Diablo 4 04:50 SSSnaker introduction 05:00 SSSSSSSSSnakeeeeer 06:14 SSSSnake jazzzzz 07:40 SSSSnaker Ad mon analysis time 08:29 7 Jakub's sons = 1 Katarina 08:39 two noobs & one gamer 10:06 Jakub is having some technical issues 10:25 Showing the actual gameplay with ad placements 11:38 six rewarded videos placements 12:58 SSSnaker makes around $17-20k ad revenue per day 14:25 Could SSSnaker be making 30-40% ad revenue? 15:10 Philips is an SSSnaker noob 18:11 SSSSnake jazzzzz 19:32 Flamboyant UA intro & country breakdown 21:54 Survivor.io & SSSnaker global launch numbers comparison 22:11 Soft launch review 25:00 Creatives 26:37 UGC creative deep dive 27:18 14862.23 USD for a creative? 28:11 How do AI creatives perform against real people? 32:00 UA channel mix 33:00 Behind the curtains deal? 35:11 Retention comparison Habby games vs. action category 39:14 Habby monetization framework 41:00 Hypercasual is dead 41:50 No more ASMR background noise :( 42:36 Snake master vs. SSSnaker - gameplay comparison 43:21 Life lesson no.1 - play with the keyboard 44:03 We hope you get killed! 45:32 Unfolding gameplay 45:54 It would take generations of Felixes to get to world 11 47:21 Is Habby the new Voodoo? 48:20 It's all about the efficiency 49:00 Is Habby publishing two more games in 2023? 50:00 This episode is brought to you by stuck Felix 53:16 Jesper is amazing! Please share the podcast with your industry friends, dogs & cats. Especially cats! They love it! Hit the Subscribe button on Youtube, Spotify, and Apple! Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me If you are interested in getting UA tips every week on Monday, visit ⁠⁠lancaric.substack.com⁠⁠ & sign up for the Brutally Honest newsletter by Matej Lancaric https://lancaric.me/ua-the-new-frontier-of-game-dev

This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session #57. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let’s not forget this is a 4 am conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously. Panelists: ⁠⁠Matej Lančarič⁠⁠, Kate Lovejoy, Loic Anton Youtube: https://youtu.be/z6QTF7oHu-I Agenda 00:00 Intro 02:36 What the hell is Privacy Sandbox? 05:44 How does the Privacy Sandbox work? 07:34 Why should we pay attention to the privacy sandbox? 10:37 What can you beta test? 15:58 Do you need to implement SDK for every client? 17:44 How does the cooperation with Google look like? 22:31 Audience definition before and after Privacy Sandbox 29:41 When is the Privacy Sandbox happening? 36:32 When do you need to deep-dive into Privacy Sanbox? 40:00 Closing remarks Email at kate@adikteev or loic@adikteev.com for more information Please share the podcast with your industry friends, dogs & cats. Especially cats! They love it! Hit the Subscribe button on Youtube, Spotify, and Apple! Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me If you are interested in getting UA tips every week on Monday, visit ⁠⁠lancaric.substack.com⁠⁠ & sign up for the Brutally Honest newsletter by Matej Lancaric User Acquisition as the New Frontier of game development https://lancaric.me/ua-the-new-frontier-of-game-dev/

This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session #56. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let’s not forget this is a 4 am conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously. Panelists: ⁠Jakub Remia⁠r, ⁠Matej Lančarič⁠, ⁠Felix Braberg⁠ Youtube: https://youtu.be/ON3hmNokPfQhttps://youtu.be/ON3hmNokPfQ Agenda 00:00 Intro 00:15 Chit-chat (nothing important, you can skip this) 05:20 Century games intro 09:15 Frozen City ad monetization update 11:21 Felix is heartbroken 13:41 Frozen City making about $1mil ad revenue/month 14:20 Felix gives ad placements suggestions 15:08 How much more could they be earning? 16:20 Double placements during weekends 17:00 Negative nancy dresses up as a detective 21:08 Felix's wet ad revenue dream in 4x games starts 25:00 Whiteout Survival UA epic intro 25:43 Soft launch dates of Frozen City & Whiteout survival 28:31 Unity Square videos beta? Pls, pls, pls. Can I get in? 29:30 Top 10 Geos revenue wise 30:31 Retention KPIs 32:43 UA is dead? How come they get so many users on iOS? 34:50 Whiteout survival creative strategy 38:50 Game design intro 42:00 Wait, wait, wait, wait?! Is this a 4X game? 44:11 Smooth transition from idle game to 4X 45:25 Where are the ads? 47:34 Chef's Kiss 50:07 Baloon mechanic, pure genius Please share the podcast with your industry friends, dogs & cats. Especially cats! They love it! Hit the Subscribe button on Youtube, Spotify, and Apple! Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me If you are interested in getting UA tips every week on Monday, visit ⁠lancaric.substack.com⁠ & sign up for the Brutally Honest newsletter by Matej Lancaric Frozen City post-IDFA global launch UA case study https://lancaric.me/post-idfa-ua-frozen-city-global-launch-case-study/https://lancaric.me/post-idfa-ua-frozen-city-global-launch-case-study/

Special guest Eran Friedman joins the podcast to discuss SKAN 4.0. Topics include the adoption rate of SKAN 4.0, advantages of being an early adopter, differences between SKAN 3 and SKAN 4, postbacks and conversion windows, tracking LTV in SKAN 4.0, setting up different conversion schemas, and getting creative-level data.

This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session #54. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let’s not forget this is a 4 am conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously. Panelists: Jakub Remiar, Matej Lančarič, Felix Braberg Special guest: Eric Kress Youtube: https://youtu.be/mzxxL_UtzoI 00:00 Intro 01:00 Jakub makes himself visible by introducing 02:53 Eric, is this glass half full or half empty? 03:36 What does Eric actually do? 06:42 Is mobile dead? 08:49 six people on the top destroying the lives of mobile developers 10:00 UA is shifting 11:50 Kumbaya Matej strikes again on iOS 12:38 What is the adoption rate of SKAN 4? 13:15 Everybody does fingerprinting (Unity, Applovin, Ironsource) 14:02 What story are Unity, Applovin, and Ironsource trying to spin? 16:00 Jakub wakes up & shoots vectors immediately 18:31 Eric disagrees with us! No shit sherlock! 20:20 New frontier of game development 21:15 Felix sharing UA secrets from his smokey darkrooms 22:25 Old companies gonna die 24:10 Gaming trends are coming from East to West 24:52 Jakub goes into the rabbit hole with Eric 27:55 Applovin increases revenue guidance 30:38 Why Eric got so negative? 32:48 Which companies does Eric like the most? 33:40 VR is dead again (blockchain dead too) 34:42 What is the endpoint for mobile? 35:50 30% fee is a joke! 38:00 Hypercasual shit is on! 40:08 Ads are beautiful 41:18 The new frontier of game development 44:20 You can always lie in your ads 46:55 Mr. Gachapool returns 48:35 Matej is Matthew from now on 48:51 How bad will things be for Unity, Applovin, and Ironsource? Please share the podcast with your industry friends, dogs & cats. Especially cats! They love it! Hit the Subscribe button on Youtube, Spotify, and Apple! Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me If you are interested in getting UA tips every week on Monday, visit lancaric.substack.com & sign up for the Brutally Honest newsletter by Matej Lancaric 11 tips for killer User Acquisition ops (Q1 version) - https://lancaric.me/11-tips-for-killer-user-acquisition-ops-q1-2023/

This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session #53. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let’s not forget this is a 4 am conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously. Panelists: Jakub Remiar, Matej Lančarič, Felix Braberg Youtube: https://youtu.be/GwoG7SIfkUY 00:00 Intro 01:05 Numbers Chit chat 03:22 No official multiple Admob statement (ask your admob rep) 05:00 Matej = Felix's secretary 05:28 Kimono session 06:11 Eversoul intro 07:02 Why are we even reviewing this (boring) game? 09:05 Full admon part in 2 seconds 09:39 Why games from the east don't have ads? 10:41 Camera zooms in on Jakub's premium BS 12:55 UA intro 14:12 Mr. Gachapool got introduced to the podcast 15:08 Comparing Eversoul to the Goddess of Nikke 16:54 UA dark secrets spilled by Mr.Gachapool 17:17 UA channel mix 18:22 Actual gameplay in the creatives 19:06 Creative strategy 21:35 Flamboyant UA strategy for Eversoul 24:52 Collabs in anime games 27:16 Starting to share gameplay of Eversoul 27:37 Game design Eversoul intro 33:51 Jakub talking about two different progressions 34:53 Please keep the story 35:23 Big +1 feature - engagement prolonging tactic 36:30 Felix looks really confused 37:04 Why is the game making so much money? GACHAPOOOOOL! 37:24 Can you buy a ticket to the waifu concert? 38:10 Infinite starter banner 43:27 Waifu games are saving mobile! 46:15 Get back to the podcast Jakub! Please share the podcast with your industry friends, dogs & cats. Especially cats! They love it! Hit the Subscribe button on Youtube, Spotify, and Apple! Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me If you are interested in getting UA tips every week on Monday, visit lancaric.substack.com & sign up for the Brutally Honest newsletter by Matej Lancaric 11 tips for killer User Acquisition ops (Q1 version) - https://lancaric.me/11-tips-for-killer-user-acquisition-ops-q1-2023/

This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session #52. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let’s not forget this is a 4 am conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously. Panelists: Jakub Remiar, Matej Lančarič, Felix Braberg Youtube: https://youtu.be/J0CZ8yV__7U 00:00 Intro 04:30 few words from our friends from Adikteev  05:05 Oj oj oj Admonetisation secrets  07:15 Ad monetization for the people 07:35 The admon gossip corner intro 10:22 Unity bug 10x over-reporting earnings 13:56 Top tip - Don't lose money! 17:00 2018 is THE back in the days 18:11 Amazon Publisher Services Update 22:35 Sharing the TOP DSP list 24:50 Jakub hates putting ads in games 25:45 Matej in Australia episode 34 reference  28:05 CTR benchmarks 29:40 Experimenting with End cards 32:40 Felix can tell who serves the ad! 33:25 We are going to test Felix, if he is truly the king of admon 34:15 Felix explains the reasoning behind his corner 34:33 Admob is dropping the three-placement rule 41:05 Everybody wins! maybe Please share the podcast with your industry friends, dogs & cats. Especially cats! They love it! Hit the Subscribe button on Youtube, Spotify, and Apple! Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me If you are interested in getting UA tips every week on Monday, visit lancaric.substack.com & sign up for the Brutally Honest newsletter by Matej Lancaric Dumb ways to die hit the #1 download rank in the US. Here is how: https://lancaric.me/ua-how-to-be-top1-downloaded-game-us/ https://www.felixbraberg.com/post/is-admob-removing-its-three-placement-limit  https://www.adikteev.com/case-studies/how-sdv-increased-in-app-transactions-by-over-30

This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session #51. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let’s not forget this is a 4 am conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously. Panelists: Jakub Remiar, Matej Lančarič, Felix Braberg Special live episode! The sound quality is a little bit worse. DUH! It's live.  Youtube: https://youtu.be/uuP2NjMxSiM Agenda: 00:00 Intro 03:20 Ad monetization tips & numbers 13:12 UA outlook for 2023 20:38 Game design & creatives part Please share the podcast with your industry friends, dogs & cats. Especially cats! They love it! Hit the Subscribe button on Youtube, Spotify, and Apple! Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me If you are interested in getting UA tips every week on Monday, visit https://lancaric.me/user-acquisition-brutally-honest-newsletter-signup & sign up for the Brutally Honest newsletter by Matej Lancaric Dumb ways to die hit the #1 download rank in the US. Here is how: https://lancaric.me/ua-how-to-be-top1-downloaded-game-us/