ARPDAUs, conversion rates and other new datapoints

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I’ve been busy updating Gamesbrief’s Free-to-Play Spreadsheet benchmark pages with new data. I collect these figures whenever I can to help you to sanity check the predictions you make with our free forecasting tool. Anybody can download the spreadsheet to manage the success of their free-to-play game.

If you have any information to share, or you spot an article that you think would be interesting to us, be sure to get in touch.

Conversion rate

Trevor McCalmont from W3i says “In most games, 1-2% of users will pay for virtual currency. In healthy games, the conversion rate is closer to 3-6%. Few games can boast a 10% conversion rate or higher, and usually these are games that focus on a niche audience as opposed to mass market.”

• Hashi Puzzles iOS, Frozax: 5-6% after first 3000 downloads (based on unit sales/downloads, Source: Frozax, 17/01/13)
• Hashi Puzzles Android, Frozax: 2-3% after first 3000 downloads (based on unit sales/downloads, Source: Frozax, 17/01/13)
• Stardom, Glu Mobile: 3.9% (Source: Pocketgamer, 9/8/12)
• Deer Hunter, Glu Mobile: 3.4% (Source: Pocketgamer, 9/8/12)
• Junkies, Glu Mobile: 1% (Source: Pocketgamer, 9/8/12)
• Gun Bros, Glu Mobile: 1.2% (Source: Pocketgamer, 9/8/12)
• Frontline Commando, Glu Mobile: 1% (Source: Pocketgamer, 9/8/12)
• Contract Killer, Glu Mobile: 0.6% (Source: Pocketgamer, 9/8/12)

Downloads

• The Room, Fireproof: 1 million downloads in 4 months (source: Pocketgamer.biz, 24/01/13)
• Glu Mobile: 227 million downloads across all games (source: Pocketgamer.biz, 9/8/12 )

Cost per Install

Chartboost have average cost per install at $1.80 for iPhone, $1.68 for iPad and $1.68 for iPod touch (source: Video Games Intelligence, March 2013)

ARPPU

Trevor McCalmont from W3i says, “we’ve seen typical figures from $5 to $20, but of course there are games with an ARPPU below $5 and others that exceed $100. As with conversion rates, titles with very high ARPPU usually do not have mass market penetration.”

ARPDAU

W3i have said “for most games, $0.05 is a good first benchmark. Games with excellent monetization will have ARPDAUs between $0.15 and $0.25.”

• Anonymous W3i client: $0.029 from IAPs alone, $0.055 including revenue from cross-promotion offers (Source: W3i, 31/10/12)
• Kabam, $0.50 estimated ARPDAU (source: Inside Social Games, 28/01/13)
• Stardom, Glu Mobile: $0.132 (Source: Pocketgamer, 9/8/12)
• Deer Hunter, Glu Mobile: $0.089 (Source: Pocketgamer, 9/8/12)
• Junkies, Glu Mobile: $0.085 (Source: Pocketgamer, 9/8/12)
• Gun Bros, Glu Mobile: $0.083 (Source: Pocketgamer, 9/8/12)
• Frontline Commando, Glu Mobile: $0.081 (Source: Pocketgamer, 9/8/12)
• Contract Killer, Glu Mobile: $0.061 (Source: Pocketgamer, 9/8/12)

DAUs

• Stardom, Glu Mobile: 74,000 (Source: Pocketgamer, 9/8/12)
• Deer Hunter, Glu Mobile: 271,000 (Source: Pocketgamer, 9/8/12)
• Junkies, Glu Mobile: 114,000 (Source: Pocketgamer, 9/8/12)
• Gun Bros, Glu Mobile: 78,000(Source: Pocketgamer, 9/8/12)
• Frontline Commando, Glu Mobile: 261,000 (Source: Pocketgamer, 9/8/12)
• Contract Killer, Glu Mobile: 107,000 (Source: Pocketgamer, 9/8/12)

Engagement rate

W3i claims, “A game with a strong DAU/MAU ratio will be able to maintain a value over 0.2 for an extended period of time”. (source: Gamasutra)

• Glu Mobile: 11.7% (source: Pocketgamer, 9/8/12: 3.4 million DAUs /29 million MAUs)