Liftoff & GameRefinery: Casual Games in 2024
Casual games & their monetization trends along with CPI and ROAS D7 benchmarks. Worth reading.
The data for the report was collected from April 1, 2023, to April 1, 2024. 355B impressions, 36B clicks, and 90M installations were tracked.
Liftoff and GameRefinery consider puzzle games, lifestyle projects (interactive stories, musical projects), and simulators (city builders, adventure projects) as casual games. Hyper-casual games are also taken into account.
CPI Benchmarks
Average CPI for casual games - $2.17. On Android - $0.65; on iOS - $4.83.
On iOS, the highest CPI in 2023 was from March to May, after which it declined. On Android, however, growth occurred in the second half of the year - from September to December. Thus, platform seasonality is not identical.
$6.78 - average CPI in casual games in North America (NAMER). In EMEA - $1.11; in APAC - $1.05; in LATAM - $0.44.
The highest CPI is for lifestyle projects - $2.95; puzzles - $2.23; followed by simulators - $1.77.
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D7 ROAS Benchmarks
Average D7 ROAS in the casual genre - 5.7%. Slightly lower on Android - 5.1%; higher on iOS - 5.9%.
In the NAMER region, the average D7 ROAS reaches 6%; in EMEA - 5.3%; in APAC - 5.3%; in LATAM - 4.6%.
❗️I’d like to note that the figures are market averages. For successful products, both CPI and ROAS metrics can be (and most likely are) significantly different.
Downloads Sources
91% of traffic for casual games comes from... other casual games. 5% - from racing and sports games. 3% - from mid-core projects. 2% - from casinos.
However, 74% of installations for mid-core games also come from casual projects. 13% - from sports and racing games; 10% - from other mid-core projects; 2% - from casino titles.
Puzzles account for 37% of all installs of casual games. Hyper-casual projects for 29% (and this share is decreasing); lifestyle projects and simulators for 8% each.
Looking at subgenres, hyper-casual puzzles lead - they account for 14% of downloads. They are followed by Match 3 (11%); then Word games (8%).
Noteworthy Genres and Projects
Match 3D is gaining popularity. According to GameRefinery, the subgenre market share in the top 500 in the USA grew from $2.95 million in Q4’22 to $15.25 million in Q4’23.
The Mahjong solitaires are showing traction. The main growth drivers are Tile Busters and Tile Family.
Twisted Tangle - a new hyper-casual hit from Rollic - originated from advertising creative. Since its revenue growth in December 2023, the game has solidified its position in the top 200 by revenue in the USA.
Alien Invasion continues to grow actively since its release in October 2022. This proves that hybrid casual games can linger on the market for a long time.
GameRefinery notes similar success with Block Jam 3D. Especially, the team praised the LiveOps of the game.
Trends in Casual Games
Digging events. They appeared in Legend of Slime; Royal Match applied the same mechanic in June 2023, becoming the first of casual games to do so. Since then, it has appeared in many other casual projects.
Social win streak events. The mechanics first appeared in Royal Match (Lava Quest) in March 2023. In this mode, the player competes with 99 other users; whoever completes successful levels in a row faster receives a reward. Toon Blast and Harry Potter: Puzzles and Spells have already implemented such mechanics.
Partnership events. The essence of the mechanic is to unite users towards a common goal (for example, in Monopoly GO! - bake a cake).
Monetization Trends
Pick-one Bundles. In 2024, developers increasingly offer the player to choose one offer from several (usually three) with different prices and values.
Progressive offers. First introduced by Royal Match in June 2021, they continue to gain popularity. Now this type of offer can be found in 70% of casual games in the top 25 in the USA by revenue. The mechanic is simple - a chain of offers is proposed, where the first (or several first) offers are free, and then a paywall is set, behind which there are several more "free" rewards.
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Engagement offers. GameRefinery first noted them at the end of 2023. This type of offer combines Battle Pass, Piggy Bank, and other monetization mechanics. The player is offered to perform certain actions to improve the offer/increase the discount.