Liftoff: Mobile Casual Games Market Report (2022)
CPI became lower, ROAS too.
Liftoff refers to casual titles Lifestyle games (interactive stories, decorative games, music & rhythm games e.t.c.), puzzles (Match-3, Hidden Object, Solitaire, Word games, Trivia e.t.c.), and Simulation games (tycoons, city-builders e.t.c.).
Liftoff's research is based on 76.1B impressions; 3.4B clicks, and 58.5M installs.
General information
The mobile gaming market is about 60% of the overall gaming market. Revenue from mobile games is 3.3x times higher than from the console market, which is second.
The average CPI decreased from $1.96 (2020-2021) to $1.10 (2021-2022). However, D7 ROAS decreased too - from 10.96% (2020-2021) to 7.31% (2021-2022). D30 ROAS experienced more dramatic drop - from 29.6% (2020-2021) to 17.81% (2021-2022).
Lifestyle games, despite the largest average CPI ($1.4) are showing the best D7 ROAS (10.57%), and D30 ROAS (22.56%).
90.52% of Hiddeo Object users are watching video ads by the end. It’s a 60% difference from the median number.
97.85% of Match-3 users are watching Rewarded Videos to the end.
CPI & ROAS trends
Average CPI dropped after the IDFA. The peak happened in May 2021 ($1.45), and in April 2022 the average CPI was about $1.02.
The average D7 ROAS in the first months of 2022 was about 7%. D30 ROAS was about 17-18%.
Android vs. iOS
After the IDFA, iOS users started to cost about $2.27, and only $0.75 on Android.
Both iOS and Android are showing similar numbers in terms of D7 and D30 ROAS. There is less than a one percent difference.
Regional trends
The cheapest users are in the LATAM region - $0.66 per install. The most expensive ones - in North America - $3.32.
However, Latin American users are showing the worst results with D7 ROAS (5.24%) and D30 ROAS (11.89%) despite low CPIs. The best results is showing the North American region with a D7 ROAS of 7.57%, and a D30 ROAS of 18.55%. EMEA and APAC regions are having only slightly worse results.
