Brutally Honest #151 by Matej Lancaric

Hey, FAM! What’s up?

?? Drink talk

Jumped on a podcast last week with our dear friends from Gamigion! Check it out because this wasn’t about the UA!

??Tip of the week

When should we start Applovin as a channel? I often get this question: When should we start? Is it a good channel? Are we ready?

First, we need to ensure that our in-app purchase volume is strong enough for the algorithm to optimize effectively. We aim for at least 10–15 unique purchases per day. To figure out if we’re ready, we can do a quick math exercise using our D7 cost per purchase (CPPD7).

For example, if our CPPD7 is $800, then multiplying that by 10 tells us we need an $8,000 daily budget to kick things off. If our CPPD7 is lower, say $150, then around $1,500 per day is what we’d need. This calculation helps us determine whether our current spend can support a successful campaign.

More importantly, we must assess our creative depth. Even if our budget is in place, our campaign will only succeed if we have enough creative concepts to keep the content fresh. We should be prepared to refresh our creatives weekly or bi-weekly.

Although we might get by with 2–3 playables, we should ideally have at least 5 different video creatives ready to go, and these should be pre-tested on other channels to give us the best possible headstart.

Playable ads Ultimate guide: kick a$$ creatives in UA

In short, we should only start on Applovin once we meet both our budget requirements (based on our CPPD7 and desired daily spend) and our creative assets are robust enough to support ongoing testing and optimization. launch?

So, are you ready to launch?

Also, if you are on MAX mediation, you don’t ask any of the questions above. You launch “yesterday!”

?? Cornelius: The Suspicious Investi-gator

True detective-like exploration of creative trends and historical influences. Delving deep into the world of creatives to uncover hidden patterns and inspirations:

?????? ?????? ???? ??????????? I’m taking a closer look at two mobile games— Park Match and Block Jam 3D - that seem to share extremely similar ad creatives. Coincidence? “Heavy inspiration”? The mobile gaming industry has always had a bit of a “borrow and improve” culture, but it raises some fundamental questions when ad creatives start looking like carbon copies. Is it just trends catching on, or ?????? ???? ???? ????????-???? ?????????????? ????????? Park Match (Supersonic from Unity) vs. Block Jam 3D (Voodoo) - who set the trend, and who followed?

Yours truly, Cornelius.

?? Dr. Doom is not amused

One of my industry friends amused me with his direct and honest TL;DRs, so we agreed to share it here, too! My friend remains anonymous as Dr.Doom!

"We nearly forgot about Meta's VR efforts. Its revenue in Q4 last year increased to $1.1 Bil. in revenue but also made staggering operating loss of $5 Bil. This is great news because the loss in Q3 was just $4.4 Bil. so you know, growing numbers are best to report, duh!, who cares about the details?? The whole year was a $17.7 Bil. operating loss for the VR division. More like Dr. Doom division ?? Keep up the great work subsidizing our VR "experiences" you know what I mean wink wink??" Sincerely, Doom (https://www.pocketgamer.biz/meta-earned-1645-billion-in-2024-but-vrar-division-made-another-loss/)

??? “Ha-ha” moment

Because life is too short to be serious.

Deep shit, right?

?? two & a half gamers - Cracking the 4X code!

???????????????? ?????? ???? ????????: ?????????????? ???????????? ???????????????? - First Fun & Rivergame are ruling the ?????? ?????????????? ???????????? ???? ???? ???????????????? with 3, ehm 4 games. How?

We love talking about 4X and have been talking about the new wave of 4X games for a while. That’s why we have another crossover episode with @Gamemakers. Justin & Joseph took us on a 4X ride and explained the connection between First Fun & Rivergame and basically the whole history of 4X in China.

Understanding 4X strategy games is vital for anyone in the gaming industry. Everyone needs to remember this. We can all learn from 4X shit tons of stuff. 4X games are setting the new standard for creative strategies. 4X is always 2.5 steps ahead of 90% of the industry. (same as two & a half gamers. ?????? ??????)

Jokes aside, the 4X model's sustainability is under scrutiny due to high CPIs. 4X games ???????? ???? ???????? ?????? ???????????????????? ?????????????????? to decrease those super-high CPIs, and honestly, they are doing a great job. ???????????? ???????????? ???? ???????? ?????????????????????? ???????? ???????? ?????????????? ???? ????. ??????!

???????????????? ????????: The evolution of game genres will incorporate 4X elements.

?? Watch on Youtube

?? Listen on Spotify

?? Paid subs only

Sneak peek at what you get for your support:

Stay Ahead in UA for 2025: My Top 41 Tips Revealed

How to decrease CPIs by 40% & find 3+ winners in 1h of creative production?

How to use AI in advertising

What You’ll Learn in This Article: Easy Step-by-Step Guide to Making AI Ads: My Personal Journey and Stories: Practical Tips and Tricks: You’ll pick up some handy tips on how to craft prompts effectively, use tricks, and tweak your results to match what you’re aiming for. Boosting Ad Performance with AI

?? Diary of a Dancing Unicorn

Today was a good day.

Hey hey! Would be great to work with you on reviewing our creative processes.

Sure, tell me more.

Yeah, so here is the pipeline. we would like you to work on producing videos for us as a next step.

Yeah? Okay, that sounds good. What do you have in mind there?

Well, we think you excel in out-of-the-box ideas.

You mean crazy shit?

hah, well, kinda. We have our own guidelines, but we fear we are stuck and we need an extra pair of eyes.

That sounds like something I like to do. Any boundaries?

Only a bit of a brandbook, but we don’t want you to be on a leash too much. You should do whatever comes into your mind.

Great stuff! really looking forward. I really like working on crazy stuff!

Today was a good day.

?? Quote of the week

"Couldn't sync files. That's because you're using 22,398% storage.” - Dropbox

Cracking the 4X code with GameMakers

?? The Song of the Week

We launched?a music album. Yes, that's correct. We are putting a ton of energy into creating valuable (and crazy) content that I think you'll like. Check out the?latest songs, and give us a?like and subscribe. Play ehm. Listen now!

??? THE AI (R)EVOLUTION

The AI revolution is here, and it’s transforming the way we approach mobile games marketing.

From creating scroll-stopping ad creatives to optimizing user acquisition strategies, AI is the game-changer we can’t ignore.

?? Before you go

Ask Matej AI a question. It’s actually quite good!

We produced one more episode at 2.5gamers. Check it out now:

We are also starting a new segment, give it a go:

?? Fun starts in two & a half gamers Slack! Join now

We are opening up a Slack channel for everybody. It is the most inclusive slack for the gaming industry. Female, male, non-binary, juniors, mid-level, seniors, vendors, developers = EVERYBODY! We are waiting for you ??

Feel free to join here!

?? Thanks for reading this week’s newsletter!

Please do me a favor and share this with someone in your network who you think would benefit from the insights and brutal honesty. It would mean a lot to me!

Take care, everyone! See you next Thursday!

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?? PS: The latest UA & marketing jobs for you prepared by Gamigion :

VP, Marketing Scopely Performance Marketing Manager Scopely Senior Performance Product Manager Scopely Live Ops QA Analyst - Monopoly Go! Scopely Marketing Manager, LATAM Supercell Regional Marketing, Korea Supercell Marketing Manager Supercell ASO Specialist Supercell Live Operations & Monetization Lead Supercell Product Manager, Monetization Zynga ASO Manager MobilityWare Social Media and Content Coordinator PLAYSTUDIOS Senior Monetization Product Manager PLAYSTUDIOS Monetization Manager SciPlay Raid Marketing Data Analyst Plarium Merge Gardens Marketing Data Analyst Plarium Monetization Manager InnoGames Marketing Specialist (New Grad) Peak Senior Marketing Specialist Peak User Acquisition Manager Socialpoint ASO Analyst Socialpoint ASO Specialist Socialpoint Senior User Acquisition Analyst Socialpoint Influencer Content Associate Voodoo Strategic Projects Manager Monetization Voodoo Director of Economy & Monetization Voodoo Senior Monetization Associate - Games Voodoo Senior Product Marketing Manager Gameloft Product Marketing Manager Gameloft Brisbane Trade Marketing Manager – Nordic Bandai Namco Growth Specialist SKIDOS Growth Specialist (User Acquisition) Fugo Games User Acquisition Manager MY.GAMES Marketing Officer RJ Games Senior Lead Product Marketing Manager OUTFIT7 User Acquisition Manager (GameDev) Tatem Games Senior User Acquisition ABI Game Studio Product Monetization Lead - Amanotes Analyst, Growth AppLovin Vice President of Marketing AppLovin Sr. Analyst, Growth AppLovin Product Marketing Manager AppsFlyer Senior Event Marketing Manager AppsFlyer Email Marketing Manager - Lifecycle Sensor Tower Social Media Manager Almedia Supply Growth Manager adjoe Growth Manager Unity Chief of Staff - Marketing Xsolla Digital Campaign Manager (AdOps) - Italian Speaking Ogury Field Marketing Manager - Japan Ogury Manager, Business Marketing Liftoff Mobile Performance Strategist I Liftoff Mobile Sr. Performance Strategist Liftoff Mobile Marketing Admin, International (On Contract) PubMatic Marketing Manager, Southern APAC (On Contract) PubMatic Senior Manager / Assoc Director, Product Marketing PubMatic Events Marketing Manager LoopMe Marketing Manager LoopMe [REMOTE] VP Marketing CrazyGames Programmatic Campaign Manager (Argentina) Jampp Customer Advocacy & Marketing Manager Amplitude Tech Partner Product Marketing Manager Amplitude Design Director, Foundations & Growth Amplitude Field Marketing Manager Amplitude (CONTRACT) Marketing Operations Specialist, India Branch Industry Marketing Lead Braze Senior Lifecycle Marketing Manager Braze Performance Analyst - Affiliate Marketing Brown Boots Senior Growth Consultant - ASO & CRO Phiture User Acquisition Manager exmox GmbH Senior Account Executive tvScientific Product Marketing Manager Adapty.io Head of Marketing Adapty.io Content Marketing Manager Adapty.io Growth Product Manager - Adapty.io Growth Product Lead - Adapty.io Mobile Growth Manager AppAgent Senior User Acquisition Manager Stillfront Marketing Manager (Contract to Hire) Fluent, Inc Account Manager (Digital Marketing) Fluent, Inc Growth Manager Moloco Senior Strategic Growth Manager Moloco Senior/ Data Scientist II, Growth Analytics Moloco UA Marketing Producer Playrix Lead User Acquisition Manager Playrix Senior UA Manager Playrix

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