Brutally Honest #152 by Matej Lancaric
Matej ?? Lancaric
Helping Games Grow ?? 11+ years of experience ?? 52 global launched games ?? User Acquisition ?? Marketing Strategy
Hey, FAM! What’s up?
?? Drink talk
So much stuff happening at 2.5gamers! GO listen to our album or get our Merch.
??Tip of the week
Look, testing new channels is always risky, but you can’t grow without taking risks. New channels will underperform at first. That’s normal. Expect 20–30% higher CPIs and lower ROAS initially. Your goal is to learn, not to profit immediately.
Kill Fast, Scale Faster:
When to Say It’s Enough and Move On?
This is where most people mess up. They either give up too soon or waste money chasing a dead end. Here’s my rule of thumb:
2024 UA Playbook: Diversifying beyond Traditional Channels
UA diversification isn’t optional—it’s survival. But you can’t just throw money at new channels and hope for the best. Be strategic, test smart, and don’t be afraid to kill what doesn’t work. Remember, the goal is profitable growth, not just growth.
?? 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:
What the F*** is actually happening? Using ???????????????????????? body shaming creatives to drive low CPIs? ?????????? ???????????? & ???????????????? & ?????????????? ?????????? ?????????? is here! In the last couple of weeks, there has been a significant increase of these bodyshaming/makeover ads on Facebook. First, I thought it was only one game. Nothing major. But then I saw multiple games like ?????????? ??????????, ?????????? ???????? ?????? ???????????? ????, ?????????? ??????????, ??????.. All these games are using the same combination. Screw Puzzle + Makeover. Having two cores built in the game. Using one core in the creatives to drive low CPIs. Masquerading behind ???????? ?????? ???????????? ???????????? ??????????????????. Is this really a stress relief? Am I missing something? That is not the whole story. Screw Match adding even 3rd core with is Match3D. Sounds familiar, Jakub? When we say you have to study 4X, we mean it. Because then you have these wild combinations, trust me, this is the next frontier of game development. ???? ?????? ???????? ????????????!
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!
"Unity is not united anymore as another round of layoffs hit the news. After doing a fatality on itself last September, when it canceled its runtime fee blunder, it continues to bleed more and more employees and stock price. I think they didn't read the memo that in order for your engine business to be sustainable, you need to first build your own Fortnite, cough, cash cow. It's literally on the first page of game engine business for Dummies by Dr.Doom ??, duh!" Sincerely, Doom (https://www.pocketgamer.biz/unity-lays-off-staff-and-axes-behavior-team/)
??? “Ha-ha” moment
Because life is too short to be serious.
?? two & a half gamers - Creative trends January 2025
?????? -> ?????????????? ???? ????????????. Creative trends for January 2025 are live. This is the best game ever! Yeah? No shit, Sherlock! Nobody wants to hear that anymore! People are just annoyed by that. Of course, this is the best f****g game ever. Yeah. Thank you very much for saying that. I'm ?????? going to download it. ?????? -> ?????????????? ???? ????????????. While I talk about creative volume in general. With UGC, there are a lot of shitty videos. People want to see ads that grab their attention, look native and don't feel like ads.
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Playbles Trends in Mobile Games - January 2025
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?
?? Diary of a Dancing Unicorn
Today was a good day.
Hey hey, would love to work with you.
perfect, here is the deck I usually use.
eeeh, too expensive.
Okay, no problem.
… can I ask you few questions?
Sure, ask.
Asks 387623762 questions
unicorn answers
.. thanks this is super useful. Would love if you can work with us. What is the price?
same deck, nothing changed …
yeaaaaah….
…
…
…
appears again and asks 3872638723 questions
eeeehm… nope…
Today was a good day.
?? Quote of the week
"You are in every conversation ahah (almost). the team talked with the creative producer of Playrix, he says he watches your YouTube quite often” - Renata, DM
Creative Trends in Mobile Gaming - January 2025
?? 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:
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Feel free to join here!
?? Thanks for reading this week’s newsletter!
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Take care, everyone! See you next Monday!
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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