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The latest user acquisition strategies for mobile games
User acquisition (UA) remains one of the most expensive and challenging aspects of scaling a successful mobile game. Competition for players is fierce, with $130 billion spent on mobile games UA advertising in 2025 alone. Amid increased complexity brought on by channel diversification and privacy requirements, this makes measuring campaign performance even more critical than it already was.
The good news is that the market is clearly hot, and opportunity remains huge. In 2025, IAP revenue increased 1.4% YoY increased to reach $82 billion alongside $12 billion recorded in ad revenue. But success depends on more than launching hit-and-hope campaigns. It requires a strategy built on accurate measurement, creative testing, automation, and a clear understanding of what drives long-term player value.
In this guide, we cover the fundamentals of mobile game user acquisition and share best practices to help you acquire and retain high-value players, and then get more of them.
What is user acquisition?
User acquisition (UA) in mobile gaming is the process of driving new players to a mobile game. It combines paid advertising with organic channels to increase installs and grow your player base. An effective UA strategy does focus on volume, but also helps you understand which campaigns are bringing in players who stay engaged and generate revenue over time.
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Types of mobile acquisition campaigns
Paid user acquisition: Includes any marketing activity that uses ad spend to promote your app. Because every install comes at a cost, marketers need accurate attribution data to understand which channels are generating value and make cost-effective decisions on future ad spend allocation.
Organic user acquisition: Refers to any activity that attracts users without paid advertising. This can include blogs, social media, app store optimization (ASO), word of mouth, and other owned channels. Organic installs are often valuable because users usually have more context before downloading the app.
Current UA benchmarks
User acquisition costs vary significantly depending on your game's genre/subvertical, target market, platform, and monetization model. While benchmarks are useful for understanding broader market trends, they should be treated as a starting point rather than a target.
Instead of evaluating performance on cost per install (CPI) alone, compare acquisition costs alongside downstream metrics such as retention, return on ad spend (ROAS), and lifetime value (LTV). This provides a more accurate picture of campaign performance and helps you invest in channels that attract valuable players.
Below we take a look at median CPI numbers as reported in our Gaming app insights report: 2026 edition—keeping in mind CPI is only one piece of the pie when it comes to true UA cost.
Top user acquisition metrics for gaming apps
Below are some of the essential metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) gaming app marketers should track for their UA campaigns.
1. Installs
Installs are a core metric in any acquisition cycle. An install occurs when a user downloads an app and opens it for the first time. For gaming marketers, install volume shows whether a campaign is generating interest and whether the app’s positioning in relevant ads, along with creative and channel mix, are reaching the right audience.
Installs are also useful for comparing acquisition sources. If one partner delivers strong install volume at a low cost, that can look promising at first glance. But install numbers need to be read alongside post-install behavior. A campaign that delivers fewer users may still be more valuable if those players return, spend, or progress further into the game. This is where attribution data and the insights that can be extracted from it are essential.
2. Daily active users (DAU)
Defined as the number of unique users who engage with an app within a 24-hour period, daily active users (DAU) helps measure the impact of your UA campaigns. Because DAU includes both new and returning users, it provides a clearer picture of whether acquired users continue engaging with your game after installing it.
If your DAU is consistently low, your game may need improvements to onboarding, progression, difficulty tuning, or the core player experience. If installs significantly outnumber DAU, it’s also worth investigating your acquisition data to rule out invalid traffic or attribution issues. In addition to attribution data itself, fraud prevention insights enable you to protect your budget and keep campaign decisions from being based on distorted performance data.
3. Lifetime value (LTV)
Lifetime value (LTV) estimates the revenue an average user generates throughout their lifecycle with your game. Understanding LTV allows marketers to determine how much they can afford to spend on UA while maintaining profitable growth.
Many gaming marketers now complement historical LTV with predicted LTV (pLTV) models, using early engagement and monetization signals to identify high-value users sooner. This makes it easier to optimize campaigns before a cohort has fully matured.
4. Cost per install (CPI)
CPI, as we explored above, is the average amount an advertiser pays for a user to install their app. It remains one of the most widely used user acquisition metrics because it provides a simple way to compare campaign efficiency across channels and partners.
Average CPI varies significantly depending on your game’s genre, platform, target market, and monetization model. While keeping acquisition costs under control is important, CPI should always be considered alongside metrics such as LTV, retention, ROI, and ROAS to understand whether a campaign is delivering sustainable value.
5. Sessions
Sessions are a very useful user engagement metric because they show how often players return to your game after installing it. Looking at session frequency alongside acquisition data can help marketers understand whether certain channels consistently attract more engaged users.
For developers, session data can also highlight which game modes, levels, features, or progression points keep players coming back. Note that Adjust defines a session as a period of activity separated by at least 30 minutes, with the app open in the foreground.
6. Session lengths
Measuring the amount of time a user actively spends in a gaming app per session, session length is a crucial metric to understanding engagement patterns. As such, session length is tied to retention, as users who engage for longer periods of time with your app are more likely to return.
Comparing session length across acquisition channels can also reveal whether certain campaigns are attracting more engaged players. As with other metrics, rather than relying on industry averages, it’s more valuable to benchmark session length against your own game over time and understand how it changes as your UA strategy evolves. These numbers vary greatly across gaming verticals and relevant monetization models.
7. Retention rate
Retention rate measures the percentage of users who continue using your app after a given number of days and is one of the clearest indicators of acquisition quality. A successful user acquisition strategy incorporates retention hand-in-hand from the beginning.
Understanding which channels consistently deliver users with strong retention helps marketers allocate budgets more effectively, refine campaign targeting, improve creative strategy, and personalize experiences for target segments. When viewed alongside LTV and ROAS, retention provides a much stronger measure of campaign success than install volume alone.
Read more about user retention.
7. Retention rate
ROAS measures the revenue generated for every dollar spent on advertising. Unlike CPI, which focuses on acquisition costs, ROAS helps marketers understand whether their campaigns are delivering profitable users. Monitoring ROAS over different timeframes can reveal which channels and campaigns continue generating value long after the initial install.
Read more about the essential mobile app KPIs for every vertical.
Why is user acquisition important?
In a perfect world, every player would discover your game organically through word of mouth, social media, reviews, or the app stores. The reality is very different. With millions of apps competing for attention across the App Store, Google Play, and even third-party stores, a strong user acquisition strategy is essential for reaching the right audience and standing out in an increasingly competitive market.
Effective user acquisition helps gaming marketers attract players who engage with their game, view ads, and make purchases. Combined with accurate measurement, a well-executed UA strategy reveals which channels and campaigns deliver the greatest long-term value, making it easier to invest marketing budgets with confidence.
Why expertise still matters in modern user acquisition
Automation and AI have transformed campaign management, making it easier to optimize budgets and reporting at scale. But successful user acquisition still depends on human expertise. Marketers need to interpret performance data and understand what drives long-term player value. As the UA landscape becomes more sophisticated, strategic decision-making remains just as important as the technology behind it.
User acquisition best practices for gaming apps
What works best in user acquisition is constantly in flux. New advertising channels, privacy standards, advances in AI, shifting player expectations, and what goes viral or grabs attention are always changing, meaning there's no single formula for success.
The most effective UA strategies combine accurate measurement with continuous testing, allowing marketers to adapt as the market changes. Here are some of the main tactics used to strengthen US efforts.
1. Test creatives continuously
Creative is one of the biggest drivers of campaign performance. Even high-performing ads lose effectiveness over time, so regular testing is essential to keep acquisition costs under control. From rich media and banner ads to playable ads and even connected TV (CTV) advertising, there are countless ad types and channels to explore as part of your user acquisition strategy.
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Experiment with different creative formats, messaging, gameplay footage, and calls to action (CTAs). Playable ads, user-generated content (UGC), and short-form video continue to perform well across many gaming genres, but what resonates with players will depend on your audience. The only reliable way to identify winning creatives is through ongoing testing.
Testing should also extend beyond creative assets. Experiment with audiences, channels, and campaign structures to understand which combinations consistently attract high-value players.
Mobile gaming studio Widogame used Adjust’s Datascape to view all its UA data—covering multiple campaigns and channels—in one place. The company was able to expand from one advertising channel to 10 channels. Additionally, by focusing on LTV and ROAS, Widogame narrowed down the best channels for user acquisition and soon saw a 4,900% increase in installs.
Get all the details of this inspiring UA games marketing success story here.
2. Incorporate privacy into your measurement strategy from the start
Privacy requirements, frameworks, and regulations have changed mobile measurement and should now be considered from the moment a UA strategy is planned, not once campaigns are already running.
For iOS campaigns, SKAdNetwork (SKAN), now part of AdAttributionKit, remains central to privacy-preserving attribution. A well-defined conversion value strategy helps marketers get more from SKAN data and understand campaign performance despite reduced signal availability. First-party data also plays an important role wherever it can be collected and used with consent.
An MMP that supports granular SKAN data analysis alongside deterministic/device-ID based attribution data gives marketers greater confidence in their reporting, making it easier to evaluate campaign performance and invest in the channels that are delivering value on iOS.
Learn more about Adjust’s iOS Solutions.
3. Let automation handle repetitive work
Campaign automation allows marketers to spend less time managing budgets manually and more time improving strategy. Automated bidding, budget allocation, KPI monitoring, and alerts all help teams react more quickly when campaign performance changes.
Instead of manually reviewing dashboards throughout the day, automated alerts can highlight unexpected shifts in performance, allowing teams to investigate and respond before small issues become expensive ones.
Learn more about smart automation and AI reporting with Pulse.
4. Use AI to make faster, smarter decisions
AI is changing how user acquisition teams work with data. Instead of spending hours building reports or manually investigating campaign performance, marketers can quickly find the answers they need and spend more time acting on them.
For example, AI can explain why a campaign's CPI suddenly increased, highlight which creatives are losing effectiveness, or identify the audiences driving the strongest lifetime value. It can also summarize performance across hundreds of campaigns in seconds, making it easier to spot opportunities that might otherwise be missed.
For UA teams managing campaigns across multiple markets and channels, this means less time spent searching for insights and more time making informed decisions.
Adjust AI Solutions
5. Treat app store optimization (ASO) as an ongoing process
App store optimization (ASO) remains one of the most effective ways to improve discoverability and increase conversion rates. Rather than treating ASO as a one-time project, review your store presence regularly to ensure it reflects your latest game updates, creative direction, and target segments—product pages/landing pages can be customized to correlate with specific keywords and campaigns.
Review the following ASO questions:
- Do my screenshots accurately represent the gameplay experience?
- Are my visuals and descriptions localized for key markets?
- Are my keywords still aligned with how players search today?
- Have I tested alternative store assets or Custom Product Pages?
- Is it time to refresh my app icon or preview video?
- Do I have a strategy for generating recent reviews and ratings?
Read more about Apple’s Custom Product Pages and Product Page Optimization, as well as Google Play’s Store listing experiments.
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6. Cross-promote your mobile app games
Many gaming studios find success in cross-promoting their apps. If you have more than one app in your portfolio, it makes sense to advertise across the suite via in-app ads. Existing users already understand your brand and are often more willing to try another game from the same publisher.
Not only is cross-promotion of your own mobile app games cost-effective, as you are both the advertiser and the publisher, but it also gives you a greater understanding of what your users enjoy. Moreover, in the iOS context, the Identifier for vendor (IDFV) allows you to measure users across all apps within your publishing suite on a given Apple device and cross-promoted users have consistently been shown to have higher App Tracking Transparency (ATT) opt-in rates.
7. Focus on player quality, not install volume
Driving installs is an important part of any user acquisition strategy, but understanding what happens after the install is what allows gaming marketers to scale campaigns effectively. The players who generate the greatest value will look different depending on your game's genre and monetization model. For an ad-supported title, success may come from players who return frequently and generate consistent ad revenue. For games built around in-app purchases (IAP), the priority may be attracting players who progress through the game and eventually convert into paying users.
Looking at post-install behaviour gives you a much clearer picture of campaign performance. Metrics such as retention, LTV, ROAS, and engagement can reveal which acquisition channels are consistently bringing in valuable players, even if they don't generate the highest install volume.
This has become especially important as more studios embrace hybrid casual games. These titles often rely on a mix of advertising and IAP, making it essential to understand how different player segments contribute to revenue over time. A campaign that attracts highly engaged players may deliver stronger long-term returns than one that simply generates installs at the lowest possible cost.
8. Protect your budget from mobile ad fraud
From click injection to SDK spoofing, fraudulent activity and invalid traffic will affect your game’s marketing budget if you do not have fraud prevention technology. Not only will your ad spend go to fraudsters, but your UA strategy will be based on compromised data.
This could lead to additional spending on a channel where fraudsters easily take more and more of your ad spend. Therefore, it’s critical to work with a mobile measurement partner (MMP) with a trusted Fraud Prevention solution in place.
9. Bring your data together
Every user acquisition decision is only as good as the data behind it. Campaign performance, attribution, monetization, and engagement all contribute to understanding what's working and where budget should be invested.
Bringing these insights together in a single view makes it easier to compare channels, evaluate campaign performance, and identify opportunities that would otherwise be missed. Instead of switching between multiple dashboards, marketers can spend more time acting on insights and less time piecing data together.
With a complete view of the user journey, it's easier to understand which campaigns are driving meaningful business outcomes and make confident decisions about where to scale.
Adjust and user acquisition for mobile gaming apps
Successful user acquisition depends on understanding what's driving performance and having the confidence to act on it. The ability to measure campaigns accurately, compare channels, and understand player behaviour over time has become essential for making informed investment decisions.
At Adjust, we partner with 300,000+ apps to improve their UA outcomes and grow their businesses with confidence. Top gaming studios including Tripledot, Jam City, Hypermonk, 2K Games, Kongregate, Random Logic Games, Mamboo Games, Game District, Super Free Games, and hundreds more use Adjust’s measurement and analytics solutions to identify their best users and channels, and to view all interpret that data in one place. Plus, with our Fraud Prevention solution, our clients’ data and budgets are proactively protected against fraud.
To see first hand how Adjust can take your mobile gaming UA and business growth to the next level, request a demo today.
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