How Metacore increased IAP and ARPDAU 5x among non-payers with a customized game consultation from Unity

Metacore Games is a Finland- and Berlin-based mobile game company well known for their global hit game Merge Mansion, developed using the Unity engine.

Metacore’s Ads Monetization Manager Veera Ranta explains how working with the Unity Game Design & Revenue Consultancy team and integrating Unity LevelPlay into their monetization strategy for Merge Mansion has led to a remarkable 5x boost in IAP and ARPDAU among non-payers.

Evolving to an IAP and ads monetization model

Before Metacore teamed up with Unity to optimize their monetization strategy, Merge Mansion’s casual game economy focused entirely on in-app purchases (IAP). With a lot of players having played the game longer than 360 days, Metacore wanted to find new ways to monetize their loyal player base, including exploring avenues for ad monetization.

Leveraging their extensive experience working with leading studios, the Unity Game Design & Revenue Consultancy team recommended shifting to a strategy that includes both IAP and ads to maximize revenue from Merge Mansion’s existing player base and drive revenue from non-payers. Metacore began working closely with the Unity team to strategically implement ads while aiming to retain existing users who make in-app purchases.

Implementing ads

Initially, the Unity Game Design & Revenue Consultancy team presented Metacore with a total of 9 recommended rewarded ad placements. Carefully and strategically, Metacore began by enabling only the ironSource Ads and Unity Ads networks, testing 6 of the recommended rewarded ad placements in 2 countries among D30+ non-payers. After monitoring rewarded ad performance and noting an overwhelmingly positive response from players, Metacore quickly saw that this approach allowed them to monetize non-payers, while protecting their IAP economy.

Next, Metacore and the Unity team established strategies for segmentation, cooldown, and capping. Throughout the process, they engaged in A/B testing of different ad gates and segmentations. They monitored performance and network results with Real Time Pivot reports to optimize their ad stack, check for latency, and rapidly identify areas in need of improvement.

After refining their strategies, Metacore launched globally, rolling out their 6 tested ad placements to all non-payers worldwide. They continued to test ad enablement earlier in the player journey, and added more ad networks to serve additional ads in Merge Mansion.

“With the help of ads, we wanted to offer our players some boost to their game and further improve their player experience. Ads also support our overall monetization strategy of Merge Mansion,” Ranta explains.

To ensure Merge Mansion offered the best possible player experience after ad implementation, Metacore leveraged LevelPlay’s Ad Quality for visibility into every creative within their game, including which network served them. The tool allows them to track engagement of creatives, monitor retention, churn, and UX patterns, and troubleshoot any suspicious content.

Optimizing monetization

To make the most of their monetization model, Metacore worked with the Unity Game Design & Revenue Consultancy team to determine optimal ad placement. Following an in-depth player journey analysis, the Unity team shared ad placement recommendations, along with wireframes and an estimated revenue uplift from the placements.

“From the analysis and insights provided, we could see the Unity Game Design & Revenue Consultancy team’s passion for our game and that they truly spent time playing. They were able to identify where our players naturally progress, and at which moments we should introduce ad placements without disrupting the flow of the game,” Ranta notes.

Next came a deep dive into Merge Mansion’s game economy. Because the game’s currencies can be combined, players often experience a compounding effect on their reward balances. The Unity team assisted Metacore in fine-tuning rewards to ensure a balanced distribution and prevent any negative impact on their in-game economy.

The Unity team also conducted a detailed competitive analysis of ad placements, evaluating 7 other leading titles from the merge genre. This involved evaluation of ad frequency and engagement rates to illustrate the potential for incremental revenue that Metacore could achieve by implementing a similar strategy.

“We were given lots of examples of good implementation and data on each placement’s performance and ideas on how we could implement them. We were impressed with the in-depth analysis provided to us,” Ranta says.

Driving 5x more revenue while increasing overall LTV

Integrating ads into their monetization mix drove incremental revenue for Merge Mansion. As a result, Metacore saw an impressive 5x uplift in IAP and ARPDAU, when comparing the control group to the enabled group that received ads in the A/B test. This test was implemented among non-payers who have played the game over 30 days.

Additionally, layering ad revenue with IAP allowed them to increase overall LTV. After implementing their new monetization mix, Metacore carefully monitored user feedback and consistently saw that users were happy that they had an opportunity to see ads and complete tasks without having to make a purchase. In fact, users were delighted that they could navigate the bottlenecks in gameplay with the help of rewarded ads.

“Evolving to an IAP and ads monetization model has driven revenue and improved user experience. Players really enjoy when they get to continue playing longer or reach their merge goals faster with the help of ads. Some players outside of testing countries have asked why they aren’t seeing ads and feel that they are missing out,” Ranta comments.

Ranta concludes: “Working with Unity has been great since the start, we have very open lines of communication with the team, and we are in frequent contact. The Unity Game Design & Revenue Consultancy team regularly recommends new ideas regarding new placements, optimizations, and A/B tests. Their knowledge of our game shows, and it’s clear that their recommendations are catered to our needs.”