Increasing LTV: Tips and Tricks for Building Your Game | Ilya Kuznetsov

1. Increasing LTV: Tips
and tricks for building
your game.
Ilya Kuznetsov
Client Partner EMEA, Unity Ads

2. GenerativeArt—MadewithUnity
Player segmentation is used widely
across the games industry to get the most
bang for your buck when monetizing from
a game's audience.

3. GenerativeArt—MadewithUnity
It is always better to
collect more data than you
need, since you can never
go back in time and get
something you missed.

5. 5
Likely have income
from a job.
Are playing the game to
pass the time.
Are likely busy /
employed => happy to
spend a bit to progress
faster.
For these players, time
is money.
This is where all your
players start out
Usually are introduced
to the game via friends
& ads.
Might forget to log in
regularly to claim
rewards / offers.
If they remain in this
segment, they are likely
to churn out.
Want to be the best of
the best at any cost.
New content release =>
they will spend to make
sure they have it.
Will try to use all daily
allowances there are
available in the game.
This is your most
valuable, yet likely the
smallest segment.
These players are as
competitive, or more
competitive than
competitive spenders.
Likely students / kids.
Have much more free
time than they have
disposable money
Will min-max all F2P
features to get as much
value as possible.
Casual
Spenders
Competitive
Spenders
Casual
Budgeters
Competitive
Budgeters

6. Case Study 1:
Tanks A Lot
Case Study:
Tanks A Lot
A mobile game published by BoomBit

7. Core Loop
Upgrade tank to
advance Leagues
(drives progression)
A strong tank is needed to
compete in higher level
leagues
Resources are required to
upgrade the tank (currency,
cards, time, etc.)
Play a battle match
against other players
(drives challenge)
Player plays a PvP battle
match (multiple battle modes
available)
Tournament requires “tickets”
Players get x free tickets daily
(purchaseable for HC).
Get rewards for
winning a match
(drives economy)
Once a player wins a
match they get resources
If a player is an MVP, they
earn additional resources

8. Engagement KPIs
Upgrade tank to
advance Leagues
(drives progression)
● % of time spent on tank
customization screen
● # of tank permutations
● # of unlocked tank
cards
● # of times a card is
used / upgraded
Play a battle match
against other players
(drives challenge)
● # of battles played (specific
modes)
● % of battles won
● % of kills vs deaths
● # of tickets used vs # of
tournament matches played
● % of Gems used for
tournament tickets
Get rewards for
winning a match
(drives economy)
● # of trophies
● # of trophies compared
to player level
● # of days in a specific
league
● # of ‘play of the day’
medals won
● # of chests opened

9. GenerativeArt—MadewithUnity
Pete enjoys the progression aspect of Tanks A
Lot, where his main objective is mainly how he
can advance further up the league ladder.
Pete spends little time trying out or customizing
his tank, they prefer to utilize whatever cards they
have are strongest.
Same goes for different battle mode, Pete prefers
to play a battle mode that allows him to win at a
higher success rate to progress easier.
Profile: Progressor PeteProfile 1: Progressor Pete
Pete enjoys the progression aspect of
Tanks A Lot & advancing in the league
ladder.
Spends little time customizing his tank,
prefers to use his best cards.
Prefers to play a battle mode that allows
him to win at a higher success rate to
progress easier.

10. Monetisation Opportunities
IAP
● Pete only focuses on a handful of cards. Providing a bundle with some of his
highly used cards would be ideal.
● Resource specific bundles may also be appealing to Progressor Pete.
● Pete may hit a difficulty wall during league progression. Offer him a bundle during
this pain point to overcome such difficulties.
Ads
● Losing a match reduces your trophy count. Include an ad placement where
watching an ad reduces the % of trophies lost.

11. GenerativeArt—MadewithUnity
Pete enjoys the progression aspect of Tanks A
Lot, where his main objective is mainly how he
can advance further up the league ladder.
Pete spends little time trying out or customizing
his tank, they prefer to utilize whatever cards they
have are strongest.
Same goes for different battle mode, Pete prefers
to play a battle mode that allows him to win at a
higher success rate to progress easier.
Profile: Progressor PeteProfile 2: Min/Maxer Matt
Matt enjoys the details of a game & puts
a lot of effort in manipulating the stats.
Matt spends a lot of time battling to
prove out their tank configuration.
They usually have a high win rate & K/D
ratio due to maximizing their tank stats.

12. Monetisation Opportunities
IAP
● Matt focuses only on strong card stats, so providing a bundle with some of his
highly used cards would be ideal.
● New content/cards with new game mechanics would also interest a user like
Matt.
Ads
● Any ad placement that increases Matt’s chance to acquire more cards is ideal.
(e.g. free chest after X hours, double rewards, etc)

13. GenerativeArt—MadewithUnity
Pete enjoys the progression aspect of Tanks A
Lot, where his main objective is mainly how he
can advance further up the league ladder.
Pete spends little time trying out or customizing
his tank, they prefer to utilize whatever cards they
have are strongest.
Same goes for different battle mode, Pete prefers
to play a battle mode that allows him to win at a
higher success rate to progress easier.
Profile: Progressor PeteProfile 3: Collector Carly
Carly enjoys when there are multiple
items and variations within a game. Their
main objective is to obtain each card
within a collection.
Carly participates in all modes and
features to receive as many resources
and cards as possible for as many
chances to acquire cards as possible.

14. Monetisation Opportunities
IAP
● Carly is a collector so bundles that provide her with additional chances to receive
cards, especially rare cards, are ideal.
● New cards during new game updates would also interest a user like Carly
Ads
● Any ad placement that increases Matt’s chance to acquire more cards is ideal.
(e.g. free chest after X hours, double rewards, etc)
● Also ad placements that provide additional card opportunities are also beneficial
(e.g. watch an ad to reduce chest timers, watch an ad for a random free card, etc)

15. Case Study:
Gardenscapes
A mobile game published by Playrix

16. Core Loop
Build my garden
with resources
(drives progression)
In order to build out my
garden, I need to invest
resources
Resources can be currency,
consumable item / materials,
time, etc.
Play single-player
match 3 levels
(drives challenge)
Player plays match 3 game
with various level modes
available
Power ups available to
purchase & use that make this
easier
Get rewards from
beating levels
(drives economy)
Once a player beats a level,
they get rewards
Depending on level difficulty,,
they are awarded a specific
amount of stars

17. Engagement KPIs
Build my garden
with resources
(drives progression)
● % time spend on the
garden customization
● % of unlocked garden
object items placed
● # of inventory slots
purchased
● # times customization
button is hit per day
● % of garden objects placed
Play single-player
match 3 levels
(drives challenge)
● # failures on each level
before premium currency
/ power up is used
● # of levels beaten have a
high star rating on them
● % levels beaten without
purchasing power ups
● % premium currency
spent on restoring
stamina
Get rewards from
beating levels
(drives economy)
● # of unlocked garden
decorations relative to
level beaten
● % purchased power ups
used
● # of purchased power ups
per day
● # of garden decorations
bought per day

18. Eric enjoys unlocking new content to change the
visuals of his garden.
For him, the Match 3 gameplay is a means to an
end. He might not even really enjoy it that much,
but he really enjoys the garden building aspect so
he puts up with it
Eric also loves exploring different configurations
for his garden. If he could buy new "loadouts" or
configurations of his garden for premium
currency, he would be drawn to doing that.
Profile 1: Explorer Eric

19. Monetisation Opportunities
IAP
● If Eric owns a garden chair already from one furniture collection, surface an
accompanying garden table at a discount.
● Eric might not be the best player at match-3, so offer him bundles of power-ups to
help him progress and bundle these power ups with decorations.
Ads
● Since Eric spends so much time in the garden, you could put a new ad placement
that capitalizes on this. Ex: every plant in his garden has a random % chance to
spawn a little swarm of bees, that let you watch a rewarded video ad to "pollinate"
the plants.

20. Lisa likes playing all sorts of Match 3 games, and
is quite good at them.
Lisa wants to have a challenge, so she’s unlikely
to use power ups unless it feels absolutely
necessary to pass a level. Instead, she’d rather
spend money on extra lives / resources to
attempt failed levels again.
Lisa doesn't regard a level as "cleared" until
they've achieved the max star rating
Profile 2: Challenger Lisa

21. Monetisation Opportunities
IAP
● Lisa really likes the challenge of the game, so IAP offers around purchasing new
"challenge" levels to unlock can do well
● Seasonal rotating events that feature timed, challenging content could encourage
Lisa to spend currency on more stamina
Ads
● Since Lisa spends most of their engagement on the Match 3 gameplay, rewarded
video ads after a challenging achievement (ex: getting max star level after beating
a level) might lead to higher ad engagement, since they're mentally feeling happy.

22. GenerativeArt—MadewithUnity
Thank you!
Ilya Kuznetsov
Client Partner EMEA, Unity Ads
ilyaku@unity3d.com
#unity3d