Blog
Stories from the field
Notes from the team — what we learn building AI monetization for Unity and Unreal studios.
Aug 9, 2026 · 4 min read
Your top-spender group shrinks before revenue does
When a game starts declining, revenue holds up for a while because the remaining big spenders spend more. The count moves first and nobody watches it.
Aug 8, 2026 · 4 min read
What a healthy first-week economy actually looks like
The first week sets a player's understanding of what things cost and whether earning is worthwhile. Most of the damage done here is invisible until much later.
Aug 3, 2026 · 4 min read
Players who never spend are still worth designing for
Most of your players will never buy anything. Treating them as failed conversions costs you the thing they actually provide, which is not nothing.
Aug 1, 2026 · 4 min read
The second session predicts what the first one cannot
First-session analysis dominates onboarding work. The second session is where a player decides the game is a thing they do, and it behaves very differently.
Jul 2, 2026 · 5 min read
Catch-up mechanics close the returning player's gap
A returning player's biggest barrier is the progress gap that opened while they were gone. Catch-up mechanics close it so re-onboarding has a chance.
Jun 29, 2026 · 5 min read
In-game social features are a retention loop, not a bonus
Clans, chat, and groups keep players invested between sessions, and the data they produce predicts who stays. Treat owned social as retention.
Jun 29, 2026 · 6 min read
Your game's daily obligation load: audit the whole thing
Login streaks, daily quests, and events each look fine alone. Added up, your game's obligation load becomes a second job. Audit it as one number.
Jun 25, 2026 · 6 min read
The first five minutes decide whether a player ever returns
Players quit in five to fifteen minutes if the value is not obvious. Here is what the early game must prove and the depth that holds them past day 30
Jun 20, 2026 · 6 min read
First-session funnel: measuring early player drop-off
Treating your first session as a conversion funnel reveals exactly where players drop off, and which early-game fixes actually move D1 retention
Jun 19, 2026 · 5 min read
Where Revenue Arrives: the Post-Day-30 Live-Ops Window
Most top-grossing revenue arrives after day 30, which means your live-ops window decides a title's economics far more than its launch
Jun 16, 2026 · 7 min read
Streak mechanics: the line between reward and obligation
A daily streak can pull a player back or make the game feel like work. Here is the design line between the two and why it shows up in retention data.
Jun 16, 2026 · 7 min read
Collection mechanics: completion as the long retention loop
Collection mechanics are quietly one of the strongest retention tools in mobile gaming. Here is what separates the ones that work from the ones that don't.