Background

Midnite Games is a game development studio based in Italy. The studio was founded in 2020 by two brothers who have been making games since the early days of the app stores. Today, Midnite has a strong portfolio of both internally and externally published games. Some of their biggest hits are Slices with 65+ million downloads (published by Good Job Games), and Get Lucky with 50+ million downloads (published by Homa Games). 

Challenge

Today’s mobile game market is extremely challenging to navigate – it’s oversaturated, CPIs are higher than ever, and launching profitable new titles is becoming increasingly difficult. When Midnite Games released Survivor Idle Run in January 2023, they faced all these market challenges.

Survivor Idle Run combines multiple trends such as idle mechanics, running gameplay, and arcade appearance. It monetizes with a blend of ads and IAPs, with the majority of revenue (75%) coming from rewarded video ads. 

Despite the game’s engaging features and quality, the publisher was struggling to make it profitable via classic user acquisition channels like Facebook and Google. Since these ad networks are crowded with advertisers, standing out is both difficult and expensive. In order to navigate the competitive market, Midnite recognized the need to explore new UA strategies.

Solution 

Looking for new traffic sources, they came across MyChips, MAF’s discovery-based advertising solution. Midnite tested several MyChips ad formats, including Play2Earn and Multireward. 

Play2Earn (P2E) is MAF’s unique ad format that rewards users for their engagement and playstyle, leading to an immersive gameplay experience and higher retention rates. On the other hand, Multireward is a classic offerwall ad format that encourages users to download the game and reach listed goals. 

To make Survivor Idle Run profitable, Midnite focused on increasing engagement KPIs like retention (D1 to D14), play sessions, and ROAS. To achieve this, it was necessary to drive high-value users to the game. 

Results

With MyChips ad formats, Midnite saw a significant improvement in traffic quality. 

Both P2E and Multireward ad formats were able to achieve an exceptional return on ad spend, particularly in the US market, where they delivered an impressive 150% ROAS. 

Midnite found that the Multireward ad format produced a stronger ROAS during the game’s early stages (days 1-3), whereas the P2E placement was more effective in boosting long-term engagement (days 7-14). In fact, on day 14, the P2E format delivered a whopping 71% higher ROAS than video UA networks! 

The P2E ad placements not only increased ROAS but also gave a major boost to the game’s retention rates and playtime.

Compared to traditional ad networks, the game’s retention rates skyrocketed anywhere from 1.2x to 3.5x. The biggest leap was seen in long-term retention (D14), which jumped from 4% to 18%. The most impressive retention rates were achieved in Japan, where the game managed to retain 74% of players on day 1.

Users acquired through P2E placements not only stuck around in the game for days, but they also played for hours, with 7.2% of players clocking in over 20 hours of gameplay. 

Looking Ahead

As Midnite Games looks ahead, the company’s main priority is to remain competitive in the hyper-casual market. To achieve this goal, they are continuing their collaborative partnership with MAF. 

Since MyChips has proven extremely successful, in the upcoming period, Midnite plans to utilize MyChips for more of its games and increase their advertising spend. At the same time, MAF is continuing its mission to help developers grow their apps and transform advertising into discovery.