Developer Insights: The Engagement and Retention Challenge

Mobile game teams are under pressure to grow retention and LTV, but the old playbook is starting to fatigue across the industry. This flash report shares insights and survey data from nearly 200 mobile game developers. Discover where current strategies are falling short, which tactics developers say are driving impact today, and what could fuel the next phase of mobile game growth.

80%

say retention and engagement strategies are becoming repetitive rather than innovative.

51%

say balancing monetization friction with a fun player experience is their biggest pain point.

90%

are considering or implementing in-game loyalty and reward systems to boost retention.

What’s inside

Developer Insights: The Retention & Engagement Challenge explores how mobile game teams are responding to rising acquisition pressure, retention fatigue and the need to create more value from existing players.

Inside, you’ll find:

- The biggest pain points developers face across retention, monetization and engagement

- Which strategies developers rank as most impactful today

- Whether studios are increasing retention and re-engagement budgets

- Where current retention and engagement strategies are starting to fall short

- What developers see as the next wave of engagement innovation

- How rewards can support longer-term engagement, retention and LTV when built directly into gameplay

“Mobile games can’t rely on buying growth forever. CPIs continue to rise, making retention the new UA and the fastest path to scale increasingly about creating more value from players you’ve already acquired. The studios that win won’t be the ones with the biggest content calendars, but the ones that turn engagement, loyalty, and monetisation into experiences players actively want to return to, time and time again.”

John Wright – CEO, Turborilla

Developer Insights: The Engagement and Retention Challenge

What’s inside

Curious about in-game rewards?