1. Running a game studio for over 5 years without any prior XP, the best skill I have learned is how to deal with the unknown.
An example
An example

2. Apple launched iOS 10 end of 2016. It changed the UI so they could feature more games on both the Today’s and Games’ page.
More feature placements in the App Store meant less eyeballs for each game we launched.
More feature placements in the App Store meant less eyeballs for each game we launched.
3. We made 70~80% of a game’s lifetime revenue in the first week of featuring.
The change in the App Store had a huge impact (negatively) on our revenue and we knew we had to change our approach to launching games.
The change in the App Store had a huge impact (negatively) on our revenue and we knew we had to change our approach to launching games.
4. We started figuring out performance marketing i.e. user acquisition beginning 2019. It seemed like when we turned each rock for more information another rabbit hole kept opening up.
5. Initially, we thought to “buy” information through freelancers. Boy, that turned out to be a huge mistake. There are many cowboys out there claiming they can be that “silver bullet”, which obv doesn’t exist.
6. A couple of months later, we decided we needed to do everything ourselves. I was so eager for knowledge, I couldn’t stop researching and figuring out how to nail this. We questioned everything and learned by doing, failing and getting back up to improve our processes.
7. It felt like we started Lucky Kat all over again.
That was one of the toughest periods and our first game that we were able to profitably scale through user acquisition was Nom Plant.
That was one of the toughest periods and our first game that we were able to profitably scale through user acquisition was Nom Plant.
8. This all happened within 6 months. If we didn’t do this, I am not sure where we’d be right now.
Fast execution is key for survival within the mobile games industry!
Fast execution is key for survival within the mobile games industry!