Impact Highlights: Achieving 3x higher ROAS, 5x lower CPI, and fast breakeven for UA campaigns with ‘SIEGE: World War II’

A popular free-to-play mobile game, ‘SIEGE: World War II’, published by Imperia Online, a studio under the Stillfront Group, faced significant challenges with their user acquisition (UA). Despite its popularity, Imperia Online’s UA efforts were not profitable, and the reasons behind this were unclear. That’s when they sought expert assistance from SuperScale.

Initial challenges

As we assessed the game, we identified the following key issues:

  • Ineffective data setup and tracking in the post-IDFA world: The primary challenge was the data setup, which hindered effective campaign optimization.
  • Limited exploration of campaign setup possibilities: Various types of campaigns, GEOs, and optimizations had not been fully explored. However, conducting these without additional data setup proved challenging.

 

 

Cvetan Rusimov, CEO of Imperia Online, shared why they believed in SuperScale’s experts to help their games:

“We heard about SuperScale’s expertise in revitalizing underperforming games, and it was exactly what we needed for our title, ‘SIEGE: World War II’. Pleased with the results, we have expanded our cooperation to other titles, and SuperScale is currently our most important partner for scaling our growing portfolio of titles.” 

 

SuperScale’s analysis and approach

Data audit and Data health check

We began with a comprehensive data audit to identify and fix issues in their data tracking and setup. Then, we established detailed data monitoring for continuous and automated data health checks using our data management module designed for gaming, SuperETL. Accurate data is crucial for making informed marketing decisions, and we identified several areas needing improvement. We also implemented an advanced SKAN model to ensure that our insights about UA campaigns, based on the most accurate iOS data, are as precise as possible.

Identifying strengths and weaknesses

We then conducted a thorough review of their existing marketing strategies to identify strengths and weaknesses. Based on our findings, we provided recommendations to better allocate and optimize the paid media budget, ensuring that every dollar spent on UA was maximized.

Leveraging SuperPlatform features

 

Mario Vasilev, Product Lead at Imperia, shared his positive experience with SuperScale’s SuperPlatform:

“SuperScale’s SuperPlatform has provided us with complete visibility into the campaigns, ensuring full transparency in our partnership. We can monitor the cohort view daily and observe how changes in the game impact profitability. This allows us to make more informed decisions for future strategy and planning. Additionally, the platform’s automated data checks help us identify and resolve issues at an early stage in real time.”

 

Our SuperPlatform was pivotal in delivering valuable insights. Key features like LTV and ROAS predictions, UA-factor, and data health automation played a significant role. Here’s how we used them:

  • LTV Prediction: Enabled us to identify and target high-value players, focusing marketing efforts on the most profitable segments.
  • ROAS Prediction: Helped evaluate the future (D365) return on different ad campaigns, allowing informed decisions to maximize profitability. For example, our UA experts are able to know exactly when to stop campaigns or increase UA spend, thanks to ROAS predictions made for each daily cohort. Learn more about how UA teams are using ROAS predictions to create profitable campaigns in our blog here.
  • UA-factor: There are many reasons why paid campaigns can lead to an increase in organic installs. Our UA-factor takes into account the impact spending has on organic installs and conservatively evaluates overall UA performance.
  • Data health automation: We’re now able to instantly identify and fix any tracking issues (for example, those caused by new releases with ad networks or apps), ensuring we don’t waste a single dollar on inaccurate marketing.

SuperScale’s Platform dashboards visuals

Optimizing spend and testing networks

With an accurate data setup, we enhanced the efficiency of Imperia Online’s marketing spend. We tested various ad networks, including Meta, Google Ads, TikTok, and IronSource, to diversify and optimize UA efforts. Additionally, we planned campaigns on Apple Search Ads to reach a broader audience.

Results and achievements

Our data-driven approach led to significant improvements for “SIEGE: World War II”. Key achievements include:

  • 3x higher ROAS: Increased Return on Advertising Spend from 50% to 153%, despite record spending in the last 12 months, finally achieving profitability in UA.
  • 5x lower CPI: Reduced the average Cost Per Install from $2.8 to $0.6, approximately a 78% decrease, within three months.
  • Breakeven for UA campaigns realized within 3-4 months: Based on the data, achieving return on investment quickly and generating profit thereafter.
  • Healthy, sustainable growth: Scaled profitably per day, ensuring sustainable growth.
  • More profitable LiveOps and game feature updates: Enhanced visibility of business impact on the product roadmap and LiveOps execution, along with higher LTV, enabling higher budget scaling.

 

ROAS 365 days prediction

Comparison of breakeven before and after SuperScale’s management reveals that we experienced the highest revenue in two years.

Conclusion 

At SuperScale, we excel in making data-driven decisions for UA. Utilizing our comprehensive data platform and ongoing data monitoring, we ensure the most accurate data for making informed decisions, ROAS predictions, and LTV predictions. We transformed Imperia Online’s UA strategy for ‘SIEGE: World War II.’ The results were clear: reduced CPI, increased ROAS, and sustainable growth.

Is your mobile game studio facing similar challenges? Let us help you achieve profitable and sustainable growth.