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Innovative Monetization Features

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Jun, 2022 Innovative

Monetization Features

Snapshot Report

June 2022


Using a
Category → Genre → Subgenre
hierarchy we are

able to differentiate games in a meaningful way and offer

accurate insights for all individual game types currently found

in the market.


Our taxonomy is
created together with industry experts
and

is based on thorough testing and data-analysis of the market.


In this report we are focusing on the latest monetization

feature innovations within mobile games.

GameRefinery’s Genre Taxonomy

GameRefinery uses a three-layered

approach to categorize games

There are several strategies that game developers can follow to monetize their

mobile games, and hundreds of different monetization methods. As the mobile

game industry continues to innovate with new genres and playing styles, new

monetization methods are emerging too. But which monetization methods are the

most effective? And perhaps more importantly, which monetization methods are

the best fit for your game?

Our latest report provides valuable insights into innovative monetization features,

covering the ever-evolving Battle Pass to new types of gachas and the latest

developments in IAP offers. Using the GameRefinery service, we reveal which

monetization features are proving a hit with players and why, as well as how

they’re being utilized with best-use examples from games in the mobile market.

Whether you’re interested in adding more monetization features to your mobile

game or looking for inspiration on how to expand existing features, you’re in the

right place.

Innovative monetization

features overview

Key points


Battle Passes are one of the most popular monetization methods in F2P titles, featuring in around 60% of the top 20% grossing

mobile games. This monetization method continues to evolve, most recently with auto-new subscriptions, social elements and

piggy bank systems.


One of the reasons Battle Passes are so successful is they can integrate with a variety of genres without affecting the core

gameplay experience. They’re also a proven way of increasing retention and can support wider monetization strategies.


In-game shops with gacha mechanics are even more popular than Battle Passes, especially in Japan where they feature in 93%

of the top 20% grossing titles!


New gacha mechanics are emerging all of the time, with the latest innovations featuring on greater levels of transparency

(milestone and pity gachas) and cooperation with other players, such as joint-pull gachas.


IAP offers are one of the most established monetization feature and can be utilized via core gameplay or meta layers, which

help players progress through hybrid gameplay elements outside of the core gameplay experience.


When used correctly, IAP offers can appeal to a large variety of player motivations. Most recently, combining progressive

rewards with IAP offers, meaning players are rewarded after reaching a certain level of spend, is a trending feature.

Battle Pass

How has the heavily trending

engagement/monetization feature

evolved these past few years?

What is
Battle Pass
?

The significant thing about the Battle Pass feature is that it has

“many faces.” First and foremost, it can be seen as an

engagement/progression feature. It gives players another

progression layer and engages players for the duration of the

game’s season. One of the main reasons it especially suits games

with cosmetic economies is that there is often no power

progression and minimal progression layers between matches

outside Battle Pass. You get the feeling of constant progression,

which is a strong motivational driver.

Secondly, of course, it is a monetization feature. Often, Battle

Passes offer exceptionally good value with a relatively low price

point as you have to “work for your rewards” to unlock them

compared, for example, to a direct IAP bundle. It is often targeted

to be a highly converting feature for low spenders/non-payers, and

is also more appealing psychologically for many players; you can

see the rewards you’ve already “halfway unlocked,” which induces

much stronger FOMO than missing a limited-time IAP bundle sale.

Complete tasks or levels

Get points

New rewards and progression next season

Unlock rewards

The idea behind a Battle Pass plan

Battle passes
can be seen as one of the core elements for

a successful free-to-play title

Battle passes have grown more popular since they

started trending heavily in 2019, as different genres

outside of first-person shooters with cosmetic

monetization started implementing them. The feature

has quickly become one of the most differentiating

features when comparing the top-grossing games to

other mobile titles and can be almost seen as one of

the core elements for a successful free-to-play title.

As we can see from the graph, around 60% of the US

top 20% grossing games utilize the Battle Pass

feature. One of the reasons battle passes are so

popular is that they an be introduced into almost any

genre, whether the game’s monetization relies on a

cosmetic economy (
competitive shooters, MOBAs
),

power progression (
RPGs, Strategy
), or consumable

boosters (
casual puzzlers
).

The popularity of Battle Pass in the top games really started growing back in the summer of

2019. Now, around 60% of the US (iOS) top 20% grossing mobile games utilize the Battle

Pass feature, while only 14% of games outside the top 20% have it.

The popularity of Battle Pass plan feature

Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform

Find out which monetization features are trending in different mobile gaming markets by using our

Market Trends tool in the GameRefinery service
to build your own diversified revenue streams

Battle Pass
is utilized across all subgenres

Battle Pass can work in any genre
,

as proven by our data on the

GameRefinery service. Here you can

see a list of the western top-grossing

200 games by subgenre that have

Battle Pass implemented.

If you are interested in seeing how

Battle Pass is implemented in your

game’s genre, or you’re seeking

inspiration from other genres, you can

explore Battle Pass implementations

by genre with our
Implementation

Examples tool
in the GameRefinery

service.

Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform

Why does the
Battle Pass
resonate so well with

players?


As the Battle Pass is merely a

way of rewarding players’

progress, it can be

implemented without having to

tinker with the core game

experience.


This means that there’s no

significant risk of causing

balance issues OR altering how

players experience the actual

game itself.


Engages players, as rewards are

given for playing and achieving

milestones, not just passively

purchasing a bundle of boosts.


Limited time to acquire rewards

incentivizes players to come

back more often so they don’t

miss any goodies.


Especially suited for casual

games, which typically lack

long-term progressive goals and

accomplishments.


Direct monetization through a

premium pass resembles a

subscription, as it needs to be

renewed each season.


Indirect monetization through

increased engagement and

playtime, which exposes users

to the traditional monetization

sinks (e.g., more lives, extra

moves, boosters in Match3

games.)

It doesn’t necessarily

affect the core game

1.

It increases retention and

sense of accomplishment

2.

It adds direct and indirect

boost to monetization

3.

How to take your
Battle Pass
to the next level

There’s also a growing number of games

that have started innovating outside of

the usual battle pass formula by

tweaking various mechanics or giving it

an innovative twist. When developers

get this right, not only can it help their

game stand out, but it can cause a major

increase in the number of daily players

and the amount of revenue that the

game generates.

To find out how developers are

innovating outside of the basic battle

pass format, let’s take a look at some of

the best examples from top-performing

games.

Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform

Auto-renew Subscription Battle

Passes – Call of Duty®: Mobile

COD: Mobile launched a subscription option for

Battle Pass purchases a while ago. Players can

subscribe for monthly benefits, including the

Battle Pass premium layer, permanently.

Recently, subscription-based benefits have

become more common in battle passes, but the

auto-renew is a more unique approach as only a

few games, such as Zooba, use this alongside

COD: Mobile. The auto-renewing subscription is a

clever way to incentivize players to keep

purchasing the premium reward tracks of battle

passes more frequently, especially by offering

great additional perks for it.

Examples of various innovative
Battle Pass
implementations

Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform

Battle Passes combined with

a piggy bank system – Mech Arena

What makes Mech Arena’s BP implementation

unique is that a piggy bank system is used as an

additional incentive for purchasing the battle
pass.

Purchasing the Gold Pass lets players open a

piggy bank titled Seasonal Credit Stash at the end

of the Battle Pass season. The Seasonal Credit

Stash is filled by the player completing matches

during the season, becoming a more and more

valuable bonus on top of the premium track as the

season goes on.

Examples of various innovative
Battle Pass
implementations

Examples of various innovative
Battle Pass
implementations

Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform

Gifts for teammates –

Royal Match

Royal Match offers a quite basic

implementation of the Battle Pass,

but something not often seen is the

“social incentive” to purchase the

premium version of the Battle Pass.

When a player buys a premium

Battle Pass, it sends a gift to all

members of the player’s guild.

Examples of various innovative
Battle Pass
implementations

Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform

Co-operative Battle Pass

– Top War: Battle Game

Top War’s Alliance Transportation Team is a

shared Battle Pass between all Alliance

members (guild members), meaning the

progression in the reward track for the battle

pass is shared. Each Alliance member completes

their own tasks to gain progression. If a member

wants to gain access to the premium track

rewards, they have to purchase the pass

separately.

This kind of co-op task implementation works

well in games that focus heavily on guilds, and

players are already used to working together

towards common goals. Also, seeing and hearing

the progression made by the Alliance and the

available rewards in the premium track might

convert players who would otherwise ignore the

whole event into purchasing the pass.

Examples of various innovative
Battle Pass
implementations

Ad-monetized Battle Pass –

Solitaire Home Design

Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform

Battle Pass can also be used in hybrid monetization models to

get value from your non-payers through rewarded video ads.

Solitaire Home Design’s The Diamond Seeking event is an

ad-monetized Battle Pass plan where players collect diamonds

by passing the main solitaire levels on the first try to gain

progression in the reward track of the event. There are free and

premium reward tracks, but unlocking the premium track

rewards requires the player to watch incentivized ads for each

reward, or they can purchase the premium track directly to

unlock it without watching the ads.

It’s also worth noting that the three-day event is relatively short

compared to the usual two to four-week lengths of battle passes.

It also has a noticeably shorter reward track with simpler

rewards, including normal currencies and consumable boosters.

Ad-monetized Battle Pass –

Solitaire Home Design

How to take your
Battle Pass
to the next level

To summarize the learnings from the examples, here are the key takeaways:


Want to encourage players to keep purchasing the Battle Pass(es) more regularly? Consider subscription-like

benefits or even auto-renewing subscriptions to access the premium rewards.


Additional incentives for purchasing the premium pass are commonly used in Battle Passes, but the piggy bank

mechanic can add even more boost by converting non-payers through its nature of an attractive purchase.


Does your game already have fully-fledged guild mechanics and a major focus on cooperation between

players? Consider social mechanics for your Battle Pass, such as co-op progression in the reward track.


Have a game that relies on ad monetization or want to boost your game’s ad monetization? Consider using a

Battle Pass with ad monetization.

As a bonus, here are two extra tips on the Battle Pass implementations we’ve seen on the market:


Free and premium reward tracks of the Battle Pass are proven to work, so consider utilizing them as

reward mechanics for other events in your game as well.


Have a game with various different game modes or an audience of different player types? Consider

adding multiple Battle Passes or different Battle Pass difficulties to choose from.

Find more interesting Battle Pass implementations with our

Implementation Examples tool in the GameRefinery service

Gacha

Gachas are evolving – here’s everything

you need to know about the latest

mobile game gacha innovations.

The popularity of
gacha features
continues to grow year on year

Gachas are dominating the mobile game market at the

moment, and the popularity of both gacha games and

gacha features in traditional mobile games continues to

grow year on year. 75% of the US market’s top 20%

grossing mobile games feature a shop with gacha

mechanics or refreshing wares, while 49% feature five or

more gacha types. In Japan, where gacha games are

even more popular, these figures jump to 93% and 55%,

respectively.

The reason behind these booming figures?
The gacha

system is one of the most effective ways developers can

monetize their mobile games, especially as many gacha

games are free-to-play, which incentivizes downloads.

The loop-based mechanics and randomness of gacha

rewards – where players pull the gacha in return for an

in-game asset, whether that’s a character, item or

currency – keep players hooked. And as mobile game

developers continue to innovate, new types of gacha

implementation are popping up all of the time.

Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform

True to their name, pity gachas guarantee rewards once players have pulled the gacha a certain number of times. Many developers

that implement this gacha mechanic in the West are transparent about rewards and specifically mention the rarity level of gacha

rewards, so players know what to expect after so many pulls. This might mean they can expect a legendary gacha pull after four spins

or a character of a certain level.

In the case of
Call of Duty®: Mobile
, players are rewarded with rare gachas after a certain number of pulls, and there’s a progression

bar underneath the gachas that shows how many more pulls are left for the pity gacha to be rewarded.
Genshin Impact
also uses pity

gachas with characters as rewards, and while it doesn’t display pull rates as precisely as
COD: Mobile
, it does outline specific details

about how the mechanic works.

Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform

Innovative

gacha

implementations:
Milestone/pity gacha

Call of Duty®: Mobile – Milestone/pity gacha

Innovative

gacha

implementations:
Player’s choice gacha

In Three Kingdoms Fantasy Land (
三国志幻想


) the player has been able to select from two

choices the main prize of a limited-time gacha

on several occasions.

In Xin Xiao-ao Jiang-hu (
新笑傲江湖
) the

player was allowed to choose the entire

contents of the gacha prize pool from four

different groups of items. This has been used in

several events as well.

Player ’s choice gachas became popular

in China during the summer of 2021.

They work by letting players choose

which items/characters/weapons etc.,

appear as gacha prices or sometimes in

the entire gacha prize pool.

The Chinese mobile games,
Three

Kingdoms Fantasy Land
and
Punishing:

Gray Raven
, have used player’s choice

gachas, but we’ve also seen these

gacha mechanics appear in the West in

PUBG: New State
and
Genshin Impact
.

Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform

Innovative

gacha

implementations:
Joint-pull gacha

Alongside more transparent gacha mechanics, you

can also expect to see more social mechanics popping

up in gachas.

Joint-pull gachas are a relatively new type of gacha that

incorporate social elements into the pulling mechanic,

but we’re expecting to see much more of them in 2022

and beyond. The easiest way to think of joint-pull

gachas is as co-op gachas: players can team up to pull

gacha rewards, and all of those rewards are shared

amongst everyone that participated in the gacha. We’ve

come across gachas with joint-pull mechanics in the

Japanese XFLAG titles
Kyoutou Kotoba RPG: Kotodaman

and
Monster Strike
.

Team building here works similarly to co-op missions:

players create a private room for the gacha pull or can

join a session with other players. Joint-pull gachas can

still be activated by a single player, but they’ll only get

one reward, so it’s always best to join up and play with

as many people as possible. The social twist here makes

it possible to coordinate the rewards with your team

beforehand for the best possible outcome.

Kyoutou Kotoba RPG: Kotodaman (
コトダマン

共闘ことば
RPG) – Joint-pull gacha

IAP Offers

What elements are game developers

currently using to build powerful IAP

offers?

IAP offers
are one of the most established monetization

features in F2P

IAP offers are special in-app purchase

discounts/bundle offers, usually available

only for a limited time. There are multiple

reasons that make them interesting:


First of all, they are ubiquitous across

genres and geographical markets.


Secondly, they are one of the most

established monetization features in

F2P.


And last but not least, there is a fair

amount of innovation in terms of

implementation.

Almost all top-grossing games in the US include at least some sort of limited-time IAP offer.

The trend is similar in the Japanese and Chinese mobile gaming markets too.

The popularity of limited-time IAP offers

Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform

Find out which
IAP-related features are popular in various mobile game markets to find

new revenue streams
by using our Market Trends tool in the GameRefinery service

Monetizing through
In-app Purchases
in general

Key takeaway from the perspective of IAP offers
: For example, the traditional way to monetize Casual games via IAPs has

been through core gameplay, meaning, energy, boosters, etc. However, what many Casual games have been picking up from

Midcore games is monetizing through engagement.

Via core gameplay

Offering players help in

various core
gameplay

challenges

Via meta layers

Offering players something

to progress/engage

in long-term

Monetizing through
In-app Purchases
in general

Key takeaway from the perspective of IAP offers
: As the mobile gaming scene matures, the adoption of meta element IAPs

has increased. Core game IAPs can still be the primary focus, but meta has opened a way for “hybridizing games,” bringing

gamers a sense of progression and diversity.

Narrative elements to increase sense of

immersion and progress

Some of the most successful meta layer types used in games

Collectible items/characters

(stickers, mascots, etc.)

RPG mechanics of items, characters used in

the core gameplay

Light construction & customization

mechanics (decorative or small boosts)

Yahtzee with

Buddies

Lily’s Garden

Word Villas

Project Makeover

Game of

Thrones Slots

Project Makeover

Board Kings

Idle Mafia

Disney Emoji Blitz

Art of War: Legion

Zen Match

Mr. Autofire

Effective
IAP offers
play with human emotions and motivations

Best offers play with human emotions and motivations. For

example, the following elements can be utilized to design a

powerful IAP offer:


Exclusivity

“This is the only way to get my hands on

this character skin!


Surprise

“I might get a valuable character skin for a very

little investment.”


Urgency
– ”
I need to purchase this character skin right now.

Otherwise, I’ll miss out on this deal.”


Social

“If we all invest, we can all get this character skin.”


Progression

“If I just buy a little bit of more gems, I can get

that character skin as a bonus reward!”


Personalization
(even if implicit) –
“Wow, This is exactly the

item I need right now!”

Progression

Surprise

Exclusivity

Urgency

Social

Personal

ization

Examples of various innovative
IAP offer
implementations

Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform

Mystery Shop IAP event

– Garena Free Fire

Garena Free Fire’s limited-time IAP event Mystery

Shop gave players a chance to try their luck to win a

discount offer of up to 90 percent. The game

randomly raffled off a discount percentage for the

player, which determined the price at which the
player

was allowed to purchase products from the event

shop. The offer also included a progression element,

meaning that the more stuff the player purchased

from the store, the more the progress bar was

fulfilled, and once it was full, the player could buy the

special grand prize.

First of all, this kind of implementation has a sense of

urgency since you only have seven days to engage

with the event. Secondly, it has a progression

element, meaning that the more you buy things from

the store, the more rewards you can get. Lastly, it also

has an exciting surprise element with the randomized

discount percentage.

Examples of various innovative
IAP offer
implementations

Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform

Change Your Fate IAP event

– Garena Free Fire

Another interesting example from Garena Free

Fire is its Change Your Fate limited-time IAP

event. In essence, it’s a bundle offer, but what

makes it exciting is that the players have control

over the contents of the bundle as well as the

price of the bundle. In practice, it means that if

the player purchases the pool refresh action,

they can refresh the content of the bundle pool.

In the same way, they can try their luck to

change the discount percentage of the bundle.

This interesting implementation gives the player

a sense of control over the bundle offer, as well

as a sense of excitement and surprise with the

refresh options of the content and the discount

percentage.

Examples of various innovative
IAP offer
implementations

Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform

Limited quantity IAP offer

– Dragon City Mobile

It is possible to use other means than

time to create a sense of urgency in a

special promotion. Dragon City Mobile

applies quantity-based limitations in

some of its offers.

It could be argued that this approach

adds even a slight social aspect to the

mix, as the time remaining to take

advantage of an offer (at least in

theory) is dependent on the actions of

other players.

Examples of various innovative
IAP offer
implementations

Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform

BK Birthday Party

progressive limited-time IAP

offer – Board Kings

Board Kings’ birthday offer combined a daily

login gift and an IAP offer. So what it means is

that by logging in daily, players got a free

reward. Of course, this is pretty basic stuff, but

players also got to see a sneak peek of some of

the additional rewards they could get if they

opted for these very low-priced IAP offers.

Moreover, to make the low-priced offer even

more lucrative, players could see what extra

free rewards they would get access to if they

purchased the $1.99 offer.

Psychologically speaking, presenting the offer

this way makes it seem more appealing

because who doesn’t love to receive free stuff

(if you just make a tiny additional purchase

first…)
.

Progressive IAP rewards
have been gradually

increasing in the US for the past two years

Another creative way to implement an IAP offer is

by combining it with progressive rewards.
This

type of implementation has gradually increased in

the US mobile gaming market for the past two years.

What the feature means in practice is that the game

tracks the amount of real money/premium currency

players have spent/purchased since they started

playing the game OR during a certain period of time

(usually during special events or holidays) and gives

a one-time gift to the player when certain spending

threshold is passed. This means the more

money/premium currency players spend/purchase,

the bigger prizes they are entitled to. Usually, the

prizes include energy, items, rare characters, or

premium currency.

The popularity of progressive IAP rewards

Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform

Around 23% of the US (iOS) top 20% grossing mobile games utilize progressive IAP

rewards to encourage players to spend or purchase either real money or premium

currency, while only 9% of games outside the top 20% use them.

Examples of
progressive IAP rewards

Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform

Progressive IAP rewards are a great way to incentivize players to spend or purchase either real money or

premium currency in your game. Explore more examples of progressive IAP reward implementations to get

inspiration for your own game by using our
Implementation Examples tool

in the GameRefinery service.

Garena Free Fire – Progressive IAP rewards

PUBG MOBILE – Progressive IAP rewards

The key takeaways from the
IAP
examples


Don’t be too narrow-minded

when seeking inspiration for

your IAP offers. You can find

great examples and inspiration

across different genres as well

as various geographical

markets.


Think of the emotions that

your IAP offer triggers and why

players interact with your

offer? And how can you

enforce those?


In the examples, we mainly

focused on the how part of

how to build an IAP offer, but

equally important is the what

part such as: what is the

content that you’re selling to

your players?

Look beyond your genre

and target market for IAP

offer inspiration

1.

Think about what

emotions and motivations

to attach to your IAP offer

2.

Think not only HOW, but

also WHAT

3.

Ready to diversify your revenue streams? Find
more inspirational IAP offer implementations

with our Implementation Examples tool in the GameRefinery service

We Know Mobile Games

We answer not just
what
is happening on

the market but
why
and
how
it is happening

Did you find this report and data interesting? Want to know

more about mobile game genres, features and your

competitors?

Visit our website at
www.gamerefinery.com

and log in for

free!

You can also schedule a live demo by contacting yours truly

at
kalle
@gamerefinery.com

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