Creating a good user base might not be enough to generate decent revenue to gain profit out of the game. Hence comes the term user retention. This means the number of users who are playing the game repeatedly.
Users may download a game, and after a few game sessions, they may never come back. In another scenario, the user may come back again and again to the game. User retention is calculated on time parameters such as weekly or monthly use. This means how many users are coming back to the game within the given time period.
Free and freemium game revenue mostly depends on user retention, because the developer converts the time spent inside the game into revenue through several revenue generations plans. That is why user retention becomes important for doing business with games.
There are many techniques to improve user retention other than the core metagame. Let's discuss the major techniques through these points:
- Daily bonus
- Leaderboards and achievements
- Offerwall integration
- Push notifications
- Frequent updates
Daily bonus is the most popular technique among game developers for user retention. In this system, the user gains something extra for coming back to the game each day. Consecutive days of playing rewards the user with more items and elements.
This system motivates users to keep coming back to the game. Thus, a developer gets more game session time to convert it to revenue.
Leaderboards and achievements are used extensively to retain users. Both give users competition and motivation to make progress in the game. To make progress in the game, users must come back to the game and spend time within the game.
The developer uses some real-world offers to keep users inside the game. Real offers such as coupons and discounts always interest users. It provokes them to come to the offerwall frequently. Offerwalls not only help retain users, but also help generate more revenue from various offer campaigns.
Push notifications can inform users about the latest information and updates about the game. Even if the user is not playing the game, push notifications help them gain interest in the game, which may make the user start playing again.
Sometimes, a user downloads a game and forgets about it. In such a case, a push notification reminds the user to play the game. It also informs them about their progress inside the game.
The developer should keep updating the game frequently to keep up with the chart and to be in the sight of the user. This indirectly attracts more users and helps retain existing users.
Every game store informs existing users about the latest update information for a game or application so that users can update their game and keep playing.