Beyond The First Purchase: How to Build Web Stores Your Players Love Returning To
Editor’s note: this article was originally published on Business of Apps.
“Habit-forming products often start as nice-to-haves, but once the habit is formed, they become must-haves,” says Nir Eyal, author of Hooked.
This touches on a key challenge publishers are facing: moving beyond attracting one-time web store buyers to forming loyal, repeat buyers. Building a habit loop within your store is key, especially for VIP players who contribute significantly to average revenue per user (ARPU). For many of our partners, launching a web store has led to an incremental revenue increase of 25–35%—a testament to the financial impact of building these long-term player habits.
But when done right, a habit loop doesn’t just increase revenue; it boosts player engagement and satisfaction, creating a fun experience that they choose repeatedly. Let’s look at how publishers can build these habits by guiding players through each critical stage of the web store journey.
First visit: Setting the stage for engagement
You only get one chance at making a strong first impression. Your goal is to ensure players are aware of your web store and, further, understand it has unique benefits that are worth checking out with a visit.
To do this, you should lean upon your online communities. Games often have their own Instagram, Facebook, X, or TikTok, but we’ve also increasingly seen the benefits of communities on Reddit and Discord. These platforms provide places for users to forge community, create friendships, seek quick tips and tricks, and find the best insider news. Therefore, they make the best place to promote your web store’s deals and showcase its unique store benefits, from exclusive items to better value on purchases when compared to in-app purchases.
It’s important to play an active role in these channels, especially with VIP players. VIP account management is key, and account managers should be reaching out directly to VIP players to offer exclusive deals and spark interest for first-time web store visits. Keep in mind the “trigger” stage of habit formation focuses on capturing attention. By creating strategic, well-timed triggers through social channels or VIP outreach, publishers can provide an initial nudge that brings players into the store, setting the foundation for a new buying habit.
Repeated visit: Building FOMO and desire to return
So you’ve raised awareness for your web store, and there’s been a spike in first-time visits. Now what? Your next goal is to encourage second and third visits with more “triggers”. According to our data at Appcharge, most first-time deposits occur after 2 to 3 visits.
To drive repeat visits, continue leveraging VIP account management and social media to drive home the value of the web store, offering time-limited and unique offers. These create urgency and excitement, or, as some would say, drive the classic “FOMO” (fear of missing out). Further, to build a desire to return, consider gamification in your web store, such as daily bonuses or offer wheels. By showing players the exciting content and offers available with each visit, you can increase retention and help form a habit of returning to the web store.
According to our data, a daily bonus is helpful, but the types of daily bonuses you offer are most crucial. Variable rewards are key to forming habits since they tap into player curiosity and desire for variety. Encourage players to check back often by offering both varied daily bonuses and limited-time deals with different artwork. By doing this, you’ll successfully create a loop of regular engagement.
First purchase: The conversion catalyst
Your players are aware of your store, and you’ve not only gotten them to check it out for the first time, but they’ve visited a few times and are intrigued. How do we turn the curious web store browser into a web store purchaser?
To convert repeat visitors into buyers, use unique, time-limited welcome offers that stand out from in-game options. Note that the offer itself isn’t enough – its presentation is also key. Make sure it’s inviting, familiar, and on-brand using tailored game artwork and eye catching designs.
In addition to the welcome offer, make sure your web store UI is user-friendly. Remember, this stage is all about encouraging curious web store shoppers to take action and make a purchase. You’ll need to remove friction to achieve this goal and ensure the experience is both pleasant and enticing. For this “action” stage, make it easy for players to take the first step. Easy login is crucial, so offer a variety of login methods including One Time Password. Design-wise, don’t stuff the page with information – focus on removing distractions.
Repeat purchase: Forming the habit loop
Congratulations! You’ve gotten your player to make their first purchase. Will they now ignore the convenience of in-app purchases and shop predominantly on your web store moving forward?
Not yet. There’s more work to do to make your web store a “must-have” in the eyes of your players. Our publisher partners see 80-100% of purchases on any given day coming from repeat purchasers—the secret lies in creating a seamless experience that keeps players returning to your web store when the next trigger appears. How is that done?
First, remember that this is the “investment” stage of Eyal’s framework. When players feel they’ve invested in their store experience, they’re more likely to become long-term customers. Give players a sense of progress or status to strengthen their commitment to the web store.
A key tactic here is empowering your VIP account managers to provide personalized, exclusive deals to VIP players regularly. This creates a frequent sense of value and exclusivity in the web store and strengthens the relationship with your VIP players.
Additionally, continue delighting players with engaging web store mechanics such as loyalty programs or accumulation bars, allowing them to see a reward path that makes returning and purchasing more appealing.
Final thoughts
72% of top-grossing mobile games are leveraging web stores. DTC has become a key part of the successful game’s monetization playbook, but you can’t simply create one and hope for the best. Help players form habits by going beyond raising awareness for a store or getting a single transaction. By implementing this strategy and focusing on the four key milestones—trigger, action, variable reward, and investment—publishers can delight players and create a strong, self-sustaining habit loop that draws them back to the store time and again.
Should You Go DTC Now Or Wait For App Store Regulations?
Editor’s note: this article was originally published on Mobidictum’s website.
Mobile game publishers are at a crossroads. With increasing regulatory scrutiny on app stores and changing policies, game studios face a choice: wait for more policy shifts or embrace a flexible direct-to-consumer (DTC) strategy now. The answer from industry leaders is clear—act today.
App Store Changes: Uncertainty Ahead
Recent regulatory actions have already made waves. The EU’s Digital Markets Act, for instance, pressured Apple to allow external payment links in the region, offering new revenue opportunities for developers.
Yet, the future remains uncertain. Ongoing battles, like the high-profile Epic vs. Apple and Google case, keep the landscape shifting. In-game promotion of external web stores remains problematic; many publishers operate in ‘grey’ areas, finding workarounds while being careful not to irk the gatekeepers in fear of penalties.
But relying on regulators to deliver a perfect solution is risky at best to games businesses.
While some developers wait for clarity, leading studios are moving forward, investing in adaptable DTC strategies and adding web store revenue to their income streams.
The Rise of DTC: Publishers Leading the Way
According to Appcharge’s latest report, 72% of top-grossing mobile games already operate a web store, and they’re seeing tangible results. Consider the social casino category, where every top game now has a web store.
Publishers like Playtika have demonstrated that even modest shifts to DTC channels can create big gains. In 2023, Playtika’s DTC revenue climbed to 24.9% of its total revenue, driven by the success of its Slotomania and Bingo Blitz stores. The result? Lower fees, higher margins, and more flexibility.
DTC strategies are not just about bypassing app store commissions. They offer publishers control and flexibility to engage players directly. From tailored offers to loyalty programs, publishers can build richer player experiences and, in turn, increase long-term player value.
Building Revenue Resilience
Adopting a DTC strategy isn’t just a defensive move; it’s an opportunity to build a more resilient business.
Appcharge, a leading web store provider that processes $100 million per year and powers over one-third of top-grossing mobile game web stores, found that a well-executed DTC strategy boosts revenue by 25-35% on average.
This revenue does not cannibalize revenue from in-game sales – it adds to the overall pie. For example, while overall revenue was slightly down in Playtika’s latest earnings report, their DTC earnings were actually up. The same is true for Huuge, who’ve doubled DTC revenues year-over-year and signaled more investment ahead.
Playtika’s DTC platform revenue of $173.7 million increased 1.3% sequentially and 5.1% year over year.
Challenges Are Surmountable
However, going DTC isn’t without challenges. Compliance complexities, managing new payment systems, and successfully creating a new habit among players are critical. But these hurdles are surmountable with the right tools and partners. For example, finding a good Merchant of Record provider alleviates the whole burden of global compliance and payment operations.
In terms of instilling new player behaviors, high-ARPU genres like strategy and social casino games have thrived by leveraging their existing foundations in VIP management and loyalty programs to drive DTC adoption.
The Time to Act is Now
As app store regulations continue to evolve, the window of opportunity is wide open. Waiting for policy changes could leave studios playing catch-up; those who move now to implement adaptable, multi-channel strategies are setting themselves up to be market leaders.
It’s clear from the data that DTC web stores are no longer the “next big thing” but the norm. By acting today, studios can unlock new revenue, take ownership of their players, and future-proof their businesses against unpredictable shifts in the app economy.
Announcing our $26 Million Series A, Led by Creandum With Support From Supercell, Play Ventures & Other Leading VCs
This is a powerful endorsement of the vision we started with in 2022: to give mobile game publishers the tools to connect directly with players on their own terms.
Ultimately, this delivers a net positive impact for everyone: publishers have more control and financial resilience, and players get better value for money and a fun experience. That is what drives us to develop new solutions to push DTC forward.
Why Now?
The genie is out of the bottle – publishers no longer need to lose 30% on all sales of in-game items.
The ongoing antitrust battles against Apple and Google have amplified the importance of direct-to-consumer (DTC) across the industry, sparking a much-needed conversation about control and autonomy for publishers. Regardless of the legal outcome, DTC has emerged as a powerful strategy for publishers looking to take charge of their revenue and deepen their connection with players. Testament to this is the waves of demand we’ve seen for our platform from top publishers, which has been truly remarkable.
At the same time, many publishers are finding it harder than ever to scale their user acquisition (UA) efforts post-ATT while remaining profitable. With rising costs and a crowded market, even the biggest companies are feeling the squeeze. By significantly lowering costs and increasing revenue through DTC sales, we give publishers a stronger financial foundation—a bigger war chest to fuel future growth and keep their games thriving. We’ve seen the impact of this firsthand—we process $200 million in DTC sales annually and have seen 3x growth in the last quarter.
We know we’re onto something big.
Why Do Top Publishers Choose Appcharge?
The Appcharge team
As I wrote earlier this year in our Manifesto, great products are built by people who truly get the needs of the niche they’re serving.
Our people?
We’re a team of game makers who understand the unique challenges of this space because, well, we’ve lived through them ourselves at companies like Rovio, Huuuge Games, Moon Active, and Playstudios. We understand what it takes to build and scale the world’s highest-grossing games—this informs every feature we build and all strategic monetization advice we offer our publishers.
When our team shares wins in our company’s Slack channel like the one you see below, I’m both filled with pride and pumped for what’s to come.
Mobile Gaming’s New Golden Era
This new funding marks our next step in driving the DTC movement forward. Web stores have become ubiquitous—our recent industry report confirms this trend—but the DTC space still has so much room to grow.
Appcharge Web Stores are already seen by top publishers as a leading solution, equipped with powerful engagement mechanics like Accumulation Bars, Coupons, and Daily Bonuses. And following requests from partners, we recently launched our in-game payment SDK for Unity, Android, and iOS. With sideloading rising as a viable distribution channel, we want to provide publishers the tools they need to succeed and meet players wherever they are.
We’re excited for the year to come—we’ll continue strengthening our platform and innovating in line with our publishers’ needs, for instance, with AI tools to help them get the most out of their web stores and new payment methods to continue delighting players wherever they are.
Final Thoughts
This is a good opportunity to say thank you.
A huge thank you to our world-class team, our investors for helping us get here, and our innovative publishers who continue pushing boundaries and moving the industry forward with us.
We’re just getting started 🦄
The Rise of Web Stores in Gaming: A Game-Changing Revenue Strategy
Editor’s note: This content was originally published on Game Makers, where our Chief Marketing Officer Gil Tov-Ly was invited to talk with Joseph Kim about the rise of web stores and their impact on publishers’ revenue.
Watch the episode below or continue reading for the highlights.
Mobile web stores enable game developers to manage payments from their players directly rather than using the existing built-in app store payment mechanism.
Managing customer payments directly enables game studios to avoid paying the 30% app store payment fees.
The gaming industry is witnessing a significant shift in how studios monetize their games, with web stores emerging as a powerful alternative to direct app store purchases. Here’s what every game executive and product leader needs to know about this transformative trend.
Some game studios are reporting up to 40% of their revenue now coming from web stores
Studios implementing web stores have seen 20-30% increases in total revenue
Appcharge, a leading web store platform, has reached a $200M annual revenue run rate in just 2 years
💰 Economic Benefits
Higher Margins: Studios keep ~95% of revenue from web store purchases vs. 70% through traditional app stores
Expanded Revenue Opportunities: Players often spend more when given additional purchasing options
VIP Player Focus: Web stores are particularly effective for games with high-value players (whales)
Market Size: The in-app purchase market ($110B currently) is expected to grow to $200B by 2030, with web stores potentially capturing 10-20% of that market
🎮 Best Practices for Success
Game Genre Matters: Games with significant spending differentials between average and VIP players (like casino games) see better web store adoption
Trust Building: Ensure web stores maintain a professional look and feel aligned with the game’s brand
Player Experience: Focus on seamless integration and clear value proposition for players
VIP Strategy: Consider making web stores exclusive to VIP players initially to build momentum
🛠️ Implementation Considerations
Build vs. Partner: Studios can build in-house (requiring significant resources) or partner with specialized providers
Most regions still restrict in-app links to web stores
Studios cannot actively promote web stores within their games
Platform constraints on payment provider choices remain
Geographic regulations vary
🔮 Future Outlook
Alternative app stores (like Epic Games Store on iOS in the EU) are beginning to emerge
Regulatory changes may enable more direct player relationships
The industry is moving toward a multi-channel distribution and monetization model
Web stores are becoming the “new norm” rather than just a trend
💡 Strategic Benefits Beyond Revenue
Direct Player Relationships: Build stronger connections without platform intermediaries
Marketing Control: Ability to run direct promotional campaigns
Data Ownership: Better understanding of player behavior and preferences
Flexibility: More control over pricing and promotional strategies
Player Engagement: Web stores can become an additional meta-game element for engaged players
For game studios considering web store implementation, it’s crucial to understand that success requires more than just technical implementation – it needs a strategic approach to player communication, value proposition, and long-term relationship building. As the industry continues to evolve, web stores are becoming an increasingly important part of a comprehensive monetization strategy.
Revolutionizing Mobile Game Monetization: A Conversation with Maor Sason
Editor’s note: This is a podcast originally published on Soar Payments’ blog. Listen below or continue reading for the transcript.
Maor Sason is the founder and CEO of Appcharge, a revolutionary platform aimed at helping mobile game developers retain more of their revenue by offering direct-to-consumer stores. With a background in in-game advertising, Maor has been at the forefront of mobile gaming innovation since 2016. His work focuses on empowering developers by reducing the dependency on major app stores like Apple and Google, which take a significant percentage of in-game purchase profits. With Appcharge, developers can keep up to 95% of their earnings, allowing for greater control over their revenue and a more flexible gaming experience for users.
Before launching Appcharge, Maor had an extensive career in the mobile gaming space, working closely with major studios and advertisers. He played a significant role in the free-to-play revolution that transformed the gaming industry, where users can enjoy games for free while being offered paid upgrades, bonuses, and extra content. Maor has collaborated with top-tier game development companies like Coin Master and Play, helping them scale their operations and increase profitability through innovative monetization techniques.
Maor’s work has been instrumental in shaping the mobile gaming industry, particularly as new challenges, such as Apple’s iOS 14 privacy updates, change the way games are marketed and monetized. His deep understanding of user acquisition strategies and the economics of gaming has positioned him as a thought leader in the field. With Appcharge, Maor continues to drive the industry forward by offering developers the tools they need to build successful, sustainable gaming experiences in an increasingly competitive market.
Episode Transcript
Kevin Rosenqvist: Hey, welcome to Pay Pod, where we bring you conversations with the trailblazers shaping the future of payments and fintech. My name is Kevin Rosenqvist and thanks for listening. Maor has been in the mobile game space for almost a decade. He started with in-game advertising and now he’s built Appcharge, a platform for mobile game developers to monetize by offering players chances at bonuses, rewards, and in-game purchases. And the best part for gaming studios is that they keep the majority of their revenue, rather than having to kick up to 30% back to Apple and Google. Maor Sason and I talk about mobile gaming. We reminisce about the Game Boy, and I get his take on what gaming in the metaverse might look like. So please welcome Maor Sason. I enjoy some mobile games, particularly card games like Euchre. I like to play euchre. My first question for you is very, very important. Can you make them give me like a million coins? So I’m set for a while.
Maor Sason: Easy. I’m gonna give him a call tomorrow. Okay. Yup. Yay!
Kevin Rosenqvist: Kevin needs some coins.
Maor Sason: Yeah, this is gonna holler at you. Yep.
Kevin Rosenqvist: That’s right. I remember when mobile games first take off and I first took off. And I remember the first time I discovered sort of the model of offering the game for free and then having the option to pay for upgrades, extra lives, coins, etc. at first it was kind of like what? I thought this game was free. But then you think about it and you’re like, wow, that’s a that’s a brilliant like that’s like a brilliant way to to to do a game like offer it for free and then then you can upgrade with within it. You’ve been in this space since 2016. Have you found that players are more likely to spend in-game than they used to.
Maor Sason: Of course, mobile spending goes up like the average spending per paying users in all platforms are going up, especially in mobile. Free to play is actually, I would say, the only way to build a proper game and monetize it in mobile nowadays. There’s no other way to do it and it’s proven itself. It’s kind of like gave birth to some of the biggest titles in the industry. You probably know of them. Also here in Israel we have a great team. Games like, studios like Coin Master, Playtika, Plarium, all the Israeli based. So we’re pretty familiar with that.
Kevin Rosenqvist: What type of games are the ones like the most successful? The biggest ones? Are they Maor Sason of the, you know, card games or are they more of the building worlds kind of games? What’s really the hottest thing right now?
Maor Sason: Oh, there is no one category to rule them all. You know, it’s not a it’s not a Sauron Ring, but starting from a puzzles the all kinds of social casinos RPGs every niche has some MVP’s and they can generate tons of cash and entertainment for their users. So mobile mobile is a star and it’s taking all the categories up with it. , yeah.
Kevin Rosenqvist: It’s funny because like, I think about my Game Boy that I had as a kid, you know, this little tiny.
Maor Sason: What were you playing?
Kevin Rosenqvist: What’s that?
Maor Sason: What were you playing? I was planning to add. Like my Game Boy color the purple one. What was your favorite?
Kevin Rosenqvist: Well, I had the original, like the white game boy. That was just the green.
Maor Sason: Oh yeah. Oh yeah.
Kevin Rosenqvist: No, I’m I’m, I’m old man so I, I’m old. But yeah, I had I mean Tetris was the obvious one that was like super, super big. And then, uh. God, there was another game that I can’t remember. It was like an adventure game. I don’t know if it was a Zelda, but it was something in that realm where you kind of walk around and stuff. But I think about that, and I think about what I’m able to do with my phone now, and it’s just startling how far we’ve come. Yeah.
Maor Sason: People still play these games, by the way. Like, so Pokemon was my first game on the Game Boy Color. It was the red like a Charizard. And by the way, the logics and the interest for Pokemon. Have you ever played? No, it’s based on Zelda, actually. So like the whole game mechanics is just a Nintendo took it from Zelda, brought it to Pokemon, and they did it the same now on the new console. And it’s working really well.
Kevin Rosenqvist: Wow. It’s just the same even on the new console.
Maor Sason: On the switch?
Kevin Rosenqvist: Yeah, on the switch, it’s the same. That’s interesting. That’s really interesting.
Maor Sason: Yeah, yeah. With the open world. Zelda, if you had a chance to play. Yeah. Breath of the wild.
Kevin Rosenqvist: Yeah. That sounds awesome. I have a three and a half year old. So pretty soon he’s gonna start when I hand him a video game controller. Now he just mashes the buttons. But pretty soon he’s going to start beating me at stuff. I know it’s going to happen.
Maor Sason: Yeah. Or it’s gonna, you know, it’s just going to be very polite and it’s going to manipulate you to let them play every day, the whole day. That’s what usually happens.
Kevin Rosenqvist: Don’t tell me that I don’t know.
Maor Sason: Yeah. They’re getting more sophisticated.
Kevin Rosenqvist: It’s incredible even watching him with his tablet, I’m just like. I didn’t even know he could do that, you know? Like, he’s like, wait a minute. Are you buying something? Like.
Maor Sason: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. They they’re they’re like controlling the the consoles, the iPads, the iPhone. It’s like, you know, they’re like yeah.
Kevin Rosenqvist: Yeah, it is like Spock. That’s a good analogy. Yeah. So mobile gaming is a huge market in 2023. The global mobile game market generated $76.7 billion, and it’s expected to grow to over 100 billion by 2028. I also saw that mobile games accounted for over 55% of consumer spending on mobile devices in 2023, which really blew me away. But what a lot of people didn’t realize is that a lot of the revenue is taken by Google and Apple. Like if you more fees for having their stores and stuff. How much do they take? As a general rule.
Maor Sason: First of all, about the numbers. I know that I’m affiliated with a bit different numbers. Nowadays, mobile games in-app purchase spending should be around $110 billion and will account for like, I think it’s going to be 200 billion by the end of the decade. Wow. Okay. Insane numbers. Okay. Yeah. Apple iPhone. Yeah, Exactly. Increased and increased expectations. Apple and Google’s business model is that they’re charging 30% for all digital goods. It means it’s not like a tangible like shoes, food, clothing, anything that you can hold. They’re taking 30% unless it’s a subscription. If it’s a subscription first purchase is like 30%. Then the recurring ones are 15. So it’s big money. Yeah, that’s a lot for quite a service, but not the best, you know. Not a lot of competition to incentivize, to give a better service. So it’s a lot deep down in the developer’s pocket. And it’s kind of like taking the industry down in a sense. Ios 14 with a updated privacy. Are you familiar with the update of iOS 14?
Kevin Rosenqvist: No.
Maor Sason: No. So in a nutshell, a few years ago, I think it was like for Apple updated the iOS 14 update. And then in terms of privacy, you’re able to opt out when you install an app and they recommended to you instead of like they opt you in automatically in order to get out of the system and not to have the data saved, you need to go to the settings and go to like a complicated funnel. What it led to is that most people don’t want to have their data saved, and then they were not tracked. And then it’s harder to target you as a user. And that led to way higher prices to target you as a user, which led to a higher user acquisition cost for every user. And that’s kind of changing the game and the strategy for all game developers. So it really shakes the economy. On the gratitude of Apple. And I think that that’s going to take us to the direct to consumer strategy. That’s going to be like the savior for this whole mess. We’re helping mobile game developers to maintain or even increase their user acquisition strategy and capabilities even prior to iOS 14 update, saving the mediator the mediation costs. Let’s call it like this. It’s taking back like sane margins. And that’s where we aim to.
Kevin Rosenqvist: And so yeah, if your company is Appcharge and you allow companies to build custom stores, but they retain far more of their revenue. Correct. Yeah.
Maor Sason: More on the on the neighborhood of like 95% 5% rather than 70%.
Kevin Rosenqvist: That’s substantial. That’s a big difference.
Maor Sason: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So it’s more than 30% if you look at. That’s crazy.
Kevin Rosenqvist: I mean the 30%. That’s a huge number that they take. I mean, I didn’t realize that until I started digging into what you do and, , you know, that that blew me away. So, tell me how does Appcharge work? So I have a cool new game. It’s going to take the world by storm. I know it will. And I want to monetize by offering daily bonuses, chance for people to buy upgrades and whatnot. So what’s my first step? How do I do this with Appcharge?
Maor Sason: Let’s zoom out for a minute. But are you familiar with Shopify?
Kevin Rosenqvist: Yes. Of course.
Maor Sason: Imagine Shopify, but just for mobile game developers with all their unique needs and integrations and payment processing capabilities that we’re providing. We are a white label solution. And we’re the platform for mobile game developers that want to monetize outside of the platforms. And we build them the store straightforwardly. So if you’re a game, Kevin, and your domain is Kevin Combs, and you want to facilitate the shop on kevin.com/shop, you’re going to use the arbitrage platform to assemble the exact look and feel store that you have in game with all the necessary features that the ones, the cool ones that are getting retention, the ones that are the users are lusting for alongside with the service and the capabilities and the the integrations that you need in order to function and to work in harmony with your game. So that’s like in a nutshell, what we do, but it’s way more fun. It sounds complicated. It’s way more fun than that because it gets the people excited, like in their organizations and internally in the studio, so they can finally offer like cool bundles that they were not offering, not able unable to offer it to to gain to their users, and also is going to lead them to later on to buy more users and increase the gain and you know to find the more features and and more studios later on.
Kevin Rosenqvist: That’s awesome. That’s really, really cool. And so how would someone do it with Google or Apple? Like, would that just be like, is that sort of built into their functionality? Do they have to set it up the same way?
Maor Sason: No, no, it’s it’s a totally different platform and system that’s not connected to Apple and Google. It’s it’s oh, it is not even advertised. No no no no no. It’s a web store. It’s not the only thing that Apple is doing upcharge. We’re providing with comprehensive solutions right for direct to consumer. But if we’re talking about the web shop it’s external to Apple and Google. So imagine you have Apple, you have Google and you have your own shop on online on the web, just like if you would sell anything else on the web. And it’s not connected to Apple and Google, it’s not advertising in the game itself.
Kevin Rosenqvist: Okay. Yeah, yeah. And it’s like the user doesn’t even realize they’re going somewhere else. They just feel like they’re still in game, right?
Maor Sason: No, no, they’re totally aware that it’s, developers web shop. They see it as them helping the game developer that they love and are invested in. And they’d like to cut the mediator and invite direct from the developer, essentially. So let’s say you love a certain brand, and instead of going to the department store and get it, it’s like, hey, I love this brand. I’m gonna look online, what’s going on there? And the brand’s website, and you’re just going to buy directly. Probably you’ll see more products. Probably you’ll have a loyalty program that’s going to let you know with the newsletter if you’re really into the brand and you’re going to get like a better offering, it works like that. And every commerce in every industry, why not in gaming?
Kevin Rosenqvist: Mhm. Yeah, yeah. And you, you’ve been in this business for a while And you, you’ve been involved in the in the marketing and or advertising world within games as well, connecting advertisers to mobile games and showing video ads and and you know, as much as I dislike commercials when I’m watching TV, I tend to be someone who watches the ads in a mobile game rather than paying to go ad free. Am I in the majority, would you say? Or am I in the minority? From what your data has.
Maor Sason: I would say you’re not. You’re not a minority and you’re not a majority. It’s somewhere. Somewhere a fair split. Okay. yeah. Yeah. Depends on the category of the game, obviously. But there are so many ad based, revenue games that you can choose to to upgrade. I did my my first venture with advertising and it’s interesting. It’s obviously now I got familiar with what’s going on besides me, loving games and gaming. Imagine, just like I said, for improving the the economics in order to improve scale. So it’s interconnected, the marketing and the margins. So once we are empowering the developers and we’re expanding their margins, we’re, let’s say letting them own the users and control their marketing spend way better than they were. They can plan it differently and they can they can plan it more long term. And once I don’t want to talk like an industry terms, but when an average rate payer is changing, so, so does your whole marketing strategy. So it’s it’s funny that, you know, I got to this crossroads. I wasn’t expecting it, but, you know, when the penny dropped, it’s connected. So we’re also, being some kind of, like, advisory for some studios and how to improve their marketing strategy and and GTM.
Kevin Rosenqvist: So you offer a lot more than just a web store, then.
Maor Sason: Oh, yeah. We’re a full service. Your wish is my command.
Kevin Rosenqvist: All right, well, give me the million. You’re one to talk.
Maor Sason: Exactly. Were you planning your revenge, red alert?
Kevin Rosenqvist: No, I was playing. I was just playing a card game called Euchre. I just keep losing, I guess, I guess I.
Maor Sason: I need to play with you. You heard of it? Yeah. I heard you like hiking.
Kevin Rosenqvist: I like what you like.
Maor Sason: Hiking.
Kevin Rosenqvist: Hiking? Yeah, I do like hiking. Yeah. Yeah I do.
Maor Sason: You guys have good, good spots there in Colorado.
Kevin Rosenqvist: Oh, yeah, I’m in Colorado. It’s just like. Yeah, if you like to hike, this is. This is the spot for sure. This is about as good as it gets.
Maor Sason: Definitely in the bucket list.
Kevin Rosenqvist: Is it really? Have you come to Colorado?
Maor Sason: Yeah yeah yeah yeah. Like the the bouldering there is great. Yeah.
Kevin Rosenqvist: Uh huh. Yep yep. Very good. Yeah. So tell me what games you got. What are the what are the big games that you zap charge that that people might know.
Maor Sason: So we work with top studios. top 15, 20 studios in the world where there are some categories where, let’s say 60% of the studio is working with us, and I cannot disclose the names, but.
Kevin Rosenqvist: That’s all right. What would you say the what’s the most popular type of mobile game? Like what is the one that’s the most, you know, the one that’s the most popular.
Maor Sason: Popular?
Kevin Rosenqvist: like the type of game. Like what kind of games? What kind of games are people downloading the most? Would you say? Are they Cod games? Is it RPGs? Casual? Hyper casual?
Maor Sason: Think like in terms of numbers. Mhm. Mhm. Of uh of active users. Not not in terms of revenue.
Kevin Rosenqvist: Okay. Besides active users. Yeah. Yeah. That makes sense. That makes sense. Mhm. I was curious to get your take on, on something. And I don’t know how deep in the weeds you go in this. But you know we hear so much about the metaverse and all that and, and specifically how it relates to gaming. You know, one of the use cases for blockchain technology and NFTs that get a lot of people excited is how they will work within the metaverse, being able to exchange digital assets. I’m curious, do you do you think that is the future of gaming? Is the metaverse going to be the future of gaming as we know it?
Maor Sason: Metaverse is going to be the future of gaming as we know it. I think metaverse is definitely gonna play a big part in gaming as we know it. But I don’t think it’s gonna make all other ways to interact disappear. Like today. Like before smartphones. Mobile gaming wasn’t big, right? But they didn’t annihilate the console. And in a way, it’s like a compliment. It was reinforcing. Definitely. I see a bright future for the metaverse once the technology is going to be a bit more advanced. We can already witness it. You know, the capability of Apple. Wow. Have you tried.
Kevin Rosenqvist: It? I have, I tried. No, I have not actually tried it.
Maor Sason: You should, yeah I should. The vision for something. Yeah. Yeah, something. Something else.
Kevin Rosenqvist: I just feel like, I don’t know, I feel like, I don’t know if I would like having that thing on my face. I mean, it seems like it’s kind of cumbersome.
Maor Sason: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Not for a daily walk. Like, you see, like these crazy people driving with it, but more for a living room. Office. You said entertainment.
Kevin Rosenqvist: Yeah. Are you excited about it? Like, is it as a whole? Do you think it’s. Do you think it’s pretty cool technology that you’re excited about?
Maor Sason: Definitely. Yeah, I’m excited about it. It’s making me wander, taking me to some, like, dystopian movies and books that I like. It’s there. Mhm.
Kevin Rosenqvist: Do you think you think you’ll, you know, try to try to move out, charge into, into that realm if it, if it takes off. Is there if you thought about that at all.
Maor Sason: No I don’t think that it’s, it’s there yet. Commercially there is only the beginning. There’s a lot to do there. Like in terms of, like, you know, in the industry doesn’t exist yet for us to help out. And it’s being controlled by the platforms essentially. Yeah, yeah. Apple and Oculus. Meta. But once it’s going to get big enough. Definitely. Yeah. Aperture has room to comment.
Kevin Rosenqvist: Awesome. Well, that sounds pretty cool. Hey Mary, thanks so much for being here. The company’s Appcharge. And, yeah, best of luck to you. And, continue, continue. Best. Best of luck with continued growth.
Maor Sason: Yeah. Thank you. Thank you so much, Kevin.
Mobidictum interview with Maor Sason, CEO of Appcharge
Editor’s note: this article was originally published on Mobidictum’s website.
Appcharge is the leading DTC platform for mobile game publishers to maximize profits through owning player relationships.
They are the fastest-growing all-in-one global payment solution, but Appcharge goes beyond providing a payment service; it drives revenue growth for its partners by powering up stores with unique monetization features – features that exemplify the deep roots their team has in building and scaling mobile games themselves.
Appcharge was voted the Best Payment Service Provider at the Pocketgamer.biz Mobile Game Awards at Gamescom.
Maor Sason, CEO of Appcharge, answered our questions and gave invaluable insight about the industry.
What was your primary goal when you launched Appcharge?
The need for a direct-to-consumer platform has been clear to me for years. Developers work hard to create amazing games and content, but they then have to share so much of their revenue with App Stores.
When we launched Appcharge in 2022, our goal was to bring positive change to the mobile games industry by doing things differently, and now we’re seeing that happening at scale – both with more members joining our team and top-grossing publishers whose stores we power. We help publishers sell directly to their players and form stronger connections with them which is a win-win for both players who get more value and publishers who benefit from much higher margins.
What are mobile game publishers’ most significant challenges in monetizing their games effectively?
While monetization challenges can be highly particular, tied to your studio’s market and genre, some challenges are universal like competition, engagement, and eroding profit margins.
For competition, the market is oversaturated with high-quality games. So studios need to rise above the noise and win over gamers’ attention and also constantly innovate and stay fresh to retain their players. And this is especially critical for retaining your top-spending players.
Engagement forms another challenge – driving player loyalty and repeat purchases. Studios must create daily habits and ensure both their game and buying items on the store are part of the player’s daily rituals.
Finally, surging UA costs and the hefty 30% platform rev-share fee caused a massive erosion in profit margins. Put simply, big studios that do not optimize monetization via player segmentation, personalization, and a strong data-driven approach will struggle to remain profitable.
How do payment and compliance issues impact the growth of game publishers, and what solutions have you found most effective?
Payment and compliance issues can hinder the growth of game publishers by adding complexity and risk. Non-compliance can lead to fines and reputation damage, while inadequate payment solutions can result in lost revenue.
At Appcharge, we’ve addressed these challenges by creating a versatile payment infrastructure that supports numerous methods and currencies, ensuring seamless transactions worldwide. Our platform also includes automated compliance checks and strong fraud prevention, helping partners stay ahead of regulatory changes.
By handling these complexities, we allow publishers to focus on developing great games while scaling efficiently and confidently.
What are some common obstacles game publishers encounter when setting up and managing their own web stores?
We often meet with publishers who have been trying to “crack” DTC, without much success yet. The most common issue we see in these cases is simply stores that look nothing like the game – so players dislike them. Building a template web store is easy, but crafting one that feels native to your players is hard, and it takes effort.
Aside from that, we often hear from publishers that they struggled taking their store to market and reaching scale. We publish a lot of content on our blog on how to effectively do that, but it all starts with community management. As a publisher, you must form channels where you can converse directly with your players. Think newsletters, Discord, Facebook Messenger, and even influencers or streamers.
Another common obstacle is publishers who are not aggressive enough with the value they offer players on the web store, compared to the value players can find on the in-app store. To truly form a habit, players need to feel there’s a strong reason to keep choosing the store. Here too, there’s a “right way” to go about it and we always recommend our partners keep the same price points their in-app store offers, but offer significantly more value in the same packages if they’re purchased on the web store.
Which performance metrics are the most challenging to achieve?
Frankly, there’s no real “one size fits all” to successful web stores. The service Appcharge offers tends to be very bespoke. We view ourselves as the monetization partners of the studios we work with, rather than just a payments service provider or a vendor. As such, each of our partners has different goals for their DTC efforts and metrics they’d like to improve.
Moreover, metric goals must take into account the specific game context – the currencies available in the game, the game’s economy, the player community and their likes and dislikes, and more. Some of our partners focus on increasing the repeat purchase rate of their players, others focus on increasing average transaction and ARPU, and others may focus on wider spread adoption of the store among the player base.
What are some of the best ways to keep your game relevant in the market?
Web stores are sticky when they’re integrated and promoted in a game’s community channels to raise awareness and when they deliver hyper-clear value. For example, a game’s social media channel can post that there’s a way to get double the coins for the same price at the web store. That’s valuable to the consumer. Seeing this frequently will significantly keep the web store relevant if the offers cycle with what is beneficial in-game over time.
Repeat purchases are driven in several ways. Of course, social promotion is one of them, especially if the offers pair with a limited-time window or expiration date.
Gamification can also drive repeat purchases. For example, daily bonus mechanics will compel users to return to the store to claim bonuses. Further, a web store can offer additional bonuses or benefits over time as users work through a rewards funnel, activating perks based on web store visits and spending.
What are the challenges in making stores react in real time to existing player segments and monetization rules?
Since the entire Appcharge team comes from building and scaling the world’s biggest games we understand how critical personalization is for effective monetization. On the other hand, we knew we didn’t want to force our partners to learn a new system, or to re-configure their existing monetization rules and player segments. We wanted to create a web store that acts as an extension to their existing systems and reacts in real-time to each visiting player by only displaying the best offers for him.
So we built our store system from the ground up with that goal in mind. Each Appcharge store is connected via API to the publisher’s backend and displays fully personalized offers that follow the publisher’s existing player segments and monetization.
What are some of the toughest decisions you’ve had to make regarding innovation versus stability in your platform?
You just described a classic Appcharge tradeoff dilemma we often find ourselves in – a painful dilemma! Appcharge is already powering stores for over ⅓ of top-grossing mobile games and we don’t take that responsibility lightly. We know we want to serve our partners well and match their hunger for innovation and new features, but at the same time, we know we cannot risk bad player experience or the robustness of the payment platform.
A typical tough decision in this regard is taking the time to thoroughly test each feature before we release it to a client. I know startups are supposed to be “MVP this, MVP that” but we don’t really have the luxury of releasing “half-baked” features or fixing stuff on the go. To meet both ends, our amazing tech team had to design systems and infra to ensure a high level of QA and polish in days, instead of weeks.
I’m extremely proud of the level of innovation and new features the team has been able to push out this year, while still maintaining stellar platform stability.
How has your team’s past experience working at companies like Rovio, Huge Games, Moon Active, and Play Studios influenced your approach to solving problems at Appcharge?
The needs of a top-grossing game are different from a small-scale game, not to mention a fitness or music app. So we always think through the lens of – what tools and services would we have wanted back when we worked on such massive-scale games?
Working with leading mobile game studios requires you to anticipate their needs and update the platform to provide exciting new solutions, whether it’s rewarding players with progress bars or developing new ways to tailor offerings to the most engaged players based on when and where they’re playing.
When we carefully consider what we’re building at Appcharge, how we can service our clients best, and what drives value to them and consumers. Every decision comes down to whether this is a valuable addition to our partners and their players. If it’s not, we don’t waste time on it.
Appcharge is an associate sponsor for the Mobidictum Conference 2024. Miikka Luotio, VP of Business Development at Appcharge, will be a speaker at the conference, which will take place on October 15-16 in İstanbul. Book your ticket now to meet this amazing team and other industry professionals!
About Appcharge
Appcharge is the leading direct-to-consumer platform for game publishers to maximize profits through relationships with players. The company is the fastest-growing all-in-one global payment solution, enabling game studios to scale paying user growth, customize webstores, optimize player retention, and gamify offerings. One-third of the top-grossing mobile games choose Appcharge as their preferred partner.
Appcharge supports 500 payment methods and 80 currencies, making partners financially compliant worldwide in minutes. Headquartered in Tel Aviv, Appcharge is funded by Gillot Capital Partners and Play Ventures and is led by veterans from Rovio, Huge Games, Moon Active, and Play Studios.
