How UA Funders and Acquirers Evaluate Mobile Game KPIs

Every mobile game developer tracks KPIs. But the same numbers can tell a very different story depending on who is reading them. I am asked all the time what KPIs we look at. The more interesting question is “how you are looking at our data and what context you are using to evaluate our product?.” (And yes, I look at all the data that you send me 😀)

Our team brings experience across all sides of the deal: acquiring games and studios, managing exits, and now funding UA capital. When you are seeking capital from a UA funder or a potential acquirer, you are presenting similar data to two audiences. Understanding what each one is looking for can change how you tell your story, and whether you get a deal done.

The Two and a Half Audiences

Cohort lenders underwrite the cash flow of monthly cohorts. Acquirers underwrite the enterprise value of the business. Plan A underwrites something in between. Plan A underwrites the potential increase in enterprise value of the game if we support the product with our capital.

• A UA Funder: can we deploy capital into this game’s user acquisition and get it back with a return?
• Acquirer: what is this game worth in three to five years, and can we operate it profitably at scale?
• Plan A: Can we help scale this game with our capital and expertise so that it is worth five times more in three to five years?

The questions that Plan A Games needs to answer when evaluating KPIs are slightly different from those of cohort lenders, because we align our success with the studio’s success. The KPIs overlap, but the weight given to each metric and the context around their evaluation are different. Plan A is much more focused on the studio’s long-term success.

How KPIs Are Evaluated

• Cohorted UA Lenders: The predictability and durability of the return on UA spend is very important in the cohort model. The framework is relatively tight with ranges for return benchmarks. From a metrics perspective, these lenders are looking for stability in the historical return data because that is how future cohorts are going to be underwritten.
• Acquirer: An acquirer looks beyond the volume of installs and stability of the ROAS curve. It is not that these baseline KPIs are unimportant. What an acquirer would like to see is additional margin and cashflow improvement opportunities that can potentially be unlocked by buying the business. For example: an acquirer may look at the game’s current mix of IAP and Ads against a standard benchmark of 10-15% for casual products. A game with a lower Ads mix may represent an opportunity to improve the cash flow of the business post-acquisition due to the higher margin of Ads monetization.

• Plan A Games: Our view of metrics and KPIs is much more aligned with an acquirer’s view of the data. While we value stability of KPIs, we overlay this information with what we believe is the potential for growth based on our experience and market comps. The strategic value of our partnership is about unlocking growth and value in the product through our experience scaling games. The initial ROAS payback period that we are willing to accept is longer than the market standard because, through our operational experience, ROAS can be significantly improved with the right combination of product improvements and creative execution. In the first engagement with us, we look for the following guidelines:

  • Day 1 retention above 40%
  • Day 7 retention above 20%
  • Day 30 retention above 10% (or payer retention at least 2x non-payer retention)
  • ROAS payback within 12 months, ideally under 6 months, because we know that as games scale we will be pushing this back
  • Monthly UA spend of $100K+ or a clear path to reaching that level

These are guidelines rather than hard requirements. We evaluate each game in context, and strong trends can be as important as current performance.

”Our view of metrics and KPIs is much more aligned with an acquirer’s view of the data — overlaid with what we believe is the potential for growth.”

What This Means for Developers

Understanding which audience you are optimizing for changes how you should present your game, and potentially how you should operate it in the months before the deal.

If you are seeking cohort funding:

• Stabilize your game metrics (retention and ROAS payback)
• Demonstrate UA channel discipline. A funder wants to see that capital can be deployed at scale without CPI inflation.

If you are seeking acquisition:

• Stabilize your metrics
• Understand where some of the potential opportunities are (roadmap improvements, channel optimization, etc.)
• Have your pitch focus more on cash flow and opportunities to unlock future cash flow in the business.

If you are looking at Plan A Games:

• Stabilize your metrics
• Prepare for us to pitch to you how we believe your games can grow because of our aligned success structure

How Plan A Evaluates Games

At Plan A Games, we read these KPIs every day. Our model is built around one core principle: we only earn our success fee when our partners scale. That alignment means our evaluation framework is designed to identify games where UA investment will lead to the business significantly scaling. It also means that we will help you identify areas to maximize the business potential - unlocking value for the developers instead of an acquirer.

We provide a revolving UA funding facility at a fixed monthly interest rate. Our partners retain full control of their revenue and their game. We expand funding as performance proves out, and we provide operator-level guidance from an experienced team. If your game has D1 above 40%, D7 above 20%, D20 above 10%, and a ROAS payback within 3-6 months, we want to see the numbers.

Three Ways to Read the Same KPIs

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