In the ever-changing landscape of hyper-casual games, many games don't see the light of day after their initial launch. This is the story of "Stickman Path," a game that faced its share of challenges but managed to climb from obscurity to success, raking in $35k in ad revenue within a month.
Stickman Path's initial performance was lackluster. This led to the subsequent decision by the previous publisher to put an end to its journey, deeming it more practical to kill the prototype due to the unimpressive numbers it presented. Before its collaboration with Ovivo, the game's test results showed the following metrics:
- Cost Per Install (CPI): $0.95
- Day 1 Retention (D1): 29%
- Day 7 Retention (D7): 5%
- Daily playtime: 18 minutes
These results clearly indicated that the game was not faring well in the market, according to the previous publisher. This made the decision to discontinue it seem logical.
While the previous publisher gave up on Stickman Path, Ovivo saw potential. We recognized that the game could be optimized and improved upon. With our team's strategic planning on game design priorities, we improved various game elements (we can add specific examples here). Using our extensive experience in User Acquisition (UA), we further optimized the different campaigns. After several iterations, the game's KPIs started showing marked improvement, inching closer to the desired stats.
Our approach to marketing was different. Instead of limiting ourselves to popular platforms like Facebook, we ventured into other networks to verify the game's marketability. This exploration revealed that the game had potential profitability through alternative channels. Emphasis was placed on creating marketing materials that highlighted the game's simplicity, appealing to a broader audience.
A significant contributor to Stickman Path's success was our ability to use data efficiently. We employed internal tools and analytics to gauge the game's performance and areas of improvement, ensuring every decision was backed by data. With the combined efforts of Ovivo and Bugbomb Studio, Stickman Path began to stabilize in terms of revenue, profits and user engagement.
Robert, the CEO of Bugbomb Studio, expresses his heartfelt gratitude: "We love Ovivo, pure and simple. Ovivo gave us a huge boost of confidence at the time we needed it most. We also managed to remain indie with the help of a product they believed in."
