Bytro Labs' strategy games, including Call of War, Iron Order 1919, and Supremacy 1914, offer immersive experiences that challenge players to build, strategize, and dominate in complex, competitive environments. These midcore and hardcore titles are known for their deep mechanics, long-term engagement, and strong player communities.
Bytro Labs wanted to see if ad monetization could be a valuable addition to their business and a reliable source of revenue. At the same time, they had serious concerns about the risks. Their strategy games rely heavily on keeping players engaged and making purchases over the long term. Adding ads raised questions about retention, in-app purchase revenue, and how it might affect the number and value of transactions. They were also worried about the impact on app store ratings and reviews. These challenges had kept them from trying ads in the past.
Initially, we prepared a business case for one of their games, Call of War. We focused on demonstrating the value ads could bring to Bytro’s portfolio, while simultaneously addressing their key concerns.
- We identified rewarded video ads as the most suitable ad format for their game. Additionally, we suggested implementing an “ad tower” placement on the main screen. The reasoning was that it would be simple to implement yet very effective, thanks to the great visibility it offered.
- We identified the best mediation and most important ad networks to serve as a good starting point, namely creating a setup that is technically stable, competitive performance-wise and not too complicated to implement on the development side.
- We shared benchmarks from our previous year-long experience with ads to reassure the team that if implemented correctly ads would be valuable and not damaging to their business. This included advice on how to implement ads to eliminate the risk of damaging retention and minimize the risk of IAP cannibalization.
After presenting our business case, the Bytro team decided to go ahead with the project and test ads in Call of War game. Following careful AB testing, alongside our support and guidance, ads were fully rolled out to 100% of the user base in this game. The results were then used as an internal case study to pitch and later implement ad monetization in the remaining two games: Iron Order 1919 and Supremacy 1914 supported by GameBiz Consulting every step of the way.
In later iterations, we were able to work on additional improvements, placements, and rewards AB testing and optimization together with the Bytro Labs team. Today, ads are an integral part of Bytro’s monetization strategy, with a significant share of overall revenue coming from ads. The initial tests that we ran showed no impact on retention, insignificant impact on IAPs, and overall ARPDAU increase between 16.6% and 32.9%, depending on the platform.
Bytro Labs is a German game developer that strives to develop high-quality games and make them accessible to all players around the world. Their games are played by more than 15 million people in 150 countries and 13 languages.
