GameSalad + Playhaven show impressive results

SFSF Member, Chef Emeritus Posts: 35
Hi everyone,

Recently we integrated PlayHaven’s ad service into GameSalad Creator as a way for our Pro developers to generate more revenue from their games. Now that we have a few months of performance data under our belt, I’d like to share some of the results we’ve seen so far.

As a quick primer for those unfamiliar with PlayHaven, we’ve started to implement portions of their service, beginning with full screen interstitial ads that allow game companies to advertise games on a cost-per-install basis. This means that advertisers only pay for actual downloads of their games, which they typically value much higher than clicks or impressions.

Since most of the apps on the GameSalad network are games, we see high conversion rates to game downloads, which lead to high eCPMs (effective cost per thousand impressions) relative to other ad networks. Initial results have proven quite successful, as many developers are seeing gross eCPMs above $10 and nearly 100% fill rates. After PlayHaven takes its 50% cut, developers are seeing net eCPMs in the $5 range and some developers are earning thousands of dollars per month per game.

To put these numbers in perspective, many of our developers have reported that iAds produce eCPMs in the $2 range, and other popular ad networks such as AdMob produce eCPMs in the $0.65-$0.85 range. I realize there are a lot of acronyms and jargon being thrown around here, but the key takeaway is this: PlayHaven is producing results that are anywhere from 2 to 8 times more effective than competing mobile ad solutions. Now that’s pretty awesome.

It should come as no surprise that most of our developers attract more players when they make their games available for free versus charging upfront to download. In an industry that is increasingly moving toward the free-to-play model, it’s becoming even more important to find ways to monetize free-to-play games and we think PlayHaven provides a simple and effective solution to do just that.

With the launch of GameSalad 0.9.94 we’ve also made some modifications to the way PlayHaven operates for developers. For Pro developers, you now have more control in determining the placement of the interstitial ads. For Basic users, we’ve elected to remove the interstitial ads from games published under Basic accounts in order to provide a smoother player experience. Instead, those games will receive a “More Games” button, overlaying a section of their splash screen before gameplay starts. We’re going to test this approach out and optimize it in future releases with the goal of finding a solution that is mutually beneficial to GameSalad and Basic users.

Over the coming months, we’ll continue to integrate more features from the PlayHaven platform with the goal of making revenue maximization easier, faster, and more seamlessly integrated into the player experience. At the end of the day, we want to free our developers up to focus on making great games that can be enjoyed by lots of people while earning meaningful revenue for all their hard work.

Cheers,

Steve
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Comments

  • gameviccigamevicci Member, PRO Posts: 306
    PlayHeaven NEEDS to have a way to see reports.
    I have a game with 400 download/day, with playheaven since 2 months, and I never received a payment.
    Maybe the game didn't earn enough to receive a payment, however I would like to see my reports...

    It's very very important as a Pro feature, most of all because you said that GameSalad didn't take anything of these revenues
  • ChobbifaceChobbiface PRO Posts: 491
    About to implement into my first app, so very interesting to hear these stats... ;)
  • osucowboy18osucowboy18 Member Posts: 1,307
    Great to hear Steve! I've considered implementing PlayHaven into one of our new apps, but before doing this, I think a reporting system is vital. According to @MChewie, the first round of payments for both Kiip and PlayHaven were supposed to go out a couple of weeks ago, but so far I haven't received a payment yet, or heard confirmation on the status of the payment either.

    However, now that I know some GameSalad users are seeing good results by implementing PlayHaven's network, I will strongly consider implementing it myself, once a reporting system becomes available. Any idea as to when that might happen?

    - Alex
  • scrapee_netscrapee_net Member Posts: 424
    Is playhaven comming to android. They announced today the android sdk version.
  • EbreezeEbreeze Member, PRO Posts: 481
    I'm pretty egar to see my playhaven results as well
  • DanDaMan123DanDaMan123 Member Posts: 216
    Thanks! It's good to hear statistics about it
  • simo103simo103 Member, PRO Posts: 1,331
    interesting .... could I throw an idea in the mix ... for non-Pro's how about an option to add Playhaven in addition to the more games feature at flexible locations of the developers choosing but have a rev split largely favorable to GS but a small portion to the dev?
  • LuckyLurcherLuckyLurcher Member Posts: 343
    Horray! I got my money just now!
  • MChewieMChewie Inactive, Chef Emeritus Posts: 32
    Hi everyone,

    I want to join the conversation and provide some additional information as well as answer some questions that have been brought up regarding revenue sharing. I hope this helps everyone understand what’s going on currently as well as what we’re working on.

    First off, payments for PlayHaven (February 2012) and Kiip (March 2012) went out today. We changed our threshold for payment this month to $10.00 from $100.00. If you had Kiip or PlayHaven in your games during those months and didn’t get a PayPal, then you made less than $10. With PlayHaven, we only were live for 2 weeks in February, so numbers are definitely stronger for March.

    There have also been a lot of questions on reporting, which we have not been ignoring. The systems that we use for accounting are big ERP databases and weren’t custom-built for our needs. As a result, creating automatic reports that mail out isn’t working within the system. We’ve been working hard to remedy that, but have decided to move forward in our own internally-built way to get you all your data.

    First of all, we’re going to run our master report and manually break it down and send it out via email to everyone individually. It’s a very time-consuming process, but it’s been started and we should have the first reports going out shortly. We’ll keep doing this until we have our own reporting solution done later this year.

    While I don’t have a date or too many details yet, we’re working on a solution that will let you view your revenue data from a login page (like your profile page). This isn’t as easy as a pass-through, as data doesn’t get finalized until the end of the month, so we want to make sure we’re providing both convenience and accuracy.

    PlayHaven and Kiip have been very helpful in working with us on the accounting and reconciling—they’ve gone back themselves to ensure that every dollar matches up at each end independently. Now that the first payment is out, we feel that the process of reconciling and paying is running end-to-end and the monthly payments should be going out smoothly and promptly.

    We did see the announcement on Android, which wasn’t unexpected at our end , but don’t have anything to report today. But rest assured, we’re working a lot on ways to enhance your monetization options as well as your technical features.

    Regards,
    Mark
  • 3xL3xL Member Posts: 676
    ima give this a shot..... now on to read how to use play haven :)
  • lycettebroslycettebros Member, PRO Posts: 1,598
    edited June 2012
    An ePCM above $10 is good and makes me feel like my iAds ePCM of $8.00 is also good.

    I am glad to hear that there is a reporting system in design. I would not implement Playhaven until there is an easy system of reporting profits and stats. I need accessible data until then I might wait.

    Android possibility sounds interesting. Any new way to get money out of the droids is good.
  • gameviccigamevicci Member, PRO Posts: 306

    It's very very important as a Pro feature, most of all because you said that GameSalad didn't take anything of these revenues
    I understand the frustration, and your point is valid - but to be clear, GameSalad has never misrepresented how revenue is paid to you and our handling of said revenue. This seems to imply otherwise, so just wanted to clarify.
    I'm really sorry I didn't wanted to imply otherwise, I love GS and I mean no offence.
    Moreover now with Mark's additional informations it's all totally clear, thanks a lot
  • rnyacoubrnyacoub Member Posts: 132
    @SaladStraightShooter I dont have a paypal account (cause its not supported in my country) to join Playhaven what should i do? is there a solution?
    regards
  • jckmcgrawjckmcgraw Member Posts: 647
    With these results, I will probably be implementing PlayHaven into my newest game! :D
  • Braydon_SFXBraydon_SFX Member, Sous Chef, Bowlboy Sidekick Posts: 9,273
    I'm interested to hear from the regulars on the forums who have put Playhaven and Kiip into their games.

    What is your opinion to PH and Kiip vs iAds?
  • rnyacoubrnyacoub Member Posts: 132
    @gamevicci can you post your game link that uses playhaven
  • pinkio75pinkio75 Member, PRO Posts: 1,214
    Perhaps the best thing for us is to create a dashboard like Apple iAd, it's updated constantly.
    I have a couple of apps with PlayHaven and I'd like to know about it, wait 1 or 2 months without any report is not a good thing.
    Anyway i hope to see improvements in the future.
  • rnyacoubrnyacoub Member Posts: 132
    edited June 2012
    what is cost-per-install basis mean? i know that player has to download the advertised app, but does he have to run it?how do they know if the player fully downloaded the app and run it? is there any hidden software in the app ?

    @saladstraightshooter what is cost-per-install basis mean? i know that player has to download the advertised app, but does he have to run it?how do they know if the player fully downloaded the app and run it? is there any hidden software in the app ?
  • nahshalnahshal Member Posts: 1
    interesting .... could I bandy an abstraction in the mix ... for non-Pro's how about an advantage to add Playhaven in accession to the added amateur affection at adjustable locations of the developers allotment but accept a rev breach abundantly favorable to GS but a baby allocation to the dev?


    ________________
    jogos de meninas
  • MChewieMChewie Inactive, Chef Emeritus Posts: 32
    what is cost-per-install basis mean? i know that player has to download the advertised app, but does he have to run it?how do they know if the player fully downloaded the app and run it? is there any hidden software in the app ?
    @rnyacoub The person has to install the game and run it once to trigger PlayHaven's system for credit.
  • maxbeaumontmaxbeaumont Member Posts: 616
    This thread is very interesting... I might have a Playhaven game coming out soon then ;)

    -Max
  • HoneyTribeStudiosHoneyTribeStudios Member Posts: 1,792
    I'm gonna make a game with playhaven, iads and kiip all showing at the same time. It's an endless runner where you have to avoid all the banner ads.
  • lycettebroslycettebros Member, PRO Posts: 1,598
    I'm gonna make a game with playhaven, iads and kiip all showing at the same time. It's an endless runner where you have to avoid all the banner ads.
    ...that is actually a good idea.

  • DanDaMan123DanDaMan123 Member Posts: 216
    I recently got pro and I included playhaven in a game. I have a paypal account and I am just wondering how I will get payed. Do I need to link my paypal to my bank account? Please help.
  • xxTigerSharkxxTigerShark Member Posts: 18
    I'm gonna make a game with playhaven, iads and kiip all showing at the same time. It's an endless runner where you have to avoid all the banner ads.
    Not going to happen ever. Great idea but you would never get passed apple. Maybe Android :)
  • dotsonj23dotsonj23 Member Posts: 316
    I'm gonna make a game with playhaven, iads and kiip all showing at the same time. It's an endless runner where you have to avoid all the banner ads.
    Not going to happen ever. Great idea but you would never get passed apple. Maybe Android :)
    It depends. As long as it is free, has functionality other than ads and (the most important) the gameplay does not require, encourage, or make players inadvertently click adds, then technically it should be approved. But apple doesnt follow their own rules so I could see them rejecting it anyway.
  • BahtiyarBahtiyar Member Posts: 29
    We need regular reports from PlayHaven!
  • dalnokidalnoki Member Posts: 27
    "First off, payments for PlayHaven (February 2012) and Kiip (March 2012) went out today. " Anyone got any playhaven, or kiip payment to paypal account?
  • dalnokidalnoki Member Posts: 27
    Ok, seriously....ANYONE?
  • Supersonic9120Supersonic9120 Member, PRO Posts: 174
    No haha, I assume I haven't made 100$ USD yet. Next month I should. We really need at least an email saying if we made any money at all. That would be helpful. Patience is key. ;)
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