While monetizing 1-2 percent of users is fairly typical for Facebook games, Dawn’s ARPPU is higher than we’ve seen for most other titles. Since the end of its first month when it ran a promotional campaign with Offerpal (which Winkler credits for helping make the game successful), Dawn has been making well over $1,000 per day for the company, according to Winkler.
These stats fit a broader trend that we’ve talked about recently: in-depth strategy and RPG titles can achieve higher engagement, and make more money per user, than more mass-market titles. Going for a niche audience, in other words, can be a great bet for a small developer.
Inside Social Games reports on a small developer's relatively successful launch. The big strategic decision for companies entering the social games space these days is this: Should we aim for the Zynga-led masses, or niches that are big enough to bring revenues in. Both paths involve risks of course: the first one requires marketing investments in a saturated selection of genres against players who can always out-market you, the second one requires something special in terms of gameplay that guarantees long-term retention. The article cited here displays nice figures for the game in a month's period. However, the key is to make the last at least two to three months, and this requires constant deployment of new features. At the same time one needs to bring new players in, and not alienate them by the new features that risk making the game more complex. Whole lot of tough decisions to make there.