Brutally Honest #168 by Matej Lancaric
No 💩 BS newsletter with useful stuff about UA in the post IDFA world
Hey, FAM! What’s up?
🥃 Drink talk
Starting a two-week boat trip in Croatia with Katarina & Captain Tuna: Mr. Michal Bubernik.
🦩Tip of the week
Diversification on the creative side is a real thing.
6-layer creative system (UGC, meme, classic gameplay, Ugly Ads, Altered gameplay, playable).
Today, I want to talk about playables. You have to diversify the length and number of clicks.
Check the latest podcast around Screw Master 3D:
As you heard, you have to have:
short playables: 1-3 clicks playables
3-5 clicks playables
5+ clicks playables
Different playables bring different types of users. Think about it!
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🐊 Cornelius: The Suspicious Investi-gator
True detective-like exploration of creative trends and historical influences. Delving deep into the world of creatives to uncover hidden patterns and inspirations:
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘁 𝗦𝗮𝘂𝗰𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱 “𝗙𝗮𝗸𝗲” 𝗠𝗼𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗔𝗱𝘀. Why do these “fake gameplay” ads work so well?
Simple. They’re not selling the real game; they’re selling pure dopamine.
This video breaks the rules and creates impossible, wild levels you’ll never see in the actual app.
𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝗶𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝘂𝗽 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗱𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗮.
The player almost makes it, then crashes spectacularly.
Rage. Suspense. FOMO.
It’s not about honesty, it’s about getting you to stop scrolling and think, “I could do better.”
Notice the exaggerated UI, fake rewards, and cartoonish obstacles. The pacing is relentless, and the sound effects hit hard.
𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘆.
Why does it convert? Curiosity, frustration, and a little bit of trickery.
The audience has to see if the game is really this wild.
They download just to prove they can beat it.
Love it or hate it, this is the creative meta in mobile right now. Unfortunately!
Fake it until they click it. Or not
𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗶𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱?
Yours truly, Cornelius.
💀 Dr. Doom is not amused
One of my industry friends amused me with his direct and honest TL;DRs, so we agreed to share it here, too! My friend remains anonymous as Dr.Doom!
"What could go wrong when 2 gaming dinosaurs form a new AI startup? "Unlimited potential" as Verdu says. Sure, it was so limitless that you "were let go" from Netflix this year, as it seems even Netflix didn't seen this unlimited opportunity, which is pretty low standard in our book. And then we add in Pincus which was a gaming CEO last time nearly 10 years ago. Outstanding move. Way to go the burn some sweet AI VC money 🤣" Sincerely, Doom (https://www.pocketgamer.biz/mike-verdu-and-mark-pincus-form-ai-startup-playfulai/)
🎉 “Ha-ha” moment
Because life is too short to be serious.
🎮 two & a half gamers - The BitLife Blueprint
💰 BitLife: The Most Aggressive Ad Monetization in Mobile and Why It Works 📈
Just dropped a new episode dissecting BitLife, the text-based sim that’s been quietly printing money for over seven years. Think you need amazing graphics or next-level meta to scale? BitLife proves you do not. Here’s what makes it tick:
Interstitial ads from the very first minute—cooldown of 70 seconds, banners every five
Every major life choice is locked behind a paywall, god mode, or IAP
90 percent download growth and a 27 percent revenue bump last month
Stillfront’s UA and creative strategy brought BitLife from organic sleeper hit to a full-on performance marketing monster
Over $110,000 daily revenue, 50 percent ad, 50 percent IAP and DLC
BitLife is a masterclass in ruthless monetization, player psychology, and scaling a simple idea to evergreen status. Print money first, ask questions later.
What other “ugly” games are quietly dominating the charts? Drop your hot takes below!
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📈Q1 2025 Brutally Honest UA report - Real Data inside!
Hey there, Matej here! Welcome to the most brutally honest look at mobile game UA you’ll read this quarter. This report isn’t just another round-up of trends – it’s built on real campaign data, survey responses from hundreds of UA pros, and my experience running UA for some of the hottest games.
What Merge Games are doing RIGHT in their ads
You know what’s wild? Merge games: those innocent-looking puzzle builders are out here running some of the most effective, most chaotic, and most drama-filled mobile ads on the market right now.
THE Soft launch Bible: Full 2025 blueprint with real data!
Soft launching a mobile game in 2025 remains one of the smartest strategic moves you can make before a full global release. With the mobile gaming market now even more saturated—and user acquisition costs still climbing—a well-planned soft launch can be the difference between success and failure.
THE Creative Bible: How to win in 2025?
Let's just dive directly into the creative framework for 2025
🦄 Diary of a Dancing Unicorn
Today was a good day.
Hey, great stuff with the campaign. But we need to drastically decrease the daily budget.
Wait, what? Its hitting goals we should be increasing the budget.
Yeah, in the ideal world yes. But we are starting to have a problem with our cashflow.
Shit, okay then. Decrease it is.
…
…
*Decreased the budget by 50%*
..
..
Hmm.. why is the campaign suddenly not performing well? What happened?
Well, we decreased the budget heavily. Looks like we killed it.
Not possible.
It actually possible and I saw it happening multiple times.
…
Today was a good day.
🤺 Quote of the week
"You know, because of the podcast, I read your message in your voice” - Mark, LinkedIn message
BitLife review
🧞 The Song of the Week
We launched a music album. Yes, that's correct. We are putting a ton of energy into creating valuable (and crazy) content that I think you'll like. Check out the latest songs, and give us a like and subscribe. Play ehm. Listen now!
👾 THE AI (R)EVOLUTION
The AI revolution is here, and it’s transforming the way we approach mobile games marketing.
From creating scroll-stopping ad creatives to optimizing user acquisition strategies, AI is the game-changer we can’t ignore.
🥦 Before you go
Ask Matej AI a question. It’s actually quite good!
We produced one more episode at 2.5 Gamers. Check it out now:
We are also starting a new segment. Give it a go:
🍿 Fun starts in two & a half gamers Slack! Join now
We are opening up a Slack channel for everybody. It is the most inclusive slack for the gaming industry. Female, male, non-binary, juniors, mid-level, seniors, vendors, developers = EVERYBODY! We are waiting for you ♥️
Feel free to join here!
🧙 Thanks for reading this week’s newsletter!
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Take care, everyone! See you next Monday!
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