Players offered Link, compared with a control/holdout group who never saw it:

18.6% higher total publisher revenue per user, including Link CPA payments

5.2% higher Day 7 retention 

Overview

Gryphon Games, a lean Berlin studio behind hybrid-monetised titles such as Race Star, partnered with Almedia to add a new revenue stream from its existing player base. With Link, eligible players can connect to Freecash and earn rewards for qualifying activity in Gryphon’s games, while Gryphon earns payments for verified connections.

Gryphon adopted Link early, beginning with Planet Crusher well before Almedia released its SDK, and has since expanded it across its portfolio. Instead of ramping up gradually, Gryphon showed Link to players early in the game to enable more players to see it while still respecting the player and game experience. Link has since launched an SDK, allowing Gryphon to expand Link to six of its games, including Race Star, one of its biggest titles.

Challenge

Gryphon's games are hybrid-monetised, with roughly 70% of revenue coming from in-app purchases. The team saw room to generate additional revenue from its existing audience while giving players another reason to engage with its games. As a studio of under 15 people, it needed a solution that fit naturally into the player experience without taking up much of the team's time.

Solution

Link introduces a revenue opportunity within the player journey. An eligible player encounters Link inside the game, connects their Freecash account and can then earn rewards for progressing in the game.

Almedia funds the Freecash rewards and pays the publisher for the verified connection. That payment is tied to a successful account link, rather than being limited to people creating a new Freecash account. Eligible existing Freecash users can connect too.

The value exchange is straightforward: players get an additional reward for eligible engagement, and publishers gain a source of revenue from verified links. Continued gameplay remains central to the reward experience.

Results

• 18.6% higher total publisher revenue per user, including all in-game revenue and Link CPA payments.
• 5.2% higher Day 7 retention.

Metric

Without Link

(holdout)

With Link

Relative uplift

Total publisher revenue per user

1.985

2.353

+18.6%

Day 7 retention

11.9%

12.5%

+5.2%

‍

Conclusion

Gryphon’s Link treatment group recorded 18.6% higher total publisher revenue per user, including Link CPA payments. Day 7 retention was also 5.2% higher. Almedia SDK enabled the team to seamlessly integrate Link without taking much time from the Gryphon’s team, and scale it across Gryphon’s portfolio.

“For any studio with players to monetise, Link is an absolute essential. We started with one game and now it’s in six of our biggest titles, because it gives our users another reason to keep coming back. Another great thing is the team you get to work with: they move at our pace, fast, getting things done and building solutions with us." Dylan Aguiar, Co-Founder of Gryphon Games.

Explore Almedia Link

For publishers considering Link, the next step is a measured test in their own game. Define the eligible audience, configure the player experience and compare performance with a holdout. That gives our team a basis for assessing both the revenue opportunity and player engagement before deciding how broadly to roll out.

See what Link could do for your game. Talk to Almedia about a holdout test that measures total publisher revenue per user and impact on retention.

‍