5 Tips to Increase ARPU for Mobile Games in 2025

In mobile games, entertaining and engaging players are essential. But even F2P games can generate significant revenue with the right monetization strategies.

To measure your game’s financial success, you need to master its ARPU. This means knowing, not just how to calculate it, but how to increase it.

With a few useful tips, you can optimize this key metric and make your game far more profitable.

What is ARPU?

ARPU stands for Average Revenue per User. For mobile games, this refers to the average revenue a game makes from each user. For monetization strategies (e.g. in-app purchases), then this KPI measures their success.

How to Calculate ARPU

To calculate your game’s ARPU, follow these two steps:

1. Select a cohort of players. Typical factors include specific periods (day, week, month). Or, it could be a group of players who’ve engaged with a specific game feature. 
2. Divide the total revenue by the number of players from that cohort.

ARPU = Total Revenue / Total Number of Players

For example: Your total revenue comes to $47,634 for a month. And you have 9453 active players in total. This is how your formula would look:

ARPU = 47,634 / 9453 = 5.04

This means that on average, each player generates about $5.04 per month. That’s your ARPU. 

ARPU in Mobile Games: Industry Benchmarks

In 2024, the ARPU for mobile games globally was $57.64. It’s believed this global metric will continue to grow, projected to reach $64.26 by 2027. Being $46.70 in 2017 means that over a decade, this metric will increase by more than a third.

Also, according to this report, the top games by revenue were:

iOS	Android
1. Genshin Impact	1. Candy Crush Saga
2. Candy Crush Saga	2. Pokémon GO
3. Royal Match	3. Coin Master
4. Roblox	4. Gardenscapes
5. Gardenscapes	5. Toon Blast

As of 2022, PUBG Mobile had the highest ARPU globally among mobile games. Players generated approximately $67.40 on average. Roblox had the second-highest ARPU ($38), while Pokémon Go ($17) was third.

These high figures can be attributed to numerous strategies, including:

• Leaderboards and multiplayer features
• Daily rewards and login bonuses
• Customization options
• In-game events and challenges
• Guilds and clan systems
• Chat feature.

To improve your ARPU, consider leveraging these strategies to your advantage.

Why ARPU Matters for Mobile Games

There are many reasons why ARPU is an essential metric to track for your mobile game. With this key metric, you can learn about:

• When players engage most with your game.
• The impact your in-game events have on revenue.
• How effective your in-game ads are, monetarily speaking.

Sure, many people might play your game. But that doesn’t automatically mean it’s generating revenue. With ARPU, you can work out which players are your most valuable ones. This player segment is known universally as “whales.” 

Knowing your ARPU helps you attract and retain players more strategically. A high ARPU can only positively impact your revenue.

ARPU’s Relationship with Other Metrics

ARPU can work alongside and even impact other game monetization metrics. Here are some of the most connected:

• ARPPU (Average Revenue per Paying User): Refers to the players who have spent money on your game. This could be through subscriptions, in-app purchases, and other sources of revenue.
• ARPDAU (Average revenue per Daily Active User): Indicates which players are most engaged with your game daily.
• LTV: ARPU is best for measuring the performance of in-game features and monetization models. But Lifetime Value (LTV) shows you if you’re targeting the right players.

Sure, now you know how to calculate ARPU. But how can you increase it to boost your game’s profitability?

5 Tips to Increase ARPU for Mobile Games

You can increase ARPU by focusing on player segmentation, personalization, and experimentation. Here are some tips.

1. Offer Tiered In-App Purchases (IAPs)

Different player segments benefit from different purchase options. So it’s important to tailor your in-app purchases accordingly. For example, consider premium offers for “whales” and affordable offers for casual players.

2. Create Urgency With Time-Limited Offers

Leverage special events to create exclusive deals and time-sensitive discounts. These types of offers encourage players to spend more urgently.

3. Experiment With Ads

By placing ads at strategic points in the game, you can capitalize on successful gameplay. Provide players with rewarded ads that include boosters, tips, and extra lives.

Also, try out different ad formats such as interstitial ads. This way, you can work out which formats maintain a good user experience and also generate the most revenue.

4. Personalize Offers

Through analytics, you can use data to better understand player behavior and preferences. Certain platforms can generate recommendations for personalized in-app purchases for specific player segments.

5. Target Whales with Subscriptions

You can use subscription models to incentivize more consistent spending. This way, you can target whales with exclusive benefits and content. But also consider other player segments based on in-app activity and demographics.

Increasing Mobile Game ARPU: Final Takeaways

When optimizing your game’s ARPU, start with the fundamentals: 

• Player engagement
• Retention
• Purchase frequency. 

If players aren’t engaged, they’ll drop off. Therefore, you can’t expect many IAPs, and your revenue will take a hit too.

Moreover, personalizing ads and subscriptions to different player segments is key. Not just for your ARPU, but for your entire monetization strategy.