x

75% of people globally want unbiased news (Pew Research) but are concerned they're not getting that.

Get balanced coverage with Symby. See how stories are covered across diverse outlets and spot when one side covers a story the other skips.

PODCAST

two & a half gamers

This is a no BS gaming podcast. We share insights, knowledge and fun gossip relating to the topics of User Acquisition, Game Design and Ad monetisation. You will find here actionable insights in a fun and relaxed atmosphere. A safe space where we mimic the honesty of a 4am conference discussion. Enjoy & let us know your feedback!

leisure video games

All Episodes

00:44:33

🧩 Word Search Explorer Review: $168K/Day From Ads...

two & a half gamers ·

2025/05/19

How do you build a mobile game that does $168K/day in ad revenue… with no fail states, no IAP pressure, and a monetization wall that doesn’t even kick in until level 24?You study Word Search Explorer, the latest word game from the Lands of Jail studio (PlaySimple/MTG), and a masterclass in calm, deliberate ad monetization.In this episode, we break down the ad placement strategy, retention metrics, and soft pacing systems that power one of the most deceptively profitable games on the App Store in

en

00:47:45

⚠️ The Industry’s Dirty Little Secrets: Confessions...

two & a half gamers ·

2025/05/15

🎙️ This might be the most dangerous podcast episode we’ve ever released.An anonymous insider, voice-modulated for protection, joins us to expose the truth about mobile UA, ad network manipulation, and how millions are spent with zero payback logic. With voice modulation in place, our guest “Dr. Doom” reveals what happens behind the dashboards, network sales decks, and investor slides.You’ll hear :Dream Games' $50M brand campaign: brilliant market takeover or the dumbest ROI play of 2025?Why are

en

00:43:27

📊 Is 24-Month Payback the New Normal? Real ROAS...

two & a half gamers ·

2025/05/14

Want real ROAS benchmarks from 300+ games and $200 M+ in spend?This episode of 2.5 Gamers goes deep with ZJ from PVX Partners, who brings an insane dataset from UA financing across puzzle, casual, strategy, and 4X games.We cover what’s really happening in 2025:📉 Payback windows stretching to 12–24 months📈 Ad revenue up 15%, but not fast enough to catch CAC inflation🧠 M1 ROAS is the best early predictor of long-term success🔥 Payer retention is dropping, and revenue is clustering around whales🧠

en

01:02:13

🎭 Drama Pops Review: Why short drama could be the...

two & a half gamers ·

2025/05/12

We talk with the Drama Pops team from Codeway — one of Turkey’s top mobile app publishers — about how they scaled a short drama app from scratch into one of the most promising products in the entertainment app space.www.codeway.cohttps://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.deepvision.shortdrama&hl=en🧠 What You’ll Learn:Why they chose to avoid ad breaks during cliffhangers (and how it helps retention)The economics of short-form drama production (yes, it's cheaper in Turkey than LA)The

en

00:53:53

💥 The latest WTF ads pushing the creative envelope:...

two & a half gamers ·

2025/05/08

In this episode, the 2.5 Gamers crew — Matej, Felix, and Jakub — dissect the top mobile ad creative trends spotted across platforms in April 2025.From AI-generated hooks dominating 5-second ad intros, to IP-mirroring creatives, TikTok-style POV playables, and Freezing Families never going away — this is a masterclass in what’s hot (and not) in mobile game UA right now.You’ll see:⚙️ The rise of AI-generated 5-second hooks — and how top studios use them👑 Royal Kingdom going full Hollywood with celebs

en

00:51:54

🧠 The Ultimate Gacha System Breakdown: What Every...

two & a half gamers ·

2025/05/07

Ever wonder why some gacha systems print money, while others crash in weeks?In this special solo deep-dive, Jakub from 2.5 Gamers breaks down everything you need to know about gacha system design, from token economies to deck-building, duplicate handling, meta shifts, and the subtle art of collection drivers.If you're building a game with gacha mechanics — or just want to understand why Genshin, AFK Arena, and Clash Royale all work so differently — this episode is essential viewing.What You’ll

en

00:57:25

Disney Solitaire Review: Playtika's Genre Expertise...

two & a half gamers ·

2025/05/05

MAU Events:May 20, Tuesday Pre-Game 4pm PT https://lu.ma/919nx0pqMay 21, Wednesday brunch 11am PT https://lu.ma/krnfc16qMay 2,1 Wednesday Gaming Soiree 4pm PT https://lu.ma/il21m7r7Disney Solitaire is scaling fast. Today, we break down how SuperPlay + Playtika + Disney IP = one of the smartest casual game executions in years.From a familiar Domino Dreams-style template to a scaling UA strategy (with estimated $1.5M/day in spend), Disney Solitaire targets nostalgia-rich audiences with high production

en

00:40:54

🚨 EMERGENCY EPISODE🚨 Game over, Apple? What you need...

two & a half gamers ·

2025/05/04

On April 30th, 2025, a U.S. court ruled that Apple’s anti-steering policies are anti-competitive and unenforceable.That single sentence could redefine the mobile app economy.For the first time ever, developers can now directly link to their own web stores from inside their iOS apps, promoting them, pricing them competitively, and funneling players off-platform without fear of being banned.We unpacked everything on a special emergency episode with Chip Thurston, Head of Gaming at FastSpring (and

en

00:33:55

We Played Dreamy Room. It’s Brilliant, Hard, and...

two & a half gamers ·

2025/05/01

What if a cozy puzzle game could generate $80K/day — with 89% of that from ads? Dreamy Room is the breakout hit you didn’t see coming. It's not Royal Match. It's not hypercasual. It's deterministic puzzling at its finest — and it's scaling fast.We break down why Dreamy Room is crushing downloads, how its simple-but-hard core loop drives ad revenue at scale, and why it's one of the most innovative ultra-casual games of 2025.🧠 What You’ll Learn:How Dreamy Room hit $80K/day, mostly

en

00:26:18

How to Set Up Meta AdROAS Campaigns: Step-by-Step...

two & a half gamers ·

2025/04/30

Meta just changed the game for ad monetized mobile apps — and if you’re not testing AdROAS campaigns yet, you’re already behind.In this 2.5 Gamers solo deep dive, Matej walks through exactly how to set up Meta’s new AdROAS campaigns, how to unlock the hidden value in your ad impressions, and why this is a must-have in your UA strategy for Android in 2025.🧠 What You’ll Learn:Step-by-step guide to setting up Meta AdROAS (with visuals!)Why AdROAS lets you optimize for ad revenue value directly (no

en

00:50:03

💰 $400 MIL/Year Genesis: Like Voodoo, but for apps...

two & a half gamers ·

2025/04/28

$400M/year from all apps? 40M downloads for a 15-minute book summary?In this 2.5 Gamers episode, we explore how Genesis became one of the biggest non-game mobile app publishers in the world, with over $35M/month in revenue, and 400 M+ total downloads.Forget games for a minute. This is the app industry’s secret playbook, and it’s scaling like crazy.🧠 What’s Inside:How Cleaner Guru hit $4M/month by cleaning iPhones — with subscriptions The rise of Headway, a micro-learning app with 40M+ downloads,

en

00:42:31

Why Casual Games Are Rethinking Interstitial Ads? Ad...

two & a half gamers ·

2025/04/26

In this episode, we sit down with the team behind Airflux, the AI-powered ad optimizer from Airbridge, and unpack how it’s quietly changing the rules of mobile game monetization.📈 Whether you're optimizing for ad whales, tweaking interstitial frequency, or just tired of playing A/B test roulette, this conversation will change how you think about monetization.🧠 What You’ll Learn:How Airflux delivers +26% LTV uplift with zero manual testingWhy interstitial timing is more impactful than raising

en

00:34:16

Ad Monetization Secrets: Top Mobile Games Printing...

two & a half gamers ·

2025/04/24

In this episode, we dive deep into the wild world of ad monetization trends in mobile gaming for 2025. From Vietnamese studios like ABI Games printing money daily to hypercasual reskins and even mobile rip-offs of popular Steam games, we break it all down.🎮 Games Discussed:Cooking Dom by ABI Games 🇻🇳Merge Sticker Playbook by Lion StudiosHamster Escape by Sunday GamesREPO Mobile (Steam-inspired horror)Dreamy Rooms (IAP-driven ultra-casual)Word Search Explorer by PlaySimple Games 💥💰 Discover:How

en

00:41:54

How Chess.com became a $500M Business?

two & a half gamers ·

2025/04/21

No UA. No App Store tricks. Chess.com - just 650 remote workers, a Netflix show, a cat bot named Mittens, and a $500M/year business.We dive deep into one of the most fascinating growth stories in mobile: chess.com.From Queen’s Gambit virality to Magnus Carlsen’s meme-worthy genius, we explore how chess.com built a mobile app empire on subscriptions, community, and strategic chaos — all without running a single ad campaign.🎯 What You’ll Learn:Why Queen’s Gambit + COVID lockdown sparked the app’s

en

00:55:18

DC: Dark Legion Is NOT a 4X Game – And That’s a Big...

two & a half gamers ·

2025/04/17

What do you get when you mash Fallout Shelter, AFK Journey, and Batman?🦇 DC: Dark Legion is FunPlus’ latest 4X-adjacent mobile RPG — but despite the DC IP, flashy UA creatives, and $400K/day revenue spike, it might already be in trouble.Today, we dissect the design, monetization, UA, and feature depth of DC: Dark Legion. Is it a mobile gacha RPG pretending to be 4X? Or is it a 4X that forgot the most important part: the map?🎯 What You’ll Learn:Why DC: Dark Legion is NOT a real 4X — and why that

en

00:41:33

Web Shops make up 30% of game revenue in 2025. Here’s...

two & a half gamers ·

2025/04/16

30% of your revenue could be coming from a web shop, and you wouldn’t even see it in your external IAP dashboards.In this exclusive episode of 2.5 Gamers, we sit down with David Stelzer, President of Xsolla (formerly Epic Games, SEGA, CAA), to discuss how top-grossing games are ditching App Store dependency and scaling through direct-to-consumer (D2C) models.This isn’t theoretical.📈 The top mobile publishers using Xsolla’s stack are pulling 25–30% of their total revenue through off-store web shops

en

01:01:00

🎮 Matching Story review: The 2-Year Soft Launch That...

two & a half gamers ·

2025/04/14

What if Royal Match and EverMerge had a baby… and it made $250K/day?That’s Matching Story, the surprise hit that blended match-3, merge, and classic narrative-driven creatives into one of the most polished casual games of 2025.Today, we dissect how Matching Story, which soft-launched in 2021, took its time, perfected its systems, and is now out-earning most casual titles on the charts.🔍 What’s inside:How Matching Story blends match-3 + merge mechanics to create deeper monetizationWhy it took 2

en

00:52:04

The Secret Sauce Behind $30M/Month Mobile Hits 🧪...

two & a half gamers ·

2025/04/10

What if we told you that the biggest mobile game hits right now are recycling 5-year-old concepts and adding AI?Today, we break down March 2025’s biggest creative trends in mobile gaming — from AI-generated dress-up ads to the rise of near-death experiences in Royal Match clones. You’ll see what’s scaling, who’s winning, and how games pull record revenue by recycling, remixing, and reinvigorating.🚨 Key insights you’ll get:How old Playrix-style creatives are coming back to life with AI animationWhy

en

00:25:18

How to Unlock Hidden Ad Revenue in Google AdMob....

two & a half gamers ·

2025/04/09

Struggling to squeeze more $$$ from your ads? You might be losing thousands just by misusing AdMob.Today, Felix Braberg reveals the exact setup, tips, and optimization tactics he uses to scale ad revenue for games earning $350M+ in lifetime revenue.👉 Whether you're earning $20/day or $3K/day, this episode is your AdMob playbook.💡 What you’ll learn:How to properly set up AdMob mediation step by stepThe most common mistakes (like leaving $$ in "AdMob Default" purgatory)The best ad

en

00:53:14

From VR Meme to Mobile Empire 👑 How I Am Cat & I am...

two & a half gamers ·

2025/04/07

What happens when a cat simulator, born as a VR meme on Meta Quest, lands on mobile with aggressive monetization and viral magic? You get a $300,000/day monster hits. I am Cat with I am Security = 300k/day ad revenue!Today, we break down the bizarre and brilliant rise of I Am Cat and I Am Security — the mobile games that took over app stores in March 2025 with:Over 2.6M DAU$170K/day from I Am Cat$120K/day from I Am Security60s interstitial loops and mandatory rewarded adsOrigin story: a team call

en

341 results

Similar Podcasts

Expres Ráno

Expres FM

詭哭郎嚎

郎祖筠 & FMTaiwan製作團隊

Ron en Erik Podcast

Ron en Erik

Poor Man"s Pinball Podcast

Poor Men Ian and Drew

WeAreChange on Odysee

WeAreChange