What’s inside
The ten numbers
- DAU
- Retention
- Conversion
- ARPPU
- ARPDAU
- LTV
- CPI
- ROAS
- k-factor
- eCPM
- Why a game that keeps 6 players in 100 earns many times more than one that keeps none
- How retention, conversion, ARPPU and LTV fit together on one simple scoreboard
- What a player really costs, and when ads pay for themselves
- Why an honest shop beats a pushy one, and where the line between generous and greedy lies
- How to tell a real improvement from noise before you bet the studio on it
- Why a launch can sink almost a million dollars before it starts paying back
No jargon without an explanation. No formula without a picture.
For
Players who wonder where the money comes from, people who want to work in games, indie developers, and anyone building a product with a free tier.
First pages
Chapter 1. The Price of Zero
Vera came to the first planning meeting with her mind already made up, and she didn’t even sit down.
“I was up all night thinking about Pasha’s question. He’s right. We go paid: $2.99 in the store, no purchases inside. Honest and simple.”
Pasha nodded first. A paid game meant no in-game shop to build, no currency, no storefront, no payment checks. He did the math out loud: “That’s a month of code we don’t have to write. Okay, three weeks.”
Marek winced but kept quiet. Bodya asked whether that meant he wouldn’t have to draw price tags on the croissants. Liza jotted something in her notebook.
Timur said nothing. He put a printout with a three-row table on the desk and sat back down. At the top it said: “A million people saw the game’s store page.”
| Price | Get the game | Studio earns |
|---|---|---|
| $0.99 | 120,000 buy | $118,800 |
| $2.99 | 30,000 buy | $89,700 |
| Free | 400,000 install | $0 for now |
Vera read the bottom row and looked up. “Zero dollars. Lovely plan, Timur.”
Roe, R. N.
The price of zero : how free games make billions / R. N. Roe. — [S.l. : s.n.], 2026.
170 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.
ISBN 979-8-16-779318-7 (pbk.)
1. Video games—Economic aspects. 2. Mobile games—Marketing. 3. Video games industry. I. Title.
Catalog card