Early ad-driven monetization strategy

On the podcast we talk with Mathias about running Subway Surfers' marketing machine on salaries, not ad spend, leaving money on the table to protect player experience, and why more apps should try rewarded ads, season passes, and other tactics from gaming.

Top Takeaways:

🎨 Viral flywheels can out-perform massive paid campaigns

Relying on salaries instead of ad budgets, a lean team can ship constant creative that rides cultural waves. Most experiments flop quietly, but the occasional viral hit fuels downloads across platforms and even influences app store featuring. The lesson: volume, autonomy, and cultural fluency can rival—or surpass—big-spend marketing.

🛡️ Protecting user experience is a growth strategy

It’s tempting to squeeze harder on monetization, but avoiding overly aggressive tactics can pay off longer-term. By keeping the core product endlessly playable and resisting short-term optimization, teams can build evergreen engagement that compounds for over a decade. Sometimes the best ROI comes from not chasing every last dollar.

🎁 Rewarded ads expand who you can monetize

Giving users the choice to watch ads in exchange for perks isn’t just a gaming trick—it’s a fairness mechanism. It allows players in tier-two and tier-three markets, who may never subscribe, to still contribute value. Apps beyond gaming can borrow this playbook to reach broader audiences without alienating core users.

⏱️ Season passes deliver transparency and trust

Unlike recurring subscriptions, passes offer clear value over a fixed time window: pay once, play (or use) for the season. This structure avoids the “forgotten subscription” resentment while still generating meaningful revenue. It’s a model that translates well to utilities and lifestyle apps where usage is bursty or seasonal.

🤝 Collaborations multiply reach without heavy spend

Crossovers between brands or products can reactivate lapsed users and bring in new audiences, even when no money changes hands. Like the music industry learned with features, one plus one can equal three when two strong IPs join forces. Subscription apps in adjacent niches can create the same effect.

About Mathias Gredal Nørvig: 

👨‍💻 CEO of SYBO, the company behind the smash hit mobile game Subway Surfers.

📈 Mathias and the small-but-mighty SYBO content marketing team have built a freemium mobile app with serious staying power.

💡“How do we entertain as many players as possible with something as available as possible, but also allow those who want to spend … money to progress or get more content to do so — without the expense of ruining the fun for the majority?”

👋 LinkedIn 

Follow us on X: 

• David Barnard - @drbarnard
• Jacob Eiting - @jeiting
• RevenueCat - @RevenueCat
• SubClub - @SubClubHQ

Episode Highlights: 

[1:01] Staying power: How a subscription app like Subway Surfers achieves longevity with over 4.5 billion downloads.

[4:30] Surfing the waves: How the Subway Surfers in-house creative marketing team creates and rides virality waves.

[8:50] The content flywheel: How subscription apps can become self-sustaining with organic marketing.

[16:27] Cash flow: What subscription apps can learn from the mobile gaming industry about alternative monetization strategies.

[19:51] Paying the piper: How to balance a good user experience with when and how to require payment.

[25:30] A watchful eye: The challenges of preserving brand reputation and protecting underage users in a freemium app that serves ads.

[28:48] Teaming up: Avoiding cannibalization and partnering with competitors in the free-to-play space.

[41:17] Day pass: How apps can experiment with consumables, day passes, and season passes to unlock new revenue opportunities.