two & a half gamers 🎮 Megabonk: The New roguelite phenomenon EXPLAINED
We dive into Megabonk, a surprise Steam indie hit that’s taken Twitch and the charts by storm. With 82K+ CCU, $2M in its first two weeks, and streamer hype driving growth, the trio explores what makes Megabonk work and whether it could scale to mobile.
Key insights:
Roguelite 3D blend of Vampire Survivors and Risk of Rain 2.
Deeper systems: map objectives, shrines, infinite inventory, banish/skip mechanics.
Core humor: banana-rang weapon, Mega Chad character, quirky item design.
“Screwed-up moment” for roguelites - moving past 2D isometric clones.
Shroud and other top Twitch streamers boosted it to 114K peak viewers.
Viral builds (level 500+ with full-screen bananas, nukes, shrines) = highly watchable.
Game thrives because it’s fun to watch as well as play.
Day 11: ~300K units sold, $2M revenue (discounted launch price €8.28).
Vampire Survivors never reached this CCU peak despite 23M lifetime units.
Risk of Rain 2 = 141M gross but publisher-backed. Megabonk is solo-dev mystery.
Obvious rewarded ad placements (refresh button, rerolls, revive).
Gacha for gear/characters could add whale-driven revenue.
Estimates: ~$270K/month ad revenue if ported straight to F2P. With gacha: far higher.
Sustaining Twitch attention requires updates or new systems.
Still, design depth is strong - the “systems combination” is what competitors will copy.
Takeaway: Megabonk is the new roguelite phenomenon: deep systems, streamer fuel, and endless monetization potential if (when) it comes to mobile.
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This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let’s not forget this is a 4 a.m. conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously.
Panelists: Jakub Remiar, Felix Braberg, Matej Lancaric
Podcast:
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Chapters
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Matej Lancaric
User Acquisition & Creatives Consultant
https://lancaric.me
Felix Braberg
Ad monetization consultant
https://www.felixbraberg.com
Jakub Remiar
Game design consultant
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakubremiar
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