📊 Is 24-Month Payback the New Normal? Real ROAS Benchmarks Revealed!

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

🧠 What You’ll Learn:

What’s a good M1 ROAS? (40% = 6-month payback, less than 25% = 12+ months)

Why puzzle games are surprisingly strong in M2/M6 payer retention

How hybrid monetization is now the norm, even in 4X and RPGs

Real ROAS curves by genre, by cohort, and by channel

Channel dominance: AppLovin still leads spend, but Google/Unity outperform in ROAS (really?)

Why most UA teams underestimate revenue concentration risks

Get our MERCH NOW: 25gamers.com/shop

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PVX Partners offers non-dilutive funding for game developers.

Go to: https://pvxpartners.com/

They can help you access the most effective form of growth capital once you have the metrics to back it.

- Scale fast

- Keep your shares

- Drawdown only as needed

- Have PvX take downside risk alongside you

+ Work with a team entirely made up of ex-gaming operators and investors

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Vibe. Vibe is the leading Streaming TV ad platform for small and medium-sized businesses looking for actionable advertising campaign performance.

https://www.vibe.co/

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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: Felix Braberg, Matej Lancaric⁠

Special guest: Zhen Jie (ZJ) Sim

https://www.linkedin.com/in/zhenjiesim/

Youtube: https://youtu.be/Kh8JkeXCH54

Join our slack channel here: https://join.slack.com/t/two-and-half-gamers/shared_invite/zt-2um8eguhf-c~H9idcxM271mnPzdWbipg

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to PVX Partners and the Gaming Industry

03:19 Analyzing ROAS Benchmarks and Trends

06:31 User Acquisition Costs and Market Dynamics

12:10 Monetization Strategies and Trends

13:44 Payback Periods and Profitability Insights

17:38 Retention Metrics and Revenue Concentration Risks

22:30 Predictive Analysis and Future Trends

24:46 Introduction to Lambda and ROAS Projections

27:00 Funding Eligibility and Cohort Scoring

28:25 Spending Trends in Casual Gaming Channels

30:44 Attribution Challenges in Marketing

34:30 Benchmarking Performance Across Channels

36:51 Insights on Casual Puzzle Games Performance

40:37 Future of Game Marketing and Community Support

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Matej Lancaric

User Acquisition & Creatives Consultant

⁠https://lancaric.me

Felix Braberg

Ad monetization consultant

⁠https://www.felixbraberg.com

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Please share the podcast with your industry friends, dogs & cats. Especially cats! They love it!

Hit the Subscribe button on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple!

Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me

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If you are interested in getting UA tips every week on Monday, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠lancaric.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & sign up for the Brutally Honest newsletter by Matej Lancaric

Do you have UA questions nobody can answer? Ask ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Matej AI⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - the First UA AI in the gaming industry! https://lancaric.me/matej-ai

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