Deconstructor of Fun Game Analytics 04 - Retaining
Nov 17, 2025
Nikolaj Allberg Peterson, Co-founder and Chief Product Officer at Game Analytics, shares his deep insights into game monetization strategies. He emphasizes the importance of understanding player motivation for sustainable revenue. The discussion covers crucial topics like LTV curves, retention metrics, and the significance of cohort analysis. Nikolaj reveals how fake ads can drive installs but may harm retention and urges careful evaluation of A/B testing results. His expert advice helps developers understand when to iterate or abandon projects for success.
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Retention Is The Core Health Metric
- Retention measures the percent of players from a specific install day who return after a set number of days.
- Use day-1, day-7 and day-30 curves to judge engagement and business viability early.
Validate Retention Against Business Math
- Track retention early and map it to your monetization model and expected scale.
- Stop or pivot if cohorts can't produce a viable LTV versus your development and UA costs.
Use Cohorts To Compare LTV Early
- Analyze install cohorts (daily/weekly) and measure their cumulative revenue (LTV) over time.
- Use cohort LTV to compare experiments, channels, and new features before scaling.