How developers can build games for the long haul — and why not every project is cut out for it

Not every game, or team, was ready for just how much the mobile market would change in the last couple of years. Today, it’s harder than ever to launch a hit. The reality is, even if you rebuild a previously successful game from the ground up and improve every metric, there’s a 99% chance it will perform worse. The top of the charts is dominated by older titles that have long since optimized for long-term ROAS and are backed by massive historical data sets.

It’s nearly impossible to carve out a new niche unless you’re offering something deeply polished, with meaningful gameplay and well-thought-out monetization.

This shift has affected publishers, too.