Mobile Game Unit Economics 2026: CPI, LTV, and the Numbers That Matter
A hyper-casual game pays £0.30 per install and recovers it in 3 days. An RPG pays £12 and takes 90 days. Both can be profitable. But only one can survive a 45-day payout delay without external capital.
Unit economics vary wildly by genre, geography, and platform — far more than most founders appreciate until they're staring at a spreadsheet that doesn't balance. Knowing where your studio's numbers sit relative to benchmarks isn't academic. It determines whether your cash flow problem is structural (your unit economics don't work) or temporal (your economics work, but the timing doesn't). The distinction changes everything about how you solve it.
What follows is a reference compilation drawn from published industry reports. We'll update these numbers quarterly. Bookmark this page.
Data sources and disclaimer: All benchmarks are aggregated from Liftoff's 2025 Casual Gaming Report, Adjust's 2025 Global App Trends, GameAnalytics Mobile Gaming Benchmarks 2025, Sensor Tower's State of Mobile Gaming 2025, and Unity's 2025 Gaming Report. These are industry averages from published reports — your results will vary based on creative quality, targeting, market conditions, and a hundred other factors. Use them as calibration, not gospel.
CPI benchmarks by genre
Cost per install is the most-tracked UA metric and the most misleading in isolation. A £0.50 CPI is excellent for hyper-casual and disastrous for nothing — because the LTV of a hyper-casual user is often under £1. Meanwhile, a £12 CPI for an RPG can be highly profitable if the D90 LTV is £25. Context is everything.
| Genre | iOS CPI (UK) | Android CPI (UK) | iOS CPI (US) | Android CPI (US) | YoY Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hyper-Casual | £0.20–£0.50 | £0.08–£0.25 | £1.80–£2.50 | £1.00–£1.50 | Stable to declining |
| Casual (Puzzle, Match) | £1.20–£3.00 | £0.50–£1.50 | £2.00–£4.00 | £0.80–£2.00 | +5–10% YoY |
| Mid-Core (Strategy, Simulation) | £3.50–£5.50 | £2.50–£4.00 | £4.50–£7.00 | £3.25–£5.00 | +8–12% YoY |
| RPG | £5.00–£8.00 | £3.50–£5.00 | £6.00–£12.00 | £4.00–£6.50 | +10–15% YoY |
| Action | £3.00–£5.00 | £2.00–£3.50 | £4.00–£6.00 | £3.00–£4.50 | Stable |
| Social Casino | £8.00–£12.00 | £0.80–£1.50 | £10.00–£15.00 | £1.00–£2.00 | Volatile (±20%) |
| Sports | £2.50–£4.00 | £1.50–£3.00 | £3.50–£5.50 | £2.00–£3.50 | Seasonal |
| Health & Fitness (non-game) | £2.00–£4.50 | £1.00–£2.50 | £3.00–£6.00 | £1.50–£3.00 | +15% YoY |
UK CPIs run 20–40% lower than US across most genres — a meaningful advantage for UK-focused studios. iOS consistently costs 2–4x more than Android for the same genre and geography, reflecting both higher user LTV on iOS and the post-ATT attribution challenges that make iOS acquisition less efficient.
Seasonal variation: Q4 CPIs typically spike 20–40% above baseline due to holiday advertising competition. The 2025 data showed peak CPI in Q3 (August specifically), with a secondary spike in November-December. Q1 is historically the cheapest quarter for acquisition — plan accordingly.
Retention benchmarks
Retention determines whether your CPI is an investment or a loss. The table below shows median retention rates — the top 25% of games perform 1.5–2x better at every stage.
| Genre | D1 Retention | D7 Retention | D30 Retention | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hyper-Casual | 25–32% | 5–8% | 1.5–2.5% | Designed for high volume, low retention |
| Casual (Puzzle, Match) | 28–35% | 10–14% | 4.5–6.5% | Best long-term retention among popular genres |
| Mid-Core (Strategy) | 22–28% | 6–9% | 2.5–4% | Slower onboarding → lower D1, but committed players stay |
| RPG | 20–28% | 6–10% | 2–3.5% | Wide variance; quality-dependent |
| Action | 20–26% | 4–7% | 1–2% | Fast burnout without live ops |
| Social Casino | 18–25% | 5–8% | 3–4.5% | Long-tail model; D90 stabilises at ~3.5% |
| Sports | 22–30% | 6–10% | 2–3.5% | Heavily seasonal; tied to real-world calendars |
| Board/Card | 30–38% | 12–16% | 5–8% | Highest retention genre overall |
Source: GameAnalytics 2025 Mobile Gaming Benchmarks, covering data from 100,000+ games.
If your D1 retention is below 20%, no amount of UA optimisation or cash flow management will build a sustainable business. Fix the product first. If your D1 is above 30% and your D30 is above 4%, your unit economics are likely viable — the question becomes whether your cash cycle supports your growth rate.
LTV and ROAS benchmarks
LTV is harder to benchmark publicly because it depends heavily on monetisation model (IAP, ads, hybrid, subscription). The numbers below represent medians for hybrid-monetised games (the dominant model in 2025–2026, combining in-app purchases with ad revenue).
| Genre | Typical D30 LTV (UK user) | Typical D90 LTV (UK user) | D30 ROAS (iOS) | D30 ROAS (Android) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hyper-Casual | £0.15–£0.40 | £0.25–£0.60 | 40–80% | 60–120% |
| Casual (Puzzle, Match) | £0.80–£2.00 | £1.50–£4.00 | 35–55% | 12–20% |
| Mid-Core (Strategy) | £2.00–£5.00 | £4.00–£10.00 | 45–70% | 25–40% |
| RPG | £3.00–£8.00 | £8.00–£25.00 | 25–45% | 15–30% |
| Social Casino | £5.00–£15.00 | £12.00–£35.00 | 30–50% | 40–70% |
| Sports | £1.00–£3.00 | £2.50–£6.00 | 55–80% | 20–35% |
D7 ROAS benchmarks from Liftoff's 2025 report: casual games show a median of 7.6–7.8% across both platforms. Mid-core iOS achieves 4.3% D7 ROAS vs 6.1% on Android — one of the few genres where Android outperforms iOS on early ROAS, likely due to lower CPI.
What "good" looks like: A D30 ROAS above 40% on iOS is solid for most genres. Above 60% is excellent. Below 25% signals either a creative problem or a fundamental mismatch between CPI and monetisation. But these numbers mean nothing without the payback period context that follows.
Payback period: the metric that connects everything
Payback period — the time for a cohort's cumulative LTV to exceed its CPI — is the single most important metric for a cash-constrained studio. It determines how long your capital is "locked" in each acquisition cohort before it starts generating returns.
| Genre | Typical Payback Period | Range |
|---|---|---|
| Hyper-Casual | 1–7 days | Near-instant for ad-monetised |
| Casual (Puzzle, Match) | 14–45 days | Varies with IAP/ad mix |
| Mid-Core (Strategy) | 30–75 days | High CPI, slow but strong LTV curve |
| RPG | 45–120 days | Whale-dependent; long payback but high ceiling |
| Social Casino | 30–90 days | Front-loaded IAP from engaged players |
| Sports | 14–40 days | Seasonal peaks compress payback |
| Action | 20–60 days | Wide variance by sub-genre |
If your payback period is 7 days (hyper-casual), the payout delay from Apple and Google is operationally annoying but not structurally threatening. You can fund the next cohort from revenue that's already been earned, even if it hasn't been paid out yet — the amounts are small and the margin of safety is wide.
If your payback period is 60 days (mid-core or RPG), the payout delay becomes a structural capital requirement. You've spent the CPI, but the user won't have generated enough revenue to cover it for two months — and then you wait another 33–45 days to receive that revenue. Your capital is locked for 90–105 days per cohort.
The payout delay overlay: effective payback
This is where the cash flow picture crystallises. Take your in-app payback period and add the payout processing time. The result — effective payback — is the actual number of days your capital is tied up per cohort.
| Genre | In-App Payback | + Apple Delay (33–63 days) | + Google Delay (15–30 days) | Effective Payback (blended) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hyper-Casual | 1–7 days | 34–70 days | 16–37 days | 25–50 days |
| Casual (Puzzle) | 14–45 days | 47–108 days | 29–75 days | 40–95 days |
| Mid-Core | 30–75 days | 63–138 days | 45–105 days | 55–125 days |
| RPG | 45–120 days | 78–183 days | 60–150 days | 70–170 days |
| Social Casino | 30–90 days | 63–153 days | 45–120 days | 55–140 days |
| Sports | 14–40 days | 47–103 days | 29–70 days | 40–90 days |
The blended column assumes a 70% Apple / 30% Google revenue split. Read the effective payback column and ask: can my studio fund this many days of UA capital per cohort from operating cash flow?
For a casual game studio with £50,000/month UA spend and a 60-day effective payback: at any given time, two months' worth of UA investment (£100,000) is locked in the pipeline — spent but not yet returned. That's the minimum working capital required to maintain continuous spend. If you don't have it, you enter the sawtooth pattern of intermittent spending that raises CPI and undermines growth.
The working capital formula:
Working Capital Requirement = Daily UA Spend × Effective Payback Days
For a mid-core studio spending £3,000/day with a 90-day effective payback: £3,000 × 90 = £270,000 in perpetually locked capital. That's the cost of running continuous UA at that level — money that must exist in your system at all times, separate from operational expenses.
Seasonal patterns
Mobile gaming CPI and LTV both follow seasonal rhythms. Planning for these cycles is especially critical for cash-constrained studios, because the moments of highest opportunity (Q4) coincide with highest capital requirements.
Q1 (January–March): CPI drops 15–25% from Q4 peaks as advertisers reduce spend post-holiday. User quality is moderate. This is the best window for testing new creatives and channels at lower cost. LTV tends to be slightly below annual average — users acquired in Q1 monetise less aggressively than Q4 cohorts.
Q2 (April–June): Gradual CPI increase as budgets reset. Solid acquisition window. Adjust's 2025 data showed gaming app sessions growing 12% YoY in this period, suggesting healthy engagement levels.
Q3 (July–September): Peak CPI — the 2025 data showed August as the single most expensive month for mobile game acquisition. Competition from back-to-school advertisers and early Q4 planners drives auction prices up. Unless you have a strong seasonal title, this is a testing and optimisation quarter, not a scaling quarter.
Q4 (October–December): The decisive window. User spending rises 25–40% as holiday gift cards, new devices, and seasonal promotions drive both installs and monetisation. CPI is 20–30% above annual baseline, but ROAS often justifies it — Q4 cohorts typically show 15–25% higher LTV than annual average. Studios that enter Q4 with capital to scale capture disproportionate value. Studios that enter Q4 cash-constrained watch the opportunity pass.
The implication: if your studio's effective payback period exceeds 60 days, you need to begin building Q4 capital reserves by July at the latest. The compound effect of faster reinvestment is most valuable in the quarter where every additional install matters most.
How to use this data
Start with your genre's benchmark row. Compare your actual CPI and retention to the medians above. If you're significantly above median CPI or below median retention, the issue is product or creative — not cash flow.
If your metrics are at or above benchmark, calculate your effective payback period using the overlay table. Multiply your daily UA spend by your effective payback days. That's your working capital requirement — the amount that must be continuously deployed and locked in the pipeline to maintain your current spending level.
If that number exceeds your available cash, you have a timing problem. Your unit economics work, but your cash cycle doesn't support them. This is the most common — and most solvable — growth constraint for studios in the £20,000–£300,000/month revenue range.
If your effective payback exceeds your cash runway, scaling won't fix it. Each new cohort you acquire locks up more capital for longer. Growth doesn't close the gap — it widens it. The payout delay cost model quantifies this precisely for your revenue level.
Your numbers, your model
These benchmarks are starting points. Your actual economics depend on your game, your audience, your creative, and your market. The numbers that matter are yours.
Run your studio's metrics against these benchmarks with the App Revenue Intelligence Report. Map your 12-month UA trajectory against real payout dates with the financial model. See exactly where your cash cycle breaks — and what closing the gap is worth.
If the payout delay overlay above shows your effective payback exceeding your cash runway, Amps33 advances 70–85% of confirmed App Store and Google Play payouts within 3–7 business days at a flat 3% fee — to your own Ampere account. It won't fix bad unit economics, but it closes the timing gap for studios where the maths works but the calendar doesn't. See how it works →
Last updated: March 2026. Next quarterly update: June 2026. Industry data sourced from Liftoff, Adjust, GameAnalytics, Sensor Tower, and Unity reports published 2024–2025. If you spot data that needs correcting, reach out — we want these benchmarks to be accurate.