How much does a mobile game with 10,000 daily players earn from ads?
Updated · Every figure on this page is an estimate from our benchmark tables, not a quote from any network.
The short answer
A mobile game with 10,000 daily players can earn anything from pocket money to a solid monthly income from ads. Where the players live and which formats you show decide most of it: a Tier 1 audience watching rewarded videos earns many times more than a Tier 3 audience seeing only banners. The table above shows our estimates.
The numbers
| Category | Google AdMob | AppLovin MAX | Unity Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hypercasual Game | $11,639 | $14,191 | $10,699 |
| Casual Game | $10,301 | $12,585 | $10,100 |
| Mid-core / Strategy | $11,808 | $14,383 | $11,966 |
| Puzzle Game | $10,605 | $12,917 | $10,131 |
For a casual game at this size the three networks land between $10,100 and $12,585 a month, with AppLovin MAX highest.
What moves the number
Daily earnings equal daily players multiplied by revenue per daily active user, or ARPDAU. ARPDAU adds up every ad a player sees in a day, each multiplied by its eCPM and divided by 1,000, then trimmed by the share of requests that actually return an ad. A typical game setup combines a few rewarded videos, a couple of interstitials and perhaps a banner.
Audience geography is the biggest factor, because Tier 1 eCPMs are several times Tier 3 rates for the same format. Genre comes next. Our model rates mid-core and strategy games above the baseline, because their players are engaged and valuable to advertisers, while hypercasual games sit below it, as they rely on large volumes of short sessions. Puzzle and casual titles fall in between. iOS players add an uplift over Android.
Format mix and pacing decide how much of that potential you capture. Rewarded video earns the most and tends to be well received when the reward is worth having. Interstitials pay well but can push players away if they interrupt too often, and lost players cost more than any single ad earns. Network choice also matters: bidding-led mediation, where several networks compete for each impression, often lifts the average rate compared with relying on one network.
Treat the figure as a monthly run rate rather than a fixed income. Daily players rise after updates and featuring, fall between them, and the season moves prices on top of that. Studios at this size usually see the best return from improving retention and the placement of rewarded ads before adding more networks, then move to mediation once the basics are working.
Next steps
- Enter your player count and format frequencies in the revenue calculator.
- Compare game-focused networks with the Unity Ads revenue calculator and the ironSource LevelPlay revenue calculator.
- Read rewarded or interstitial ads before raising ad frequency.
All figures come from our benchmark tables: Android eCPMs by tier, category or niche multipliers, modelled fill and the iOS multiplier. They are estimates for planning, not quotes.