AppLovin MAX Earnings for Hypercasual Game Apps

Typical ad setup for this category

These are the modelling defaults for the category, used in every table on this page.

Sessions per user per day

4.0

Typical session length

4 minutes

Retention day 1 / 7 / 30

30% / 8% / 2%

Typical iOS share

30%

Rewarded video

1.5 per user / day

Interstitial

6 per user / day

Banner

10 per session

Native

Off by default

App open

1 per user / day

Hypercasual games live on volume, not loyalty

Hypercasual players arrive from a short ad, tap through a handful of quick levels and are often gone within a day or two. That shape decides how you earn. There is little progression to sell and almost no in-app purchase revenue, so advertising carries the whole business, and each player has a brief window in which to generate it. We apply a multiplier of 0.8 to this category, the lowest of the nine, because inventory is plentiful and advertisers know that many of these impressions reach people who are only half paying attention.

Interstitials do most of the earning. Levels end every few seconds, so natural breaks are never in short supply, and someone who downloaded a free toy accepts a full-screen ad more readily than a player deep in a strategy campaign. The trap is pacing by level count. If a level lasts ten seconds, an ad after every level becomes an ad every ten seconds, and the uninstall follows. Rewarded video still has a role, usually as a skip-level offer or a cosmetic unlock on the results screen, but opt-in is modest because the economy is too shallow to make rewards feel precious.

With retention this steep, the sums that matter are lifetime ones. A studio buying installs needs each player to return more in ad revenue over their short stay than the install cost, and a small shift in day-1 retention can move that balance more than any eCPM tweak. Track revenue per install across the first week, not only revenue per day; the ARPDAU and LTV guide shows how the two connect.

Estimated monthly earnings by audience size

Monthly estimates for the typical setup above, balanced region split.

Where the money comes from

Split of the $14,191 estimate at 10,000 daily users (blended Android and iOS).

Interstitial carries 45% of the total, so its placement and frequency matter most for this category.

Region makes the biggest difference

The same app at 10,000 daily users with three audience splits:

Moving from an emerging-market audience to a Tier 1 audience multiplies the estimate by about 2.4.

Revenue per install

Using the category’s typical retention curve, one install produces about 2.8 active days in its first 30 days and 3.7 in 90 days.

Ad revenue per install, first 30 days

$0.13

Ad revenue per install, first 90 days

$0.17

Compare these figures with your cost per install before buying users. They exclude in-app purchases.

How AppLovin MAX fits this category

For Rewarded video, the Tier 1 eCPM in our AppLovin MAX table is $14.50, about 21% above the middle of the eight mobile networks. For Interstitial, the Tier 1 eCPM in our AppLovin MAX table is $9.80, about 21% above the middle of the eight mobile networks. For Banner, the Tier 1 eCPM in our AppLovin MAX table is $1.10, about 33% above the middle of the eight mobile networks. For App open, the Tier 1 eCPM in our AppLovin MAX table is $6.00, about 4% above the middle of the eight mobile networks. Modelled fill is 90% for AppLovin MAX against an average of 83% across the mobile networks, which adds a little to every format.

You create an account, add each app with its store ID and generate ad units in the MAX dashboard. The integration manager lists the SDK and adapters for each network you pick, and each of those networks needs its own account before it can bid. Add AppLovin's lines to the app-ads.txt file on your developer website so buyers can verify your inventory, then use the mediation debugger to confirm every adapter loads. Compare outcomes on the AppLovin MAX revenue calculator.

How AppLovin MAX ranks for this category

All eight mobile networks, same category and audience (10,000 daily users, balanced).

AppLovin MAX ranks 1 of 8 here, 22% ahead of Google AdMob.

Practical tips

• Cap interstitials by elapsed time, for example one every 30 to 45 seconds, rather than by levels completed.
• Hold back full-screen ads for the first two or three levels so new players reach the fun before the first interruption.
• Test a rewarded skip-level button on failure screens, where the urge to watch is strongest.

About AppLovin MAX

AppLovin MAX is a mediation platform built around in-app bidding, with AppLovin's own demand competing alongside other networks in each auction. It posts the highest central estimates in our mobile tables, about $14.50 for Tier 1 rewarded and $9.80 for interstitials on Android, and the highest blended fill at roughly 90%.

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.