
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
This episode, Two and a Half Gamers sit down with analytics legend Russell Ovans—the mind behind Professor ARPDAU and the author of game analytics’ “bible.” Learn the brutal truth about retention, ARPDAU, LTV, and the “golden cohort” trap. If you want to scale your game profitably in 2025, you need these formulas, tools, and lessons - no hype, no BS, just results.
You’ll learn:
Why retention is the only metric that matters (until ARPDAU takes over)
How to model and predict your LTV, player days, and payback window using real retention curves
The difference between analytics and data science, and why cohorts are your best friend
How to avoid burning your UA budget chasing “golden cohorts” or missing your D7 ROAS target
Free tools at arpdow.com to plug in your data and get real answers
Key Takeaway:
Retention plus ARPDAU equals real growth. Track cohorts, model your curve, and never fall for the golden cohort trap or ad network happy talk. If you want more, arpdow.com has the tools.
Get our MERCH NOW: 25gamers.com/shop
--------------------------------------
PVX Partners offers non-dilutive funding for game developers.
Go to: https://pvxpartners.com/
They can help you access the most effective form of growth capital once you have the metrics to back it.
- Scale fast
- Keep your shares
- Drawdown only as needed
- Have PvX take downside risk alongside you
+ Work with a team entirely made up of ex-gaming operators and investors
---------------------------------------
Vibe. Vibe is the leading Streaming TV ad platform for small and medium-sized businesses looking for actionable advertising campaign performance.
https://www.vibe.co/
---------------------------------------
For an ever-growing number of game developers, this means that now is the perfect time to invest in monetizing direct-to-consumer at scale.
Our sponsor FastSpring:
Has delivered D2C at scale for over 20 years
They power top mobile publishers around the world
Launch a new webstore, replace an existing D2C vendor, or add a redundant D2C vendor at fastspring.gg.
---------------------------------------
This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let’s not forget this is a 4 a.m. conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously.
Panelists: Jakub Remiar, Felix Braberg, Matej Lancaric
Special Guest: Russel Ovans
https://arpdau.com/
https://arpdau.com/ltv
Join our slack channel here: https://join.slack.com/t/two-and-half-gamers/shared_invite/zt-2um8eguhf-c~H9idcxM271mnPzdWbipg
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Analytics in Gaming
05:38 Russell Owens' Journey in Game Analytics
08:29 Understanding Analytics vs. Data Science
11:37 The Importance of Cohorts in Game Analytics
14:43 Retention Metrics and Their Significance
18:44 Key Performance Indicators for Game Success
21:39 The Relationship Between LTV and CPI
24:37 Predicting Retention and Its Impact on Game Design
30:41 Understanding Retention Metrics
33:42 The Importance of Retention in Monetization
36:31 Expected Player Days and LTV Calculation
43:43 Tools for Predicting LTV and ROAS
50:41 Final Thoughts and Homework for Game Developers
---------------------------------------
Matej Lancaric
User Acquisition & Creatives Consultant
https://lancaric.me
Felix Braberg
Ad monetization consultant
https://www.felixbraberg.com
Jakub Remiar
Game design consultant
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakubremiar
---------------------------------------
Please share the podcast with your industry friends, dogs & cats. Especially cats! They love it!
Hit the Subscribe button on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple!
Please share feedback and comments - [email protected]
5
33 ratings
This episode, Two and a Half Gamers sit down with analytics legend Russell Ovans—the mind behind Professor ARPDAU and the author of game analytics’ “bible.” Learn the brutal truth about retention, ARPDAU, LTV, and the “golden cohort” trap. If you want to scale your game profitably in 2025, you need these formulas, tools, and lessons - no hype, no BS, just results.
You’ll learn:
Why retention is the only metric that matters (until ARPDAU takes over)
How to model and predict your LTV, player days, and payback window using real retention curves
The difference between analytics and data science, and why cohorts are your best friend
How to avoid burning your UA budget chasing “golden cohorts” or missing your D7 ROAS target
Free tools at arpdow.com to plug in your data and get real answers
Key Takeaway:
Retention plus ARPDAU equals real growth. Track cohorts, model your curve, and never fall for the golden cohort trap or ad network happy talk. If you want more, arpdow.com has the tools.
Get our MERCH NOW: 25gamers.com/shop
--------------------------------------
PVX Partners offers non-dilutive funding for game developers.
Go to: https://pvxpartners.com/
They can help you access the most effective form of growth capital once you have the metrics to back it.
- Scale fast
- Keep your shares
- Drawdown only as needed
- Have PvX take downside risk alongside you
+ Work with a team entirely made up of ex-gaming operators and investors
---------------------------------------
Vibe. Vibe is the leading Streaming TV ad platform for small and medium-sized businesses looking for actionable advertising campaign performance.
https://www.vibe.co/
---------------------------------------
For an ever-growing number of game developers, this means that now is the perfect time to invest in monetizing direct-to-consumer at scale.
Our sponsor FastSpring:
Has delivered D2C at scale for over 20 years
They power top mobile publishers around the world
Launch a new webstore, replace an existing D2C vendor, or add a redundant D2C vendor at fastspring.gg.
---------------------------------------
This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let’s not forget this is a 4 a.m. conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously.
Panelists: Jakub Remiar, Felix Braberg, Matej Lancaric
Special Guest: Russel Ovans
https://arpdau.com/
https://arpdau.com/ltv
Join our slack channel here: https://join.slack.com/t/two-and-half-gamers/shared_invite/zt-2um8eguhf-c~H9idcxM271mnPzdWbipg
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Analytics in Gaming
05:38 Russell Owens' Journey in Game Analytics
08:29 Understanding Analytics vs. Data Science
11:37 The Importance of Cohorts in Game Analytics
14:43 Retention Metrics and Their Significance
18:44 Key Performance Indicators for Game Success
21:39 The Relationship Between LTV and CPI
24:37 Predicting Retention and Its Impact on Game Design
30:41 Understanding Retention Metrics
33:42 The Importance of Retention in Monetization
36:31 Expected Player Days and LTV Calculation
43:43 Tools for Predicting LTV and ROAS
50:41 Final Thoughts and Homework for Game Developers
---------------------------------------
Matej Lancaric
User Acquisition & Creatives Consultant
https://lancaric.me
Felix Braberg
Ad monetization consultant
https://www.felixbraberg.com
Jakub Remiar
Game design consultant
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakubremiar
---------------------------------------
Please share the podcast with your industry friends, dogs & cats. Especially cats! They love it!
Hit the Subscribe button on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple!
Please share feedback and comments - [email protected]
3,663 Listeners
3,144 Listeners
30,020 Listeners
9,263 Listeners
1,937 Listeners
227 Listeners
96 Listeners
19 Listeners
5,421 Listeners
9,263 Listeners
5,448 Listeners
0 Listeners
2,189 Listeners
114 Listeners
463 Listeners