two & a half gamers

🎮 Megabonk: The New roguelite phenomenon EXPLAINED


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We dive into Megabonk, a surprise Steam indie hit that’s taken Twitch and the charts by storm. With 82K+ CCU, $2M in its first two weeks, and streamer hype driving growth, the trio explores what makes Megabonk work and whether it could scale to mobile.


Key insights:


Roguelite 3D blend of Vampire Survivors and Risk of Rain 2.


Deeper systems: map objectives, shrines, infinite inventory, banish/skip mechanics.


Core humor: banana-rang weapon, Mega Chad character, quirky item design.


“Screwed-up moment” for roguelites - moving past 2D isometric clones.


Shroud and other top Twitch streamers boosted it to 114K peak viewers.


Viral builds (level 500+ with full-screen bananas, nukes, shrines) = highly watchable.


Game thrives because it’s fun to watch as well as play.


Day 11: ~300K units sold, $2M revenue (discounted launch price €8.28).


Vampire Survivors never reached this CCU peak despite 23M lifetime units.


Risk of Rain 2 = 141M gross but publisher-backed. Megabonk is solo-dev mystery.


Obvious rewarded ad placements (refresh button, rerolls, revive).


Gacha for gear/characters could add whale-driven revenue.


Estimates: ~$270K/month ad revenue if ported straight to F2P. With gacha: far higher.


Sustaining Twitch attention requires updates or new systems.


Still, design depth is strong - the “systems combination” is what competitors will copy.


Takeaway: Megabonk is the new roguelite phenomenon: deep systems, streamer fuel, and endless monetization potential if (when) it comes to mobile.


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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

Podcast:


Join our slack channel here: https://join.slack.com/t/two-and-half-gamers/shared_invite/zt-2um8eguhf-c~H9idcxM271mnPzdWbipg


Chapters


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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

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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]

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If you are interested in getting UA tips every week on Monday, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠lancaric.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & sign up for the Brutally Honest newsletter by Matej Lancaric

Do you have UA questions nobody can answer? Ask ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Matej AI⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - the First UA AI in the gaming industry! https://lancaric.me/matej-ai

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