Anzu’s intrinsic in-game advertising solution has quickly become a hit with indie game developers, offering them a way to monetize their games without taking anything away from the player experience. In this blog series, we sit down with a number of indie studios that are using Anzu’s solution to understand what impact it has had.

We were delighted to speak with Mytona, the team behind the smash hit restaurant simulator game Cooking Diary, which is loved by millions of dedicated players worldwide.

What made you decide to begin using in-game as a monetization strategy?

We were looking for a solution that would allow us to monetize our games without compromising on the user experience or gameplay and that could still provide us with a stable and reliable revenue stream. We also wanted something that could be fully integrated into our game's narrative without violating the visual style. Many of our games, including Cooking Diary, have huge followings with dedicated player bases. Our number one priority was to ensure we put our players first and that their experience was not affected.

Why did you choose to partner with Anzu?

We were introduced to Anzu a few years ago and found their solution and technology
incredibly exciting. They helped us integrate ads into Cooking Diary, our flagship time management culinary game. We chose this title as it has TVs, banners, and paintings that the ads could naturally sit within without disrupting the gameplay flow.

How easy were the ads to integrate?

Our primary challenge was finding suitable placements within our restaurants, as the composition of each restaurant is unique. There are also a lot of dynamically changing objects on-screen all of the time, which complicated the process of finding a suitable place where nothing would block the placement. The camera perspective in the game is also slightly off-angle, so we had to find a way around that.

When we had overcome all of the above, the implementation was not that difficult once we figured out the sequence of callbacks to process placements. During the implementation, Anzu provided us with a demo, which greatly helped get the placements set up efficiently. In general, the work was more about understanding our implementation and adjusting it to the conditions of visibility of placements so that impressions are counted.

Since the ad placements went live, we have been monitoring them closely within the Anzu dashboard and working with the Anzu team to tweak and reposition them, ensure we are getting the most out of them, and are having a positive impact on the gameplay.

What impact have in-game ads had?

After implementing Anzu into our game, ad revenue increased by 6%. We also saw a 4x increase in total CPM and a 6x increase in video eCPM from the US. Finally, and most importantly, we received no negative feedback from players on the ads and no change in unique user numbers after launching them, indicating that they did not affect the player experience.

How do the ads work alongside your other monetization methods?

The intrinsic in-game ads have worked well alongside our in-app purchases, supplying us with an additional revenue stream. Being able to rely on this regular source of income is amazing, especially with the uncertain economic climate we currently find ourselves in.

Finally, what advice would you give to other studios thinking about in-game ads?

It is an excellent option for additional advertising monetization if you have a continuous stream of installs and a large audience. Try to implement placements in the places where players spend most of their time, but at the same time, do not forget that the gameplay and user experience come first.

Find out more about how in-game ads have impacted Mytona in this case study.