A New Era of Launching Mobile Games

Emily Putze from Google Play reveals why your mobile game launch strategy is probably outdated. The old playbook that worked in 2014's gold rush era is now a recipe for expensive failure.

Based on hundreds of game launches at Google Play, this article exposes how the mobile gaming landscape has fundamentally shifted. Development costs have skyrocketed, marketing budgets now rival console games, and the traditional soft-launch approach leaves massive blind spots that kill promising titles.

Key Takeaways

• Top developers now require up to 5 internal greenlights, killing games at any stage
• Open beta testing prevents public ratings damage while gathering early market feedback
• Testing must extend beyond D30 metrics (6-12 months typical) to understand true LTV
• Big updates are the new launch: reinvesting in existing hits beats risky new releases
• LiveOps and social features must be production-ready at launch, not post-launch additions

One major publisher ran a full dress rehearsal of their launch a month early, treating beta like the real thing, and discovered critical gaps that would have tanked their LiveOps plan.