glossAry

ARPU stands for average revenue per user and is the key monetization metric for your game.

Apple vs Epic Games is a lawsuit filed by Epic in 2020, in which Epic claimed several of Apple’s policies were illegal, monopolistic, and anti-competitive.

Cross platform games are games users can play across multiple devices - like PC, console, browser, and mobile.

The Digital Markets Act is a landmark piece of antitrust legislation passed in the European Union that's meant to check the power of large tech companies and create a more open and fair economy.

A direct to consumer platform gives companies the infrastructure, tooling, and expertise they need to distribute without third parties.

A game launcher is a desktop app for downloading and launching games, but can also be used to enhance the wider game experience

Game retention is a metric that indicates how effectively your game engages players and gets them to return.

Gaming fraud is an umbrella term for deceptive or illegal activities aimed at exploiting games.

Gaming metrics give developers insights into game performance so they can set goals and optimize everything from monetization and UA to game design.

Gaming technology refers to the tools and platforms game developers use to develop, optimize, and enhance their games.

Google vs Epic Games is a lawsuit filed by Epic in 2020, in which Epic claimed Google used its power to maintain the Play Store's position as the number one Android app distributor and stifle rival app stores.

IDFA stands for Identifier for Advertisers and is a Mobile Ad ID that refers to the unique, anonymized identifier Apple assigns to each iOS device.

In-app purchases are virtual goods or services that players can buy in a game for a fee. They are often used by free-to-play games as the primary monetization model.

Lifetime value, or LTV, is the average revenue earned per user. It’s made up of two components: retention (measured in days) and average revenue per daily active user (measured in dollars).

Micro transactions are virtual in-game purchases and can change how users play or how their character looks - whether that’s loot boxes, new skins, power-ups, or in-game currency. 

Mobile game monetization is all about generating revenue from games - whether that’s from ads, in-app purchases, web shops, or a mix of them all.

Mobile gaming refers to types of video games that can be played on mobile devices, like tablets and smartphones.

An online gaming payment is a micro transaction players make on the web, instead of in-app.

ROAS, or return on ad spend, is a metric that tells you how much revenue your game’s ads are generating compared to how much you're spending on those ads.

Mobile retargeting uses personalized ads to re-engage users that have previously visited, interacted with, or installed an app.

SKAdNetwork is the framework Apple built for marketers to measure the value of in-app campaigns without the IDFA tracker.

On mobile, sideloading refers to installing apps directly on device from channels outside of the official app stores, like game websites and third-party app storefronts.

User acquisition is the process of bringing new users into an app through a mix of marketing tactics.

Video game modding refers to players (rather than the studio) altering a game, and it inclues everything from cosmetic changes to code modifications.

A web shop is a direct-to-consumer (D2C) channel that's dedicated to selling in-game items outside of the game environment.