As mobile game studios face rising acquisition costs, evolving player expectations and growing pressure to increase lifetime value, monetization strategies are being forced to evolve. In this Monetization Masterclass, Hajar Noreddine, VP of Business Development at ZBD, explores why retention and revenue can no longer be treated as separate challenges, the growing role of rewards and loyalty, and how studios can create more value for players without compromising the experience. From tackling player burnout to rethinking engagement after the install, Hajar shares her perspective on the monetization opportunities shaping the next era of mobile gaming.

Q: ZBD has worked closely with mobile game studios experimenting with real-money rewards and alternative engagement models. From your perspective, what are the biggest monetization challenges studios are facing in today’s saturated market?

The main challenge is the need to further monetize the existing user base due to top of funnel growth with new users becoming harder and more expensive to acquire. Studios are under pressure to improve LTV and retention, but the traditional levers are not delivering the same returns they used to.

More than half of developers we recently surveyed said their biggest challenge is balancing monetization friction with a fun user experience. That puts a lot of pressure on monetization design. If you push too aggressively with ads or IAPs, you risk damaging the user experience. But if you don’t put in an effective process for earning profits, the economics don’t work.

At the same time, 80% of mobile game developers shared in the survey that they believe the mobile gaming industry’s engagement and retention strategies are going stale. This lack of innovation is another compounding challenge, contributing negatively towards player’s engagement performance and potential diminishing returns for developers. So the other common challenge is: how do studios create more value inside the game so players invest more time, attention, and money without feeling fatigued?

On a positive note, things are starting to evolve. Our data shows that 50% of the studios are increasing their retention and reengagement budgets; and a staggering 82% feel confident that they have the resources and the bandwidth to deliver successful monetization and retention goals. 

Q: Many studios are under pressure to grow revenue without damaging retention. What separates the games that are successfully balancing both, from those that are struggling?

The teams that successfully balance both are the ones that  understand that revenue and retention are not separate problems.

Some developers are hesitant to bring in change. Our survey showed that 37% of developers were afraid that any changes to retention strategies would impact their current KPIs. However, in an environment where all studios are using the same retention strategies that “work for everyone”, there is always a first mover advantage given to those who will take the risk and try something new that changes that behavior loop.

Developers looking at the full player journey, asking where value can be added in a way that supports engagement, and seizing opportunities as they present themselves are the ones that will see their revenues and KPIs grow.

A key learning: opportunity is a two-way value exchange.

Only referencing what works for other games and competitors, or relying too heavily on short-term revenue tactics, such adding more ads or pushing IAP promos, can result in user fatigue rather than balancing the delicate interplay between engagement and monetization.

The most successful games are constantly analyzing player behaviour and psychology, refining experiences for different player segments, and testing different innovative approaches fast. Data showed that players are more likely to stay engaged when the game gives back something meaningful in return. 

We’ve seen this ourselves when TapNation embedded ZBD Earn into Idle Bank, where the game had a 142% retention increase in Day 14 and a 44% ARPDAU uplift. However; it’s important to highlight that this only works if the rewards are properly integrated into the game’s economy and user experience.

This means studios need to be very intentional about segmentation, timing, engaging users, and adding reward mechanics that sit in the core loop to build in-house user loyalty.

Nurturing that two-way value exchange continues to gain popularity. Our research shows that 90% of developers are either implementing or considering implementing in-game rewards and loyalty systems, and 43% expect in-game loyalty to be one of the most impactful growth levers over the next two years. 

Q: We often hear about balancing ad monetization and IAPs, but where do rewards and alternative engagement mechanics fit into that mix moving forward?

Rewards should be seen as a value-add layer that sits on top of the game’s existing core gameplay and monetization systems.

 The goal with rewards is to boost retention and build direct users’ loyalty, resulting in users playing more, coming back more often to the game and advancing in the gameplay, which creates more monetization opportunities across the game economy.

Rewards work because they give players that sense of extra value that we’ve been talking about. The key is responsible and thoughtful integration based on the games’ genre, audience, and user experience. The important thing to always remember is that rewards should support the game’s economy, not distort it, while also feeling like a native extension of the user experience.

That is the difference between embedded rewards and rewarded UA platforms.

Q: Player burnout and consequential churn have become a growing conversation across mobile gaming. What are the biggest mistakes studios make when trying to maximize monetization without considering long-term player experience?

Most people treat player burnout as a content or pacing problem. I think that misses the root cause. Burnout is a value exchange problem. When players are asked to invest more without getting anything in return, fatigue is inevitable. Many studios underestimate the role that player loyalty plays in retention; particularly in crowded genres where users have many alternatives and need a reason to build loyalty and come back.

The most common mistake studios make is pushing short-term revenue mechanics until the game starts to feel extractive: too many interruptions, grind, and pressure to pay. More game content can help, but it does not fix the problem if the core gameloop no longer feels worth the player's time.

Q: Why do you think rewarding player engagement resonates so strongly with gaming users today?

Because players are much more aware of their time, as they expect to get something in return for their time spent online. A previous survey ZBD conducted into Gen Z payment habits found that 70% of players from that generation expect to earn rewards while using apps and playing games. 

This is not exclusively a feature of gamers either, as the same study showed 86% of respondents believe cashback and loyalty rewards are an important part of making any purchase, and 91% are interested in earning money by using apps and playing games. Reward and loyalty apps are a common part of shopping culture now and the generations from Z onwards grew up with it as the norm. There isn’t a reason to think that gaming should be different.

Q: Which monetization trends or player behaviours do you think the wider industry is currently underestimating?

The industry is still underestimating how much value can be created after the install.

By default, growth strategies are  built around acquisition first: how do we get more users, cheaper users, higher-intent users? That matters, but in a mature market, the bigger opportunity is often in the existing user base.

Engaging the existing active userbase is harder but adds more sustainability. Improving retention, engagement, and monetization requires innovation, deeper product changes, more experimentation, and a willingness to take risks. Many of the industry's biggest breakthroughs, from free-to-play to battle passes, came from rethinking how players engage with games rather than simply spending more on growth and marketing.

Studios should be asking: how do we increase session frequency, session depth, return rates, ad engagement, payer conversion, and long-term loyalty? Small improvements across the whole active user base can have a much bigger impact than a narrow uplift from a small acquisition cohort.

Another underestimated behaviour is that players increasingly expect value to be flexible. They do not always want closed-loop points or rewards that only matter inside one app. Real-value rewards, cashout options, and embedded financial mechanics can make engagement feel more meaningful because the value is not trapped.

Q: If studios could rethink one aspect of their monetization strategy heading into the next 12 months, what should it be?

Retention is king. It’s a core part of monetization in gaming that when optimized will greatly increase the potential revenue earned, paving the way for additional tweaks and experiments. 

The key question should be: how do we make the users more valuable by making the experience more valuable to them?

That means looking beyond short-term revenue events and thinking about the full lifecycle: why users stay, what keeps them engaged, and where monetization feels natural?The industry has spent many years innovating many of the same monetization and engagement tactics, so the bigger opportunity now is finding new modern ways to create value rather than simply applying what worked in the past.