The best success stories in the world of mobile games don’t always end in fame and fortune for the creators. Success for many indie developers is finding a way to make a good living doing what they love to do most. Inspired by his developer brother, Rico Margallo started making games several years ago. Still, it took many years of hard work and commitment before securing his place in the industry. His story is not altogether uncommon. Having developed a series of titles under the Ricreator brand, our Philippine solo developer struggled to find the breakthrough he needed. “All I want to do is make games,” says Rico. “I like nothing more than to create entertainment that people enjoy and want to play.” His games, which primarily targeted a Filipino audience, were indeed popular. The real problem was that monetization did not correlate with growth and increasing downloads.
In the early years, Rico didn’t earn much at all from his original monetization setup. Not enough, at least, to turn his passion into a full-time career. Like many solo independents that develop in Unity, he just went with its ad platform – Unity Ads. While it seemed like the best option at the time, the developer struggled to combine multiple ad networks to maximize revenue. “It is the most complicated challenge I ever had to face in my gaming career,” explains Rico. As the issue persisted, he understood the need for a fresh approach and expert assistance.
Finding a new partner to help better monetize his games was not as difficult as Rico first thought. After researching various alternatives, he came across Yodo1’s Managed Ad Services (MAS). MAS appeared to be the solution he sought since it requires only one easy to install SDK to integrate multiple networks. Unlike his original setup, MAS turned out to be fast and easy to install. Throughout the MAS integration on his first game, House of Celestina, Rico was surprised by the level of support he received from Yodo1. It was hard for him to believe that the publishing partner for big games like Rodeo Stampede and Transformers would be interested in working with a small developer. “Not only was I amazed that Yodo1 would work with me,” he said, “but the level of support I received from the company’s friendly staff made integration easy.”
Making the effort to maximize the monetization potential of his games had a huge impact. Rico experienced a 90% increase in revenue in just the first month. It freed him from his day-to-day financial worries and meant that he could focus entirely on developing new games. He has since made more games, with many more planned for the future. The revenue growth he has witnessed through intelligent AI automation has convinced Rico to monetize all his future games through MAS exclusively. Of the new partnership, he went on to conclude, “I am very sure that I will never leave Yodo1, and all my future games will integrate with it.”
Does Rico’s story resonate with you? Have you faced similar monetization challenges? Get in touch today at bd@yodo1.com to learn more about MAS.
