Game Economy Design & Modeling

GAME Economy design & Modeling

Improve Profitability with Expert Game Economy Design & Modeling

Work with experienced economy designers to craft and fine-tune your game’s economy. Whether you rely on in-app purchases, ad placements, incentivized ads, battle passes, gacha systems, or subscriptions, AC&A models balanced strategies that support player engagement and revenue growth.

Book a Free Economy Design Consultation

What is Mobile Game Economy Design and Modeling?

Game Economy Design and Modeling is the process of designing, simulating, and optimizing the systems that govern player progression, currency flow, pricing, rewards, and monetization. With experience dating back to 2008, AC&A has a proven track record delivering profitable economy models for mobile free-to-play game developers. Our economy simulations identify issues before implementation, helping teams avoid costly iteration and reduce time to market.

Whether you’re modeling a brand-new economy or re-engineering an existing one, AC&A uses proven models to increase lifetime value (LTV), forecast high-value player personas, and model the conditions required for profitable user acquisition (UA). We help you test profitability in a spreadsheet before committing development resources, while protecting the player experience.

Optimize Gameplay & Maximize Profits

Game Economy Design & Modeling Consulting
Service Offerings

By leveraging our specialized expertise, you can dramatically increase revenue, avoid months of costly and frustrating revisions, and launch a game that not only captivates and retains players but also thrives in the competitive market.

Simulate Game
Profitability

Our team uses advanced simulation tools to predict the financial outcomes of your game’s economy. By modeling different monetization scenarios and player behaviors, we provide insights on optimizing your game’s profitability while maintaining player satisfaction.

Freemium Economy
Models

We specialize in designing freemium economy models that strike the perfect balance between engagement and monetization. Our models ensure a seamless progression for both free and paying players, enhancing the overall player experience and boosting in-game spending.

Game Economy
Design

Our game economy design services focus on creating balanced, sustainable in-game economies. We structure currency systems, rewards, and progression to encourage player retention and monetization, ensuring long-term success for your game.

Re-Engineering Existing Game Economies

We help re-engineer and optimize existing game economies by analyzing player data and identifying areas for improvement. Our team adjusts currency flow, reward structures, and monetization tactics to ensure that your game economy stays engaging and profitable over time.

High-Value Persona Forecasting

Using player data and predictive modeling, we identify high-value player personas. This allows us to forecast player behaviors, optimize monetization strategies, and tailor content to keep your most valuable players engaged and spending.

Maximizing
ARPU

We work with your team to maximize Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) by refining your game’s economy and monetization strategies. By identifying opportunities for increased spending, we ensure that both new and returning players contribute to sustained revenue growth.

Player Engagement & Retention Strategies

We design and implement strategies focused on increasing player engagement and retention. From progression modeling to reward systems, our strategies keep players invested in your game, leading to higher lifetime value and better monetization outcomes.

Maximizing Ad Revenue

Our ad optimization service focuses on increasing revenue from ads without sacrificing player experience. We analyze ad placements, formats, and frequency to ensure that interstitial ads, incentivized ads, and banners drive engagement while keeping players in the game. Our strategies balance monetization and retention while boosting ad revenue.

Subscription Models

We help you implement subscription models that offer players ongoing value through exclusive content, rewards, and in-game benefits. Our custom plans are designed to boost player retention, increase LTV, and create a steady revenue stream. Whether tiered plans or trial offers, we align your subscription model with your overall monetization strategy.

Let’s Get Started

Each of these service offerings is backed by our extensive experience and tailored to meet the unique needs of your mobile game, leveraging both our industry knowledge and data-driven insights.

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Gaming Platforms We Work With

While much of our work centers around mobile and freemium models, we are also well-versed in developing premium products, boxed/AAA games, and working on alternative and emerging platforms. Our extensive expertise enables us to address a diverse array of gaming needs and project requirements effectively.

MOBILE PLATFORMS

PC PLATFORMS

CONSOLE PLATFORMS

VR/AR Platforms

WEB PLATFORMS

Gaming Engines:

UNITY

UNREAL ENGINE

case studies

Relevant Success Stories

Since 2008, Adrian Crook & Associates has helped over 300 developers of all sizes maximize the ROI of their freemium games. As veteran product managers, economists, and designers, we guide each of our clients through an explicitly personalized, data-driven process. At every stage of a product’s lifecycle we provide actionable, innovative insights that deliver results.

IMMUTABLE

Guild of Guardians

Audit of the token economy and in-game resources for Guild of Guardians, including NFT implementation and tokenomics with recommendations for preserving crypto-asset value and improving resource attribution strategy.

Talofa

Run Legends

AC&A teamed up with Talofa Games to craft a robust economy for Run Legends. Through diagrams, simulations, and economic flows, AC&A built a balanced game economy to support a successful launch.

LBC

Hempire

LBC Studios partnered with AC&A in 2015 to create Hempire, the world’s top weed-growing game. AC&A provided freemium design, networking, and product management expertise, helping LBC grow from 2 founders to over 40 employees.

EA SPORTS

UFC 3

AC&A partnered with EA Sports to establish a long-term free-to-play strategy for one of their top brands. Collaborating with EA’s teams, AC&A focused on economy design, monetization, player retention, and creating a unique value proposition.

SEE ALL CASE STUDIES

Why Choose AC&A for Game Design?

Extensive Industry Experience and Proven Track Record:

With experience dating back to 2008 and a portfolio of more than 300 clients, we bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise to every project. Our longevity ensures we will be around to follow up with you if you need to make changes or if problems arise. Our history of increasing ARPU, LTV, and player retention rates across diverse game genres demonstrates our ability to deliver impactful results.

Specialized Expertise:

We assign the right Associates to each project based on their specific genre experience and expertise, ensuring the highest quality of work. Our team includes professionals with extremely varied skillsets, from Harvard economists to monetization spreadsheet wizards, crypto gaming experts, data engineers, and data architects.

Data-Driven Decision Making:

Our approach leverages decades of industry experience and the intuition developed over those years, combined with the ability to perform in-depth analysis of player data. This ensures our recommendations and adjustments are grounded in both robust data and seasoned expertise.

Collaborative and Flexible Approach:

We work closely with your team, providing support and mentorship, and integrating seamlessly as if we were a part of your in-house staff. We adapt quickly to your needs and work with clients through whatever communication medium makes sense for them, whether it’s Google Docs, Discord, Slack, Zoom, Basecamp, Teams, or any other platform.

Trusted Partnerships and Network:

Our deep industry connections enable us to quickly assemble skilled and reliable teams to meet any project requirements. We have extensive experience in staffing entire development teams from our personal networks and sourcing work-for-hire teams. Additionally, for specialized areas like user acquisition and marketing, we collaborate with reputable partners who have a proven track record of success, ensuring a comprehensive solution for your needs.

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phase 01

Foundation & Discovery

Requirements Discovery

Gather and analyze project requirements to ensure a clear understanding of objectives and economic goals.

Competitive Analysis

Assess the competitive landscape to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats within the game’s economy.

Review Historical KPIs And Documentation

Evaluate any existing KPIs and consume current documentation to understand past economic performance and insights.

Deep Product Understanding

Play and thoroughly understand the product (if possible) to gain firsthand experience and identify areas for economic improvement.

phase 02

Planning & Design

Set KPI Goals

Establish clear and ambitious key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the economic success of the game.

Metagame Design

Determine the core motivations for the player to progress over time and the flow of the core game’s resources.

High-Level Economy Design

Provide a bird’s-eye view of the game economy that projects player’s progression over time according to the designed meta and compares it to the planned product’s goal.

Team Review

Conduct thorough reviews of the economic PRD and concepts with the team to ensure alignment and clarity.

phase 03

Implementation & Optimization

Complete Economy Model Design

Develop a highly detailed economic model that tracks progression, resource flows, potential friction points, and overall monetization potential for various player personas over an extended period. This model is essential for optimizing and fine-tuning the economy both pre-release and during LiveOps.

A/B Testing (If Required)

Conduct A/B testing to compare different approaches of aspects of the economy model and optimize monetization performance.

Full Deployment & KPI Monitoring

Launch the game and continuously monitor economic KPIs to track their performance and impact on the overall game economy.

Balancing Using Live Player Data

Make data-driven adjustments and improvements based on live player data and feedback to ensure the game’s economy remains balanced and successful.

Ready to Improve your Game Economy Design & Modeling?

Contact us today to discuss how we can help take your game to the next level. Fill out the form below or schedule a meeting for expert mobile gaming advice.

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FAQs

What is game economy design and why is it important?

Game economy design refers to the structuring of in-game resources, currencies, rewards, and systems that drive player behavior and progression. A well-designed economy ensures that players remain engaged while also providing opportunities for monetization, making it crucial for the financial success of your game.

How can AC&A improve my game’s economy?

We take a data-driven approach to economy design, analyzing your game’s current performance and identifying areas for optimization. Our goal is to create a balanced and sustainable economy that enhances player retention, promotes in-game spending, and supports long-term growth. Our team designs economies that both engage players and maximize revenue potential.

What deliverables can we expect from your economy design services?

Our economy design services typically include in-depth analysis of your current economy, detailed economy models, currency and reward structures, and recommendations for progression systems. Additionally, we provide comprehensive monetization models that balance player experience with revenue generation.

Do you offer post-launch economy optimization?

Yes, post-launch optimization is a core part of our services. After your game is live, we monitor player data and spending behaviors to continuously refine the economy. We help identify bottlenecks, improve progression flow, and suggest new monetization features that align with player engagement.

How long does the game economy design process take?

The timeline for economy design depends on the complexity of your game and the scope of the project. Generally, we can start working on your economy design shortly after an initial consultation and deliver results in a few weeks. Our agile approach ensures timely adjustments based on ongoing player feedback and data.

What kind of games do you work with for economy design?

We specialize in mobile and freemium games, but our expertise extends to a wide variety of platforms, including console and PC games. Our team has successfully designed and optimized economies for various genres, from casual games to complex MMOs.

How does game economy modeling impact player retention?

A well-balanced game economy can significantly improve player retention by providing a satisfying sense of progression and achievement. We focus on creating a reward system that encourages players to return to the game regularly while maintaining a fair balance between free-to-play and paying players.

What experience does AC&A bring to game economy design?

With experience dating back to 2008 and a portfolio of 300+ successful game projects, our team has designed economies for some of the most successful games in the industry. We combine proven design principles with the latest data analysis tools to create economies that are both engaging and profitable.

Can you help with both the design and implementation of game economies?

Yes, our services cover the entire process from design to implementation. We start by analyzing your game’s current state, then design an optimized economy tailored to your goals, and finally assist in the implementation process to ensure seamless integration within your development pipeline.

What monetization strategies do you recommend?

We create custom monetization strategies based on your game’s unique player base and design. These can include in-app purchases, subscription models, ad placements, or innovative hybrid models. Our aim is to enhance monetization without negatively impacting the player experience.