Learning Objectives
By the end of this activity, students will be able to:
Understand the three pillars of game publishing.
Students will be able to define and distinguish Acquisition, Retention, and Monetization as interdependent business functions, and explain how decisions in one pillar directly affect outcomes in the others.
Apply core publishing metrics to decision-making.
Students can calculate and interpret CPI (Cost Per Install), Retention Rate, ARPU (Average Revenue Per User), and use these metrics to evaluate the health of a game's business model.
Recognize the compounding value of retention.
Through repeated rounds, students will observe firsthand that a smaller user base with high retention outperforms a larger base with low retention over time — and that this compounding effect is what drives long-term enterprise value.
Navigate the monetization-retention tradeoff.
Students will experience the tension between short-term revenue extraction and long-term user health. They will learn that aggressive monetization can produce impressive single-round revenue while destroying the user base that generates future revenue.
Manage cost structure under pressure.
With acquisition costs doubling in later rounds and retention requiring ongoing investment, students must balance spending across categories while maintaining a cash runway. This teaches the difference between unit economics (is each user profitable?) and cash flow management (can we survive long enough to prove it?).
Evaluate a game as an investor would.
The Valuation Multiplier mechanic teaches students that financial markets do not value games solely on current revenue. Retention is a proxy for product quality, and investors reward studios that build durable, retentive products — even if their short-term cash position is modest.