Why real-money game developers need to understand their 3 types of players

Real-money gaming is a growing industry on PC and mobile as companies release skill-based and luck-based apps around the world. But whether it’s fantasy football or a match-3 puzzler, developers see distinct and valuable trends emerging from different kinds of players.

Three kinds of people deposit money into real-money gaming apps, according to an upcoming report from customer-retention technology company Optimove. These insights all are important to retaining players in this growing market. The first are “bold” players who put money into a game the same day that they register. The second are “hesitant” players who deposit money within the first week. And the third are “very hesitant,” and they wait more than a week before charging their credit card on a real-money game. Optimove finds that a 59 percent majority are bold players, and they tend to deposit more money at a higher frequency than everyone else. But this doesn’t mean developers should focus on them to the exclusion of the other kinds of paying players to maximize their potential in the real-money gaming market, which analysts expect could grow to $100 million by 2017.