Why stickiness isn’t enough: Creating a game with enduring popularity

I try to avoid the term “sticky.” In today’s competitive era of gaming, it seems antiquated and simplistic, and creating a game with enduring popularity is about much more than that. Instead it’s about providing gamers with an experience that keeps them interested long-term and generates real engagement.

Driving and then maintaining that engagement is what will make your game popular. My experience is in social casino and casual games in general, but this advice applies to just about any apps. There’s no one magic formula to achieve success, especially since it varies significantly between different games categories. But there are a few guidelines that always good to keep in mind.

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Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.