How Much Does It Cost to Make a Mobile Game?
Making a mobile game typically costs $50,000 to $300,000 or more, with genre as the biggest driver. Revenue Map's gaming presets model casual and hyper-casual titles at around $50,000 of starting investment, standard mobile games at $200,000, and PC or console-scale projects at $300,000.
Game budgets diverge more than any other vertical because content depth varies so much. A hyper-casual title with one mechanic can ship in weeks; a midcore game with meta-systems, live-ops and art pipelines takes a team most of a year. And unlike most software, the launch is only half the budget: free-to-play games earn through retention, so you keep paying for content updates and events after release.
User acquisition is the second budget. Preset install costs run from $0.50 for hyper-casual up to $15 to $20 for PC, console and VR audiences, and the economics only work if a player's lifetime value clears their install cost with room to spare. A healthy LTV-to-CPI ratio is 1.5:1 or better measured at Day 180, which means your UA budget is really a bet on your retention curve.
Cost Breakdown
Typical costs to make and launch a mobile game
| Item | Typical range | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Development: hyper-casual | $20,000 to $50,000 | One core mechanic, minimal meta; preset starting investment $50,000 | Revenue Map model presets |
| Development: casual to midcore | $100,000 to $300,000 | Preset investments: $200,000 mobile games, $300,000 PC and console scale | Revenue Map model presets |
| First-year user acquisition | $50,000 to $400,000 | Presets ramp UA from $8,000 per month at launch toward $20,000 or more in growth | Revenue Map model presets |
| Cost per install (context) | $0.50 to $20 by genre | Preset CPIs: hyper-casual $0.50, mobile $2 to $4, PC/console and VR $15 to $20 | Revenue Map model presets |
| Live-ops and content updates | $5,000 to $20,000 per month | Preset team costs of $8,000 rising to $18,000 monthly post-launch | Revenue Map model presets |
| Modeled total (funded launch) | $50,000 to $300,000 | Preset starting investment range across gaming genres | Revenue Map model presets |
Sources: Revenue Map model presets (default investment, pricing and funnel assumptions in our industry templates), Revenue Map model templates (vertical research in each financial model), Revenue Map benchmark tables (the thresholds behind our free calculators), and honest industry ranges where our own data is thin. Ranges are planning bands, not guarantees.
What Moves the Number
Genre and content depth
Genre sets both budgets at once: development cost scales with content depth, and install cost scales with audience competitiveness. A hyper-casual title costs little to build and little to fill with players; a midcore RPG is expensive on both counts.
The retention curve
Day-1 retention of 40% or better and Day-30 of 10% or better mark a strong title. Retention drives both the DAU base that generates revenue and the LTV that justifies UA spend, so a few points of early retention decide whether the marketing budget scales or burns.
Monetization model
ARPDAU typically runs $0.01 to $0.05 depending on genre and monetization depth. Ad-supported hyper-casual sits at the bottom; games blending in-app purchases, subscriptions and battle passes reach the top. Your model determines how much UA the revenue can repay.
Soft launch discipline
Testing retention in a small market before global launch costs a few thousand dollars of UA and can save the entire budget. Scaling spend on a game with weak Day-7 retention is the most expensive mistake in mobile gaming.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to make a simple mobile game?
How much should I budget for user acquisition?
What is a good cost per install?
Why do mobile games keep costing money after launch?
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