Mobile Game Studio Financial Projections
A mobile game studio typically projects $8,000 to $45,000 in combined monthly revenue across two to three live titles, with each title sustaining 10,000 DAU contributing $3,000 to $15,000 per month. Revenue Map's gametech presets model per-title development investments of $50,000 to $300,000 and UA budgets ramping from $6,000 per month at launch to $28,000 at scale.
Game studio projections differ from most business plans because they are portfolio projections: no single title is reliable enough to carry the forecast. Revenue Map's presets model ARPDAU of $0.01 to $0.05 per daily active user depending on genre and monetization depth, so a title sustaining 10,000 DAU contributes $3,000 to $15,000 per month. A studio needs two or three titles at that level to cover overhead, and the projection must account for the fact that most shipped titles never reach that audience.
The cost side has two distinct phases. Development consumes capital before any revenue arrives: $50,000 for a casual title, $200,000 for a standard mobile game, $300,000 for PC or console. Once live, the title shifts to a monthly burn of UA spend plus live-ops costs. Revenue Map's presets model live-ops at $8,000 to $18,000 per month per title for content updates, events and balance, plus UA budgets that start at $6,000 and scale only once retention metrics justify it.
Revenue Breakdown
Mobile game studio projections by phase and genre
| Item | Typical range | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Development investment per title | $50,000 to $300,000 | Casual $50,000, mobile $200,000, PC and console $300,000 | Revenue Map model presets |
| Monthly UA budget, phase one | $6,000 to $8,000 | CPI $1.70 for mobile games, $0.50 for hyper-casual, $15 for PC and console | Revenue Map model presets |
| Monthly UA budget, maturity | $28,000 to $40,000 | Scaled only once LTV-to-CPI reaches 1.5:1 or better at Day 180 | Revenue Map model presets |
| Revenue per title at 10,000 DAU | $3,000 to $15,000 per month | ARPDAU of $0.01 to $0.05 times 10,000 DAU times 30 days | Revenue Map model templates |
| Live-ops cost per title (post-launch) | $8,000 to $18,000 per month | Content updates, events and balance work; preset team costs scale from $8,000 to $18,000 | Revenue Map model presets |
| Studio portfolio revenue (2-3 titles) | $8,000 to $45,000 per month | Combined revenue across modestly successful live titles in the catalog | Revenue Map model templates |
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 sets both the investment and the revenue ceiling
Revenue Map's presets model hyper-casual at $50,000 investment with $0.50 CPI and low ARPDAU, versus PC and console at $300,000 with $15 CPI but higher revenue per user. A hyper-casual studio ships many cheap titles hoping for volume; a midcore studio bets fewer, larger titles on deeper retention. The projection must match the portfolio strategy to the genre economics.
Retention is the only metric that matters for scaling UA
Revenue Map's model templates target Day-1 retention of 40% or better and Day-30 of 10% or better. A title with weak Day-7 retention should not receive scaled UA spend, because every install decays to zero value faster than the CPI can be recovered. The projection should gate UA scaling on retention thresholds, not on calendar dates.
Live-ops cost is permanent, not optional
Free-to-play revenue depends on retained players, and retention requires fresh content. Revenue Map's presets model $8,000 to $18,000 per month per title in post-launch team costs. A projection that shows development ending at launch and costs dropping to UA only will overstate profitability. Live-ops is the ongoing cost of keeping the revenue curve from decaying.
The hit rate determines studio-level viability
Most titles a studio ships never reach 10,000 sustained DAU. Sustainable studios budget for a hit rate of roughly one in three to one in five, meaning the portfolio projection must carry the development cost of titles that did not work. A projection showing every title succeeding is the most common reason game studio forecasts mislead investors.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a game studio earn in year one?
When does a game studio become profitable?
How much should a game studio spend on user acquisition?
What is a good LTV-to-CPI ratio for a mobile game?
Go Deeper
Free calculators
What would your numbers look like?
These are honest ranges, but your business is specific. Revenue Map turns your own assumptions into a 36-month projection with break-even, burn and runway in about five minutes.
Model your exact numbers free