iCandy Interactive impressed by Claw Stars retention rate in early trials
Claw Stars’ retention rate is 62.5% higher than iCandy’s previous smash hit game, Masketeers.
iCandy Interactive (ASX: ICI) has published an operational review for its newly released game, Claw Stars, which underwent an early access trial in collaboration with Google Play last month.
The results have been positive enough for the mobile gaming company to declare that it expects to launch the Claw Stars on a global scale “within the next two months”.
Notably, the game has scored highly in early testing, specifically with respects to its retention rate and its outperformance compared to iCandy’s previous mobile game releases.
In January this year, iCandy estimated a timeframe of around two-three months for its early trial to be completed.
Unrestrained by the COVID pandemic, the company reported that since entering the trial in late December 2020, the game had generated “encouraging early data” including a day-one retention rate of around 49% and a day-seven score of 13% during the trial.
Retention rate
Gaming industry analysts refer to the day retention rate as a means of measuring how engaging and addictive a game is. The measure seeks to create a standard benchmark to determine the proportion of gamers who return to the game within a specified time period after installation.
According to iCandy, retention rates are closely watched by mobile gaming industry analysts as potential early indicators of a mobile game’s future monetisation metric.
In contrast, another one of iCandy’s popular games, Masketeers: Idle Has Fallen, recorded an average day-one retention rate of 37% and a day-seven retention rate of 8%. Masketeers currently stands as one of iCandy’s best performing games, recording over A$1million in sales in its first 60 days since launching in the US last year – the fastest ever for an iCandy game.
iCandy noted the day-seven retention rate for Claw Stars was 62.5% higher compared to its revenue-boosting Masketeers game.
“The management of iCandy attributes the encouraging retention rates of Claw Stars to the unique social interactivity mechanics of the Claw Stars’ gameplay and game mechanics, as well as lessons derived from the success of Masketeers that have been incorporated,” the company stated.