How to Find a Mobile Game Publisher: Pitching, CPI Tests and Deal Terms

A mobile game publisher offers what a small studio usually lacks: money to buy users, people who know how to spend it, and data from many other games. In exchange it takes a share of revenue and some control. For the right game this is a great trade, and for others it gives away the upside to solve a problem you could have handled yourself.

This guide covers when a publisher makes sense, how publishers judge games, how to run your own marketing test, how to make a pitch, and what to read carefully in a contract. It is general information, and nothing in it replaces a lawyer who reviews your actual agreement.

What a publisher actually does

• Funds user acquisition, which for most mobile games is the largest cost after launch and often the main reason to sign.
• Runs marketing tests and buys media, often at scale, with its own creative team making videos and playable ads.
• Advises on the product through data, game design feedback and benchmarks from comparable titles.
• Handles monetization setup, ad mediation, analytics and live operations support, to varying degrees.
• Sometimes offers development funding, in stages tied to results or as an advance against future revenue.

Do you need one?

You probably do if your game's economics rely on scaled paid user acquisition, as most casual and hybrid-casual titles do, and you have no budget or experience to run it. The data network effect matters too: a publisher testing many games each month can read your numbers against far more comparisons than you can.

You may not need one if your game has an organic hook, such as a community, a strong brand or social sharing, if you already know how to buy users, or if you are building a game with small, steady revenue that would not interest a publisher. Self-publishing is more practical than it used to be, because the ad networks have automated much of the media buying. A mobile game marketing plan can help you estimate what doing it alone costs.

What publishers look for

Pitches win on data and on market fit far more than on a clever idea. Expect interest in:

• A low cost per install, or strong click-through and install rates, because this shows that the idea sells itself in an ad.
• Early retention, starting with day 1 and moving towards day 7 and beyond. See D1, D7 and D30 retention.
• Playtime in the first days, which predicts long-term value in many casual genres.
• Monetization potential and a meta layer that can grow revenue over time.
• A team that ships quickly, responds to data and can keep updating.
• A clear audience and a theme with mass-market appeal.

Targets vary by publisher, genre and year. As one example, Homa has published hybrid-casual test targets on its support pages that include a CPI below $1, with stricter CPI and day 1 retention targets for hyper-casual. Treat numbers like these as an indication and ask each publisher what it uses today, because market costs move.

Test before you build too much

The biggest change in this area is how early testing happens. Publishers often want evidence before investing heavily, and many developers now run marketing tests themselves. That is good news, because a test can come before months of work.

The CPI test

A CPI test measures whether people want your game, by showing ads for it and seeing what it costs to get an install. Some publishers ask for very little game at this stage: Kwalee, for example, has said a test needs only one to three levels.

1. Build the core loop, with enough polish that a store page and ad can be made from it.
2. Prepare several ads with different angles. Usually these are short videos, plus a playable ad if the mechanic is easy to try. Creative is the variable that swings a test most, so do not judge the game from one ad.
3. Publish the game in a low-cost market, or use a test track, depending on the network and platform.
4. Spend a small, fixed budget. Compare the CPI, click-through and install rates against what the publisher you plan to approach uses. Keep to one country mix, so results can be compared.
5. If the numbers are good, measure retention and playtime next. If they are poor, change the ad angle or the theme before you decide the idea is dead.

A playable ad is especially useful here. It shows you whether people actually enjoy the mechanic, not only whether they click, and it can be built before your game is finished. See soft launching with playable ads. Because a playable uses the same idea as the game, a good result is stronger evidence than one from a video that merely looks exciting. Just make sure the ad reflects what your game really is.

How to find and shortlist publishers

1. Look at the charts for your genre. Check who publishes the games closest to yours, and whether that publisher has had recent hits in the genre, rather than a famous hit from years ago.
2. Check each publisher's site for submission portals and programmes. Many run open submission pages, and some run challenges or funded programmes with published criteria. Voodoo, Homa, Kwalee, Tap Nation, Rollic, Supersonic, CrazyLabs and AppQuantum are names you will commonly meet in casual and hybrid-casual, though what each one wants shifts with the market.
3. Talk to developers who have worked with them. Other studios' experience tells you more than any brochure, especially about communication, payment and what happens when a test fails.
4. Use industry events and communities. Conferences such as Pocket Gamer Connects, and online groups for mobile developers, are good ways to meet publishers' business development staff.
5. Keep your list focused. Choose a short list of publishers that fit your genre, and write to each one specifically. You should know why you picked them.

What to put in a pitch

• A one-paragraph summary: genre, core mechanic, what is new, and who it is for.
• A short gameplay video, ideally under a minute. Show the game, not a logo or a long intro.
• A playable build, on TestFlight or as an Android package, and instructions that actually work.
• Your data: CPI, click-through and install rates, retention and playtime, with the country, budget and dates. Say how much you spent, because numbers from a tiny sample mean little.
• Your team, what you have shipped and what you can ship in the next few months.
• What you want: publishing, a marketing budget, funding, or a mix of those.

Be honest about weak spots. Experienced publishers can read the data, and they will trust you more if you say your day 7 retention is still low and describe your plan to fix it.

Deal terms to read carefully

• Revenue share, and how it is calculated: before or after store fees, UA spend and other costs? A share of net revenue depends entirely on what is deducted first.
• UA recoupment. Can the publisher recover marketing costs before you see any money? Is there a limit? Who decides the spend?
• Advances and minimum guarantees. Is the money recoupable, and what happens to it if the game is cancelled?
• Intellectual property. Who owns the game, the brand, the code and the art? Some deals transfer IP, others license it. Can you get it back?
• Term and territory. How long does it last, in what countries, and does it include sequels or ports?
• Exit terms. What happens if the publisher stops marketing the game, or misses a milestone? You want a way to get rights back if the game is abandoned.
• Exclusivity and first-look rights over your next games, which can tie up your studio beyond this project.
• Accounts and data. Who holds the store accounts, the ad accounts and the player data? Can you audit the numbers?
• Payment schedule and reporting: how often, in what currency, and with what level of detail.

If publishers say no

Rejection is common and often specific to the moment: the wrong genre for their current slate, a CPI just above their line, or a theme they have already covered. Ask what would change their mind, and keep testing. New ad angles can move CPI a long way without touching the game. If you have a tight game with profitable, small-scale numbers, self-publishing is a real option, and a studio with good data comes back to the table in a much stronger position.