Choosing a game marketing agency is no longer a branding decision. It directly impacts user acquisition cost, retention quality, and long-term revenue across mobile, PC, and console games.
The global video game market is projected to generate nearly $290 billion in revenue in 2025, reflecting how competitive and high-stakes the industry has become.
Many studios fail because they hire agencies that understand ads, but not games. Without platform knowledge, monetization awareness, and data-driven scaling, marketing budgets burn fast.
So how do you identify an agency that actually drives installs, retention, and ROAS, not just impressions and clicks?
This guide breaks down exactly what to evaluate before hiring a game marketing agency.
When Is the Right Time to Hire a Game Marketing Agency?
Hiring a game marketing agency too early can drain budget. Hiring too late can stall growth when traction already exists.
The right timing depends on whether your game has moved beyond experimentation into performance-driven growth.
If your launch metrics look inconsistent, an agency helps bring structure, testing discipline, and scalable acquisition frameworks instead of guesswork.
Average cost per install (CPI) for games can vary, with iOS games often ranging between $1.5 and $3.5 globally, while mid-core and hardcore genres face higher acquisition costs than hyper-casual games. This makes efficiency critical for profitability.
You should consider hiring a game marketing agency when:
- You have a playable, monetizable game ready for scale.
- Paid installs are increasing but retention or ROAS is unstable.
- In-house teams lack platform or user acquisition specialization.
- You plan to expand across regions, platforms, or ad networks.
- Growth decisions need data-backed confidence, not assumptions.
An experienced agency enters when decisions shift from “should we test ads” to “how do we scale profitably without breaking LTV.” At this stage, agencies operate as growth partners, aligning acquisition, monetization, and retention under one measurable strategy.
Game Marketing Services: What To Check Before Hiring a Gaming Agency?
Not all game marketing agencies deliver the same outcomes. The right agency focuses on revenue-driving growth, not just installs or impressions. Start by evaluating whether the agency understands your game’s platform, genre, and monetization model before proposing any media plan.
A gaming agency should offer full-funnel user acquisition, covering discovery, install, engagement, and monetization stages with measurable KPIs tied to LTV and ROAS.
Core services you should expect from a reliable game marketing agency:
- User acquisition across mobile, PC, and console using platform-specific strategies, not recycled ad playbooks.
- Paid advertising expertise on Meta, Google, TikTok, Unity Ads, ironSource, and other gaming-focused networks with continuous creative testing.
- App store optimization and store page conversion improvements, since even a 1 percent CVR lift can significantly reduce CPI at scale.
- Influencer and creator marketing aligned with your genre, audience geography, and launch phase, not vanity creator lists.
- Analytics, attribution, and cohort-based reporting that tracks CPI, retention, ARPU, and ROAS instead of surface-level metrics.
Before committing, ask yourself one critical question: “Does this agency talk about installs, or do they talk about profitability?”
Agencies that understand gaming growth can drive stronger acquisition, retention, and monetization as one connected system, without offering isolated services.
Pricing: How Much Will It Cost Hiring a Game Marketing Agency?
Game marketing agency pricing depends on scope, platforms, growth stage, and performance expectations. There is no one-size-fits-all cost. Most agencies price based on the level of strategic involvement, testing, and media responsibility they handle.
Early-stage studios usually spend less on retainers but have higher relative ad inefficiencies due to limited data and experimentation. Whereas growth-stage studios invest more upfront but gain efficiency through structured testing, optimization, and scalable acquisition frameworks.
Common pricing models used by game marketing agencies:
- Monthly retainers: They typically range from $3,000 to $15,000 depending on services, platforms, and reporting depth. Many studios budget around this range when working with specialized partners.
- Performance-based Pricing: It includes fees to CPI, ROAS, or revenue milestones, but often requires higher ad spend commitments.
- Hybrid models that combine a base retainer with performance incentives aligning agency’s motivation with sustainable growth.
Beyond agency fees, studios must plan for paid media budgets. For game user acquisition, typical cost per install benchmarks in 2025 show:
- iOS gaming app CPI around $4.7 per install
- Android gaming app CPI around $3.4 per install
These CPI figures give an idea of budget required just to attract new users at your game. Larger games often need significant ad spend to generate meaningful learning and performance data.
Lower pricing often signals limited testing capacity, junior execution, or generic strategies that struggle in competitive gaming markets.
Key Questions to Ask Before Signing a Contract
Before signing with any game marketing agency, your questions should reveal how they think, not how they pitch.
A working gaming marketing agency answers clearly, ties decisions to data, and explains trade-offs instead of promising guaranteed results.
Ask these questions before committing:
- Have you marketed games similar to ours in genre, platform, and monetization model? – This reveals whether their experience is transferable or purely generic.
- How do you define success for our game in the first 90 days? – Look for answers around CPI quality, retention cohorts, ROAS signals, and learning velocity.
- Which KPIs do you prioritize at different growth stages? – Strong agencies adapt metrics from installs to LTV and profitability as scale increases.
- How do you structure testing and creative iteration? – You want a clear system for hypotheses, testing cadence, and scaling winners.
- Who will actually work on our account day to day? – Avoid agencies where strategy is sold by seniors but executed by juniors without oversight.
- How transparent is your reporting and data access? – You should own accounts, dashboards, and raw performance data at all times.
- What happens if performance does not improve? – Mature agencies discuss optimization paths, pivots, and exit flexibility, not excuses.
The right answers signal whether an agency is built for accountability, measurable results, and long-term growth.
Key Takeaway
Choosing a game marketing agency decides how efficiently your budget turns into player growth, higher retention, and increased revenue. While choosing the wrong choice can lead to inflated CPI, weak cohorts, and stalled growth, regardless of how good the game is.
Game marketing today demands specialized execution across platforms, monetization models, creatives, and data. Internal teams often struggle to maintain this depth consistently, especially during launch and scale phases.
If chosen wisely, a dedicated game marketing agency can bring structured experimentation, platform-level expertise, and accountability that directly impacts performance outcomes. The value also lies in faster learning, controlled scaling, and predictable decision-making.
If your goal is to scale your game with confidence and measurable returns, partnering with the right gaming-focused agency makes all the difference.
Look no further, partner with Bizzware, a game marketing agency especially built for game developers and publishers. Contact us today!
