For every studio – the collaboration between User Acquisition (UA) and Product is essential to achieve success. By aligning UA strategies with product development goals, studios can create games that identify potential issues early on, meet player needs and will thrive in the market. This blog explores the UA roles in each phase of development and how UA can support product development throughout every phase.

Include UA from day one
It’s a common misconception that UA efforts only start when a game is ready to launch. In reality, UA should be involved from the very start of the game development process. By doing so, product teams can benefit from UA insights to build games that resonate with their target audiences.

Concepting Phase: Validating ideas early
During the concepting phase, the Product team focuses on defining the vision, core mechanics, and unique selling points (USP) of the game. However, this is also the stage where UA can bring valuable data into the mix.
UA Roles:

Conduct market analysis to assess trends and disclose features that are being used by competing games.
UA can test different Art Styles, Characters, User Interfaces etc. through Custom Landingpages and Creatives.
Define the archetypes for the game and validate the target audience’s preferences by comparing features and game styles.

By leveraging UA data early, teams can validate creative choices such as art styles, user interface design, and overall game mechanics. For example, UA teams can run A/B tests on different creative assets, helping the product team make informed decisions before development begins.

Development Phase: Laying the foundation for success
The development phase is where the game’s core features are built, tested, and refined. At this stage, UA efforts go beyond creative validation and start to focus on the technical aspects of the game’s performance.
UA Roles:

Plan soft launches and to test technical performance.
Define the success metrics of the game
Conduct audience segmentation to ensure the game resonates with the right players.
Set up the game stores and start creative development

Launch Phase: Refining the go-to-market strategy
As the game prepares to go live, UA teams play a critical role in preparing for the global launch. This phase is all about testing the waters and ensuring that early players are engaged and retained.
UA Roles:

Run test campaigns to gather data on Cost Per Install (CPI) and retention rates.
Optimize the App Store page through ASO to boost visibility and conversions.
Validate the game’s success metrics, ensuring the core mechanics and features drive engagement.

During the launch phase, UA can provide real-time data on player engagement and the effectiveness of marketing campaigns, allowing the Product team to quickly iterate and improve the game’s performance.

Growth Phase: continuous optimization
Once the game is live, the focus shifts to growth. Here, UA continues to collaborate with the Product team to refine creative assets, expand to new channels, and optimize community management.
UA Roles:

Continuously test and optimize creatives to improve engagement and lower CPI.
Diversify acquisition channels to reach new audiences.
Use A/B tests for further ASO improvements.

Growth is an ongoing process that requires constant monitoring and optimization. The insights gained from UA campaigns can inform future updates and expansions, ensuring the game remains competitive in the market.

Final thoughts
If you’re in the process of developing a game, consider involving your UA team as early as possible. The insights they provide can save time, reduce costs, and ensure that your game is positioned for success right from the start.

The collaboration between UA and Product teams is of great importance throughout the entire game development cycle. By working together from the concepting phase all the way to the growth phase, both teams can create a game that not only meets player needs but also performs well in the market.

FAQs

When should user acquisition start for a mobile game?

User acquisition should start as early as the concepting phase, not only when the game is ready to launch. Early UA input can help validate the market, audience, art style, messaging, and creative direction before the team invests too much time and budget into development.

Why should UA and Product teams work together?

UA and Product teams should work together because growth depends on more than campaign performance. Paid acquisition can bring players into the game, but Product determines whether those players understand, enjoy, retain, and monetize. When both teams share insights, the studio can make better decisions across development, launch, and scaling.

How can UA support the concepting phase of a game?

During concepting, UA can help validate game ideas by looking at market trends, competitor positioning, audience preferences, creative angles, art styles, characters, and gameplay hooks. This helps the Product team understand what may resonate with players before the game is fully built.

Can UA help validate a game before development?

Yes. UA can help validate a game before full development by testing creative concepts, landing pages, messaging, characters, art directions, or core themes. These early tests do not guarantee success, but they can reveal which ideas attract attention and which ones may struggle in the market.

What role does UA play during game development?

During development, UA can help define success metrics, plan soft launch tests, prepare store pages, build the creative testing pipeline, and identify the audiences most likely to respond to the game. This gives the Product team better data before the game reaches a wider market.

What should UA test before a mobile game launch?

Before launch, UA should test early campaign performance, CPI, store conversion, creative performance, audience response, retention, and whether the game’s key mechanics are strong enough to support growth. These tests help the studio understand whether the game is ready to scale or still needs product improvements.

How does UA data help Product teams improve a game?

UA data can show which audiences respond to the game, which creative messages generate interest, where players drop off, and whether early users retain or monetize. Product teams can use this information to improve onboarding, gameplay, features, monetization, and positioning.

Why is soft launch important for UA and Product alignment?

A soft launch gives both UA and Product teams a controlled environment to test the game before global launch. UA can measure acquisition costs, retention, store conversion, and audience quality, while Product can use that data to improve the game before spending larger budgets.

What changes after a mobile game enters the growth phase?

In the growth phase, UA and Product need to keep optimizing together. UA continues testing creatives, channels, audiences, and store pages, while Product uses campaign and player data to improve retention, monetization, updates, and long-term player engagement.