Explore the marketing strategies and evolution of Call of Duty®: Mobile, highlighting its success in the mobile gaming market.
The Call of Duty franchise has seamlessly transitioned from consoles and PCs to mobile devices, maintaining its momentum and popularity.
With the release of Call of Duty: Mobile, Activision successfully entered the competitive mobile gaming market, breaking multiple records in its first week and receiving an enthusiastic response from players worldwide.
Since its launch on October 1, 2019, Call of Duty: Mobile has achieved significant milestones. By November 2024, the game celebrated its fifth anniversary with over a billion downloads, introducing new content including a battle royale map and a new submachine gun.
In March 2024, Activision released Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile, expanding the franchise's mobile presence. These developments highlight the game's continuous growth and commitment to delivering engaging content to its global player base.
Before delving into Call of Duty: Mobile's user acquisition strategies, it's essential to identify its player demographics and target audience.
The game successfully appeals to three primary player archetypes:
By offering diverse gameplay and refined experiences, Call of Duty: Mobile not only meets the needs of various player types but also ensures long-term user engagement and activity. This multifaceted appeal has enabled the game to stand out in the fiercely competitive mobile gaming market.
In organic user acquisition, App Store Optimization (ASO) is a crucial strategy. For a game, platforms like Google Play and the App Store are primary avenues for players to discover and download the game.
Even globally recognized gaming IPs like Call of Duty: Mobile understand the importance of ASO. Through meticulously crafted ASO strategies, the game attracts a substantial number of free users and effectively boosts the conversion rate of paying users.
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In the app store, Call of Duty: Mobile includes the full brand name and specifies "Mobile," helping players quickly identify it as the mobile version of the classic Call of Duty series. For many fans, merely seeing the "Call of Duty" brand name is enough to spark download interest. This brand recognition significantly enhances the game's visibility and user appeal.
Additionally, the game incorporates the latest version name, Call of Duty: Mobile’s Season 1: Wings of Vengeance, aiding players in distinguishing between different versions and further reinforcing the brand's identity across multiple platforms and versions.
The game's icon features characters from the Call of Duty: Mobile universe, such as Simon "Ghost" Riley, which holds strong appeal for the player base, especially long-time series fans. This choice leverages the franchise's rich character roster to attract and retain users.
The promotional video for Call of Duty: Mobile on the App Store is well-crafted and fast-paced, showcasing the game's refined graphics and core gameplay. In a 30-second overview, it highlights the main features, with prominent titles aiding viewers in understanding each aspect. The 3D visuals and dynamic effects are thoroughly displayed, ensuring players anticipate the in-game experience post-download.
Unlike some games that incorporate cinematic scenes or exaggerated renderings, this video emphasizes authenticity by directly presenting actual gameplay. This transparent approach fosters player trust and can enhance click-through rates.
However, it's noteworthy that the video lacks a clear call-to-action (CTA). Incorporating explicit prompts like "Download Now" or "Explore More" could effectively boost conversion rates by encouraging viewers to proceed with the download.
In contrast to the video's authentic representation, the game's screenshots are enhanced to display more polished visuals than the actual gameplay. While this might be considered slightly misleading, the screenshots effectively highlight Call of Duty: Mobile's core features and appeal, emphasizing its engaging combat scenarios. This strategy aligns with player expectations for action game visuals and offers potential players substantial visual allure.
The design of these screenshots goes beyond merely showcasing the game interface; it focuses on conveying an intense and "cool" vibe, effectively capturing players' interest and curiosity.
(image via App Store)
In the United States, Call of Duty: Mobile ranks tenth in both the "Non-Stop Action Games" and "Games Everyone's Playing" categories, with downloads of 48,500 and 34,000, respectively.
The game also appears in the "Non-Stop Action Games" category in India, Brazil, and Japan, ranking tenth. Additionally, in the U.S., it is listed under "Recommended Games," with over 20,000 downloads.
This demonstrates a direct correlation between Google Play's recommendations and download numbers.
Regularly updating game versions significantly enhances new user acquisition. Continuous updates allow developers to improve game balance, playability, and graphics, providing a superior gaming experience that attracts new players.
Moreover, app stores often prioritize newly launched or recently updated applications in their rankings. Frequent updates can optimize these rankings, leading to increased downloads.
The following chart illustrates that after each application event update for Call of Duty, estimated downloads experience a significant surge, further demonstrating the critical role of version updates in user acquisition.
(image via FoxData)
Call of Duty: Mobile's advertising strategy primarily revolves around video creatives, as videos are the most effective ad format for mobile game conversions.
Overall, the game's advertisements are straightforward, filled with exhilarating and action-packed gameplay scenes that showcase its best features. The ad creatives remain true to the game, avoiding misleading content, which is commendable.
The target audience comprises players who enjoy the thrill of action games, mastering various skills, and acquiring and customizing equipment.
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Here are three key takeaways from Call of Duty: Mobile's advertising approach:
This entails incorporating as much actual gameplay footage as possible, steering clear of misleading cinematic scenes. This ensures that what viewers see in the ad matches their in-game experience upon installation.
Activision achieves this by showcasing different game aspects in each creative, catering to various player interests. For instance, some ads focus on customization, attracting players who express themselves through in-game personalization.
Others emphasize adrenaline-pumping action scenes, appealing to those seeking excitement in action games.
Simply featuring gameplay and highlighting top features isn't enough; the presentation must be captivating. All Call of Duty: Mobile ads are dynamically edited, which is crucial.
Even the most exciting game can seem dull if the footage is monotonous. Incorporating various effects, titles, subtitles, sound effects, and music can make the creative more engaging.
Our analysis of Call of Duty: Mobile reveals the mechanisms behind its success. By understanding these strategies, you can apply similar techniques to elevate your game to top chart positions.
If you require assistance in promoting your mobile game and attracting more users, feel free to contact us—ASOWorld specialize in this area!
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