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Why mobile apps are leaning into gaming
How gaming offers fit naturally into existing app ecosystems
Vertical snapshots: Applying gaming rewards in practice
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SubscribeApp publishers today are facing a growing list of challenges when it comes to keeping users engaged – from the utilitarian nature of certain app categories, to shifting user perception of what makes an app valuable, to the ongoing search for sustainable revenue beyond the traditional monetization playbook. As competition in every vertical intensifies, publishers are looking for new ways to deepen loyalty and create more meaningful, repeat engagement within their ecosystems.
One of the clearest answers app publishers across verticals have been latching onto is gamified engagement. From social platforms like LinkedIn introducing quick games to wellness apps like Finch gamifying the routines of self-care, the industry is seeing apps of all verticals take lessons from the dominant mobile game industry to improve their engagement, monetization, and ultimately build stronger loyalty with their users. But this is just the beginning, and lessons from gaming can offer mobile apps a lot more than just improved engagement.
In our previous article, we covered this transformation in-depth and the revenue potential that gaming offers as a monetization model can offer mobile apps of all types. Today, we’ll take a deeper look at just how gaming offers specifically can fit seamlessly into the ecosystem of a variety of high-value app verticals – from shopping to finance – and how the partnership can benefit everyone from publishers, to users, and advertisers.
Let’s dive in.
Over the last two decades, mobile gaming has become a force in the app landscape. H1 of 2025 saw the category amass over $29.5 billion in revenue globally, a 6% increase compared to H1 of 2024.1 No other singular app category comes close, with the second place held by Entertainment apps, which only account for $7.9 billion in revenue in H1 2025. But the revenue opportunity doesn’t exist behind closed doors to app publishers outside of gaming.
The line between mobile app users and mobile gamers is very thin – and whether the average app user identifies as a “gamer” or not, the fact is that mobile gaming has become one of the most universal digital habits – and that means that a large share of your audience is already engaging with mobile games, but they’re doing so outside of your app ecosystem.
Without games integrated into your app in some way, the value from that behavior flows elsewhere, whether to stand-alone gaming apps or third-party reward platforms. The opportunity for modern app publishers is to bring the power of mobile games back inside your own walls, where it can drive incremental revenue, higher retention, and deeper loyalty.
This is where gaming offers come in – opt-in reward experiences that let users discover and play games in exchange for credits, points, or perks inside the host app. By integrating these mechanics, publishers can align with behaviors users already enjoy while bringing the value of gaming back within their own ecosystem.
👀 Related reading: The gaming opportunity: How mobile apps can capture untapped revenue potential
Gaming offerwalls are a particularly powerful app monetization model that integrates easily with systems that include wallets, balances, or credits. In these environments, the value exchange for users is intuitive: play a game → earn rewards → boost your in-app balance. And because the activity is opt-in and rewarding, it doesn’t feel like an intrusion. Instead, it feels like a bonus – a way to merge two existing habits (like shopping and gaming, or banking and gaming, etc) into a single experience that delivers even more value.
“What makes an app a low-friction, high-synergy fit for a gaming offerwall solution is that the app ecosystem has a balance or wallet for their users. This setup allows you to easily inject those gaming-based rewards into the app experience in a way that’s actually beneficial (and fun) for the user.” – Marc Bearman, GM of LoyaltyPlay
Below, we’ll explore more specific examples of how gaming offers can integrate into specific app types to offer more benefit to users and publishers alike.
💡LoyaltyPlay is Mistplay’s new gaming reward hub, a monetization solution that lets mobile apps monetize their entire user base through game offers. While app users discover and play new mobile games to earn in-app rewards, publishers get paid per game install and add a new engagement loop to foster deeper loyalty with their app.
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Shopping apps live and die by transactions. But engagement between purchases can dip if the user isn’t actively in the market (or mood) for your products. While a user might open your app to browse products, build wishlists, and hunt for promotions, if they don’t find something that triggers an immediate purchase, they can often abandon their cart – and even might find a better deal elsewhere.
This challenge is amplified by the traditional app monetization playbook. Many shopping apps rely heavily on IAA, affiliate promotions, or paid placements, and while these methods can be effective in the short term, they run the risk of fatiguing users and eroding margins if they’re overused.
Gaming offers can provide a new lever both for revenue and engagement in this type of ecosystem that likely already has a built-in loyalty or points system that users can put towards their purchases. It’s no secret that major players like Temu are already leaning into gamification to increase engagement and the “fun” factor of their app through spin-to-win mechanics, quizzes, and other features “that mimic the rewards you might accumulate in a video game”2 – which may be one of the factors that have led the app to boast a healthy 5% YoY download growth in 2024.3
By giving users a new way to earn store credit or perks through play, apps transform “non-purchase sessions” into productive (and rewarding) ones. Instead of filling a virtual cart only to leave empty handed, a user might take time to play games and earn more in-app credits that they can apply to their cart.
Importantly, this value exchange from playing games doesn’t depend on constant spend pressure, which helps keep audiences engaged without diminishing trust. This not only reduces cart abandonment but also nudges them toward completing checkouts and even raising their average order value (AOV). And by integrating an offerwall solution, a publisher can have an easier path into capturing this value without having to design and build new gamification features into their core experience.
“With shopping and ecommerce apps, if the impetus is always on spending money, then you can fatigue your audience. With gaming monetization, the games are free to play, so you’re able to monetize your users without putting additional pressure on them to part with more dollars.” – Marc Bearman, GM of LoyaltyPlay
🔍 Example: Sienna adds sneakers to her cart but is $8 short of free shipping. Instead of abandoning the purchase, she plays a featured game, earns enough in-app credit, and comes back tomorrow to check out – without you sacrificing your margins with a discount.
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Fintech apps take a variety of approaches to their ecosystem to help their users manage their money more effectively – but sustaining engagement is notoriously difficult, as many users only interact for specific tasks like checking balances, making transfers, or paying their bills. That stop-start pattern and lack of routine leaves little room for continuous engagement, which can drag down both user retention and a publisher’s ability to grow ARPU and total LTV.
This is where gaming offerwalls can be added to the equation to extend app sessions. Small, repeatable actions with immediate rewards are proven to sustain user attention in gaming, and fintech has the unique opportunity to apply those mechanics toward healthier financial behaviors. For example, by providing game offers that channel rewards directly into savings accounts or loan payments, finance apps can help users feel momentum without financial strain. This aligns perfectly with the “small habit → long-term payoff” mindset that fintech brands often try to instill in their user base.
For publishers, game offers also represent an opportunity to diversify revenue outside of core financial product commissions, improve the monetization of non-subscribers or low-engagement cohorts, and increase the overall value of their rewards ecosystem for their members.
“Gaming offers function as a new funding source for rewards programs within finance apps. Publishers can choose to pass back up to 100% of the revenue to users to boost the value of the ecosystem. Members then have greater balances to apply to shopping, cashback, or travel offers that perpetuate the rewards flywheel.” – Anthony Ortolan, Sr Manager of Business Development & Partnerships
🔍 Example: David usually only opens his budgeting app once a week to pay bills and check his balance. But now, while waiting in line at the coffee shop, he plays a quick game inside the app and earns a reward that’s automatically deposited into his emergency fund. Instead of logging out after one transaction, David finds himself coming back more often to not just to manage his money, but also to grow it.
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Transportation and travel apps have grown considerably in the last several years, increasing revenue by $1.05 B between 2017 and 2025.4 Apps within this category – from ride-hailing apps to airline loyalty programs – are high-utility but low-frequency. Users open them only when they need to book a ride, refill gas, check in for a flight, or trip reservations. Between those transactions, there’s little incentive to re-engage.
This low-frequency dynamic leaves publishers with two challenges: how to stay top-of-mind between bookings, and how to capture more wallet share in an intensely competitive vertical. Traditional levers like discounts, loyalty tiers, or affiliate offers can incentivize repeat use, but they can often rely on heavy investment from the publisher and be difficult to sustain.
Gaming mechanics and monetization solutions offer a new angle to the category to transform idle time – whether it be waiting for a ride, sitting at the gate, or tracking flight status – into opportunities to earn and re-invest into the app and additional bonuses. With game offers available directly in the app, users can actively build towards tangible benefits like ride vouchers or airline miles and extend the value of an app they already rely on for essentials like commuting and travel.
🔍 Example: Priya orders a rideshare and has free time on the way to her destination. She plays a game in the app, earning credits that shave a few dollars off her next ride. What would have been idle time now becomes tangible savings, and guarantees her to choose the same app the next time she needs a ride to make use of the savings.
Across the app landscape, it’s clear that apps that revolve around wallets, balances, and credits, have a well-suited ecosystem to capture some of gaming’s revenue potential through gaming offers. For users, it’s an engaging way to get more out of the apps they already love. For publishers, it’s a low-friction way to unlock new revenue, strengthen retention, and capture value from every segment of their audience – even those who don’t transact every day.
As the days of free loyalty have come to an end, publishers must act now and explore new ways to deliver loyalty-driving value to their users in an ever-competitive mobile landscape, and the apps that thrive will be those that design ecosystems where play and utility go hand in hand.
Want to explore how LoyaltyPlay’s gaming reward hub can help your app capture new revenue and drive engagement? Learn more about LoyaltyPlay and contact us today.
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