IGG partners with Mistplay to unlock 300% install growth for Doomsday: Last Survivors in Japan

About the studio

Founded in 2006, IGG is a world-leading mobile game developer with a massive global footprint spanning over ten countries, including its Singapore headquarters. Today, their global gaming community connects roughly 1.6 billion total players and nearly 17 million monthly active users.

As a titan in the real-time strategy (SLG) genre, IGG houses celebrated titles such as Lords Mobile, which grew to dominate worldwide rankings after launch. Also a major strategy game, Doomsday: Last Survivors launched in 2021 and seamlessly blends strategy gameplay, RPG hero progression, and tower defense combat stages for an engaging, in-depth experience. This innovative mix of mechanics earned the game multiple prestigious awards at the New York NYX Game Awards, including "Best Strategy Mobile Game," "Best Gameplay," and "Best Art Design," surpassing 100 million cumulative downloads.

The challenge: Finding new scale for an evergreen game in the competitive Japanese market

As an evergreen survival strategy game, Doomsday faced mounting pressure from the high user acquisition costs that strategy games can experience. This challenge is magnified in Japan's highly saturated, but valuable, market. To stand out, IGG invested heavily in LiveOps, rolling out campaign crossovers with popular franchises in Japan (such as Attack on Titan, Metal Slug 3, and Pacific Rim) alongside telecom partnerships tailored to Japanese players.

But the sophistication of these campaigns raised the stakes for user acquisition, and IGG needed a channel that could deliver on the demands of both scale and retention:

• Scale through sustained player acquisition: As a strategy title, Doomsday's ecosystem depends on a continuous flow of new players to fuel community features like alliance wars, legion vs. legion battles, and social dynamics. 
• Quality through deep, continuous experiences: New players needed to stick around long enough to participate meaningfully in LiveOps events such as the IP crossovers, operator campaigns, and alliance content.

👀 Related reading: 2026 Japan Gaming and Rewards Market Report

Solution: Leveraging play-and-earn mechanics for long-term retention

Building on a partnership dating back to 2020 and a proven track record running Doomsday campaigns on Mistplay since 2022, IGG moved quickly when Mistplay opened the Japanese market to advertisers. The publisher became one of the first partners to launch in the region, with their approach combining two complementary strategies.

Doomsday's diverse combat and progression systems aligned well with Mistplay's play-and-earn model. Driven by an AI recommendation engine that analyzes user gaming and purchase behavior, the campaigns delivered high-spending, high-intent players to grow long-term value from the start.

As players tackle tower defense levels, upgrade bases, or participate in LiveOps events, they earn loyalty points that reinforce continued play. This positive feedback loop gives new players ongoing motivation to engage more deeply with the game, driving the long-term retention and conversion IGG needed.

👀 Related reading: Mistplay for iPhone arrives in Japan alongside new market research

Results: Rapid scale coupled with elite retention

Since IGG started campaigns for Doomsday in Japan in Q1 2025, Mistplay has demonstrated exceptional results in scaling both acquisition velocity and long-term quality. Through close collaboration between both teams, Doomsday not only achieved rapid expansion, but also maintained a high standard of retention. 

• 300%+ install volume growth* 
• D1 retention rate is 43% higher than client's goal

*Q1 2025 to Q1 2026

‍

"Since establishing our partnership in 2020, Mistplay has remained one of our most trusted global traffic partners. More importantly, Mistplay's “Play-and-Earn” model resonates deeply with our sophisticated LiveOps strategy and effectively translates user stickiness into active in-game ecosystem vitality – achieving a true '1+1=>2' growth effect.

The expert market insights displayed by the Mistplay team, alongside their highly satisfying, high-touch client service and responsiveness, served as the ultimate backbone for our rapid market breakthrough. We look forward to deepening our collaboration in the future, unlocking even more sustainable growth opportunities globally.“

— Malen, Global UA Lead, IGG

Power up your UA & retention with Mistplay

If you’re a strategy game advertiser looking to scale both volume and quality of user acquisition, then Mistplay is ready to help. Reach out to us today to learn about putting our decade-proven reward model to work for your games. 

‍

‍

‍

‍