Achieving 2.5x D30 ROAS goal: How Mistplay helped I9: Inferno Nine excel in South Korea's competitive MMORPG Market

Founded in 2015 in Guangzhou, China, Leniu Games focuses on both local and global mobile game publishing. With a strong grasp of market trends and an unwavering commitment to high-quality development, the company has launched numerous hit games across key markets, with multiple titles generating over 14.2M USD in monthly revenue, and the studio’s total mobile game revenue surpassing 142M USD. 

Published in January of 2025, Leniu’s medieval themed open-world MMORPG, I9: Inferno Nine (known locally as I9: 인페르노나인), has gained significant market traction with its customizable and deep gameplay. Players can choose from over 100 classes and compete in large-scale game modes supporting up to 1,000 players, including territorial wars, strategic castle sieges, and monarch competitions set against Nordic mythological battlefields. Since its launch in the South Korean market, I9: Inferno Nine has achieved remarkable success on Google Play, ranking among the Top 3 on the grossing chart.

*Sensor Tower, South Korea only

Challenge: Breaking out in South Korea’s highly competitive MMORPG market

As an MMORPG with in-app purchase (IAP) as its core monetization model, I9: Inferno Nine depends heavily on attracting and retaining players with strong long-term engagement and repeat spending potential. However, Leniu faced a number of challenges in achieving this goal due to the unique mobile gaming culture of South Korea. 

South Korea represents one of the fastest-growing and most-competitive mobile gaming markets, with RPGs generating roughly $400M USD per quarter in 2025 – double the revenue of the next closest genre. MMORPGs are especially popular, driven by deeply social gameplay, robust PVP/PVE systems, and rapid content updates. 

Compounding the challenge, South Korean players are highly loyal and selective. According to our Mobile Gaming Across Markets Report, most players commit to just one to three games at a time, making it difficult for new titles to break into established play habits.

Together, these dynamics made South Korea an exceptionally difficult market for Leniu Games to excel in, driving the need for a high-quality channel partner capable of reaching high-value MMORPG players efficiently and at scale.

👀 Related reading: Mobile Gaming Across Markets Report

Solution: AI-driven campaigns and engagement features to acquire spenders

As the leading loyalty platform for mobile gamers, and ranking #8 in RPG for APAC on the AppsFlyer Performance Index 2025, Mistplay is uniquely positioned to help Leniu Games break into the competitive South Korean market. To do so, Mistplay developed a tailored user acquisition strategy leveraging its dual advantages of a high-quality player community and AI-powered tROAS campaigns. 

1. High-quality South Korean player base: Mistplay boasts a highly-engaged community of gamers in South Korea, leveraging a playtime-based reward model that encourages players to deeply engage with games and maintain long-term engagement. With built-in social features such as Buddy Quests and Tournaments that resonate with the South Korean market, the platform fosters high user engagement and repeat spend. 
2. Precision targeting with an IAP tROAS campaign: Mistplay’s tROAS campaigns leverage a powerful AI engine and robust, first-party data to automate bidding on users with the highest IAP spend potential for I9: Inferno Nine. This maximizes ad delivery efficiency and supports the stable achievement of ROAS goals.

Results: A 30-day break-even with sustainable long-term revenue

Since its launch on Mistplay in early 2025, Mistplay users have demonstrated strong loyalty and repeat spend behavior. These users have become a core revenue driver for I9: Inferno Nine, enabling rapid profitability for Leniu Games.

• 2.5x D30 ROAS goal, 3.5x D90 ROAS goal
• D1 Retention for Mistplay users stood at 40%+, 16%+ higher than the average of CPE channels
• D30 Retention Rate remained stable at 10%+; D90 Retention Rate maintained at 5%+, demonstrating excellent long-term retention performance.

Testimonial

“The Mistplay team offers fast response times, unique insights into mobile game marketing, and a highly responsible professional attitude toward data and campaign performance. Mistplay has now become a must-have channel for the global launch of Leniu’s new games. Our latest title, I9: 인페르노 나인(19), has also achieved outstanding results on Mistplay. We look forward to establishing a longer-term and deeper cooperation with Mistplay to jointly succeed in the global market.” – Leniu Games Marketing Team

Power up ROAS and retention with Mistplay

If you’re a mobile game publisher looking to acquire and retain high-value players in competitive markets like Leniu Games, then Mistplay is here to help. Reach out to us today to learn more about how we can work together to unlock the power of player loyalty and drive growth in your games.