3 Reasons Why Users Are Leaving Your Mobile Game

All game developers wish they could get players once and then retain them for the rest of their lives. So that no player leaves the game and they don’t have to spend time wondering why users are leaving their mobile game.

Everyone knows ultimately that perfect retention is impossible. And that there will always be those who dislike your game.

Moreover, even those who like your game may not stay on for long. And unfortunately, that’s just the reality android game developers have to live with. 

But putting effort into player retention is worth it. You can consciously invest time and energy before and after your game’s release to ensure as many players as possible stay in your game. 

However, first, you must make sure you are not giving your players reasons to leave your game.  

Below, we list some of the common mistakes which game developers make, which you should avoid making when you develop your game, to prevent users from leaving your game:

Here are the Top 3 Reasons Why Users are Leaving Your Mobile Game:

1. Bad First Impression

First impressions matter. In the case of games, first impressions are even more critical because players are quick to judge.  

Especially mobile gamers. For them, forming an opinion based on a game’s first impression is beneficial, as they have access to thousands of games. So if one game doesn’t impress them within the first few minutes of opening it, users will leave your mobile game and install another one. 

But many developers make the mistake of not spending enough time optimizing their onboarding process. As a result, the tutorials in their games are lengthy, the title screens are too many, and the UI screen is confusing—all things, which form the perfect recipe to turn off players. 

It would be best if you avoid these mistakes in your mobile game. And it would be best if you spent time optimizing the onboarding stage of your game.  

And this effort should start right from the title screen itself. First, you can use the title screen to create an excellent first impression on your players. Then, you can use the screen to prepare them for the experience they are about to have. 

After the title screen comes the UI screen. You should make the UI clean and intuitive. The elements in your game’s UI should be neatly categorized and easy to access. The most crucial buttons and icons should be prominent on the screen, so your players will be free from confusion. 

Third, comes the tutorial in your game. Your game’s tutorial should teach your players your game’s basics. But should not spend too much time doing so. Your players will be eager to start playing, and a lengthy tutorial will hinder it.  

So, make the tutorial short and to the point. Or, as some game developers do, discard tutorials altogether. Instead, design your game so that the gameplay itself will teach players how to play. 

2. Imbalanced Gameplay

Overpowered weapons, broken progression systems, and sudden difficulty spikes all make your game’s experience a bad one.  

For example, if a specific weapon is more powerful than all other weapons, with no negative consequences, the player would find the game less challenging.

Similarly, if the first few levels are tough to complete, the player would deem the game too hard. 

And no matter how hard you try to eliminate these from your game during the design stages, they will be present in your game.  

However, there is a way you can remedy this: playtesting. 

By playtesting, you can see where your game’s gameplay experience needs tweaking. You can identify the areas where players might get turned off in your game. 

For this, you will need a team of experienced playtesters. The team would play the game repeatedly and make sure your final gameplay experience is a good one. 

3. Bugs

Bugs significantly affect the gameplay experience. Some bugs won’t even let the players play in the first place. 

Eliminating every single bug in your game is impossible. No matter how hard you try, your game will always have some minor bugs. 

However, you should take extra care to make sure your game is free of significant bugs since you don’t want your users leaving your mobile game. Major bugs are bugs that make it impossible for the players to enjoy your game. 

You should also make sure your game is free of too many minor bugs. Too many minor bugs can cause your players to have a bad gameplay experience. 

To combat this, you should subject your game to rigorous testing.  

Hire a group of testers and make sure they test your game for everything, from compatibility to performance. 

Conclusion 

When you find out how you are losing your players, you can start planning ways to stop losing them. You can use game analytics for this purpose exactly. 

With better methods, you can enjoy higher retention. But, for that, you must also avoid making big mistakes. 

The best way to do all this is with a top mobile game development company like Juego Studios. Juego Studios has developed numerous mobile games across Android and iOS platforms. The games we have developed have been received warmly by both players and clients.