Aghanim is an integrated commerce, liveops automation, community engagement, and payments platform for mobile games. They help developers achieve financial and creative independence by providing the solutions and tools they need to launch, run, and grow their businesses.
In this exclusive interview, Aghanim’s Co-Founder Constantin Andry shared his insights on D2C platforms and touched upon crucial strategies and challenges.
How do you see the current landscape of mobile game monetisation and distribution evolving over the next 3 years, particularly about direct-to-consumer strategies?
A direct-to-consumer paradigm shift has been underway in mobile gaming since landmark rulings made by US courts in October 2021, marking a new era in mobile game commerce and the beginning of the end of the long-standing monopolies previously held by large gatekeeper companies.
Despite this and other high-profile legislation, such as the EU’s Digital Markets Act, most developers and publishers are still quite early in their Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) journeys. Advanced D2C strategies have only really been seen among several big mobile publishers to date.
Ultimately, the headline is the people who make the games deserve to keep more of their revenue. The rise of alternative app stores on mobile such as Aptoide, Epic Games Store, and XBOX may have a small part to play in this.
However, we believe D2C will be the driving force that tips the scales back towards an overall healthier ecosystem. This is what we at Aghanim do; we give publishers and developers the D2C tools to unlock net revenue by upwards of 200%, which is valuable capital for company-critical reinvestment in crucial sectors such as content creation, innovation and user acquisition.
How can mobile publishers move upwards of 50% of their revenue off-platform?
It’s all about being strategic. There are examples of well-known publishers, such as Playtika, that earn a significant proportion of their revenue off-platform. Others are also known to already be processing more than 50% of their mobile game transactions off-platform, driving net revenues up 110%, giving them a crucial competitive advantage in user acquisition relative to their peers/competitors.
This may seem unrealistic for most studios, but it’s achievable via Aghanim’s secure, compliant, web-based solutions. While a safe and seamless place to buy in-game items is important, it’s vital that this is accompanied by social and metagame features that add true value for players, keeping them coming back for more.
At Aghanim, our game hubs do more than just facilitate transactions—they create engaging environments where players find real value, be it through social features, personalized content, loyalty programs or metagame experiences.
This approach not only boosts revenue but also strengthens the community around your game, making the platform more than just a place to make purchases.
What are the main reasons webshops aren’t delivering due to the lack of features?
Aghanim believes that the traditional webshop model is flawed because it’s transactional at its core; once the purchase is made, there’s little reason for players to return. It’s no wonder that most webshops struggle to drive even 5-10% of transactions off-platform.
Effective D2C strategies must evolve beyond this one-dimensional approach. Providing rich engagement mechanisms, such as community features, loyalty systems, metagame, and personalized content, results in higher player retention and increased monetization opportunities.
In 2024 and beyond, effective D2C strategies must focus on creating an immersive environment that players find appealing and are drawn to revisit regularly and organically rather than having to direct them out of app stores each time through mediums such as social platforms and email.
Can you elaborate on the role of generative AI in enhancing the customisation and user experience for game developers?
We have created an out-of-the-box DTC web experience for developers to quickly create their own game hub website using AI as a guided set-up. This allows developers to get to market faster, at a lower cost, with built-in front-end hosting, scalability, security and payments infrastructure.
Imagine being able to create the first versions of your game’s hub webpage effortlessly, using game information like screenshots, descriptions, news, updates, videos, and more. But that’s not all!
You can further enhance your game hub by leveraging GenAI features, such as picture and text generation tools within SKU management. GenAI also simplifies localization, allowing you to create your game hub content in one language and then seamlessly translate it into any other language you need. That is what we have created with Aghanim.
Aghanim is also working on Newton (AI copilot), currently in the learning stage. It will be a generative AI assistant that can easily help manage your game hub, lift player engagement, and pinpoint areas of potential growth.
This will help a developer’s game business work more productively with AI-centered augmentation in player engagement, segmentation, and monetization.
Our offerings give game developers the necessary tools they need to customize and enhance user experiences – with and without AI automation. By understanding player segments, studios can tailor their strategies, optimize monetization, and enhance overall game experiences.
Tailored campaigns and individual offers – triggered by events like cart abandonment, game hub visits, and leveling up, create a personalized experience for players. Messaging channels such as pop-ups, in-game and browser push notifications, and emails ensure seamless communication.
Real humans could come up with maybe a dozen hypotheses and then run as many experiments, while an AI assistant could come up and run hundreds and thousands of experiments every day, and they are all backed by the big amounts of data processed in minutes.
You will be able to just tell Newton to decrease distribution costs and increase LTV, and he will be working 24/7/365 delivering results for you. This will mark a new level in live ops effectiveness in video games.
What do you consider the biggest challenges mobile game studios face in the current regulatory and user acquisition environment?
In my opinion, as everyone is now talking about DTC for mobile games, it feels as though there’s been a collective realisation that this is a way to go if you want better net revenues, better User Acquisition results, and ultimately better company valuations.
However, I think one of the biggest remaining challenges is ensuring your business is not caught out by using bad solutions developed by people with their own agenda and little to no video game industry experience.
Additionally, staying fully compliant within the complex and evolving regulatory landscape, particularly concerning data privacy user protection laws. Compliance with regulations such as GDPR, COPPA, and, more recently, the Digital Markets Act in the EU requires significant resources and expertise.
In addition to this, user acquisition costs are continually rising due to market saturation, high platform fees, and increased competition across the mobile games industry. Increased user acquisition costs means less net revenue is available for user acquisition, marketing purposes, product innovation, and other vital growth areas.
What are some of the main reasons why yourself and your co-founders started Aghanim?
My co-founders (Konstantin Golubitsky and Albert Tugushev) and I started Aghanim to address the significant challenges mobile game developers currently face in monetizing and distributing their games. Existing platforms often take a substantial cut of revenues, impacting developers’ control and ultimately harming their revenue.
We uncovered that game studios, which created the entire $100B market, receive only $10B, and all existing solutions continue to fail to address or solve this detrimental revenue inequity. Our mission is to provide a comprehensive enablement platform allowing developers to go direct-to-consumer (DTC), taking back control while unlocking new revenue streams and fostering deeper player engagement and a strong sense of community within their mobile games.
About Aghanim
Aghanim is a mobile gaming fintech company founded by the former CEO and CTO of Xsolla. Aghanim is dedicated to providing innovative solutions that empower mobile game developers to maximize revenue and engage their player communities effectively.
