The global gaming market has never been more competitive, with numerous projects published daily worldwide. In 2024, more than 18,000 games were published on Steam, one of the leading publishing platforms for AAA gaming. The mobile gaming market is among the industry’s fastest-growing sectors and is estimated to surpass $105 billion in revenue in 2025. In such a fast-paced and competitive market environment, gaming studios need to proactively work on finding new ways to popularize their projects. It isn’t enough to just have an excellent product. Gaming companies also need the proper channels to market their products and reach their target audiences. 

Some of the key challenges in mobile gaming user acquisition lie in the market’s oversaturation and constantly increasing CPI (cost per install). While the highly competitive market environment motivates studios to maximize creativity and develop new forms of immersive gameplay features, it also creates market conditions with numerous high-quality projects competing for the same piece of the pie. To succeed, studios need a competitive edge to onboard new players ahead of their competitors. This means lower CPI, cost-effective user acquisition, and providing instant gameplay access to users.

Aethir’s instant play decentralized cloud gaming streaming technology represents a viable publishing alternative to big tech app stores that charge hefty fees of up to 30%, dramatically lowering gaming studios' profit margins. Our decentralized GPU cloud for gaming and AI enterprises enables users to instantly try out games from their browsers without downloading and installing apps or paying upfront subscriptions.

The User Acquisition Problem in Mobile Gaming

As the market becomes more competitive, studios must spend more on marketing campaigns and advertisements. Traditional user acquisition (UA) campaigns often rely on static ads or trailers directly linking to app stores. However, users are growing tired of downloading yet another app just to try it out. Many users find new downloads annoying if they don’t even know if the game is worth it. The latest generation of gamers needs instant, frictionless game access before deciding whether to commit and download a title. Currently, many gaming companies have high drop-off rates and incur high advertising expenses that aren’t paying off.

Gaming studios need new strategies and solutions to create immediate engagement without any strings attached. Conventional ads that simply prompt users to download a game directly from an app store have record-low results, and they often seem scammy to viewers, who skip the ads because they don’t know whether these are legitimate games. 

Low-friction user engagement strategies require an innovative approach to user acquisition without putting the instant burden of decision-making on potential players. Instead of pressuring players into committing, gaming studios can offer instant gameplay access that lets players experience a game firsthand before deciding to download it. This feature is precisely what Aethir’s decentralized cloud gaming infrastructure offers to gaming enterprises.

Aethir’s Solution: Instant Play via Decentralized Cloud Gaming

Aethir’s decentralized cloud gaming infrastructure empowers gaming companies with alternative publishing channels that allow users to try out games instantly. Our instant play decentralized cloud gaming technology can easily be integrated into user acquisition campaigns, prompting users to instantly play games instead of asking them to download apps. This allows players to experience gameplay features without commitment and enables studios to showcase their gaming titles to potential players without any entry barriers.

Imagine seeing a game ad that doesn’t point to a download page. Instead, the ad lets players engage in seamless gameplay without installing any app. The fact that users can instantly try a game can be much more attractive for players than encountering an ad that aggressively pushes them to download and install a game. 

Aethir’s instant play streaming is a powerful solution for gaming studios looking to break the hold of app stores and avoid paying massive revenue cuts to big tech companies. By implementing Aethir’s instant play streaming alternative to app stores, studios can directly reach users, allowing them to charge lower service fees since no middlemen are involved. 

Furthermore, instant play gaming is far less data-heavy than downloading a complete game from an app store. The instant play gaming experience lets players jump into the action with just a few clicks, which means the entry barrier is virtually non-existent, resulting in higher conversion rates and maximized user acquisition.

SuperScale x Aethir Case Study: Instant Play Results

SuperScale, a global leader in gaming user acquisition solutions and one of our reputable ecosystem partners, conducted an in-depth case study on the benefits of Aethir’s decentralized cloud gaming infrastructure for user acquisition campaigns and user retention. 

Phase 1 of the SuperScale case study focused on validating Aethir's value proposition by measuring a decrease in cost per install (CPI) or an increase in conversion rates by enabling players to experience the game before downloading or purchasing. In Phase 2 of the case study, SuperScale measured the return on ad spend (ROAS) and early engagement by enabling players to experience the game before downloading or purchasing, thanks to Aethir’s decentralized cloud gaming infrastructure.

The mobile game Tiny Tower was selected as the test subject. Three creative angles were prepared for the A/B/C testing, including Stream Now, Instant Play, and Download options to explore user preferences.

The results of the case study were quite astonishing, presenting clear evidence of how Aethir’s decentralized instant play and streaming cloud gaming solutions lead to improved user acquisition metrics on all fronts.

Phase 1 of the case study concluded that  43% more players prefer instant play over download and showed a 35% higher CTR (click-through rate) and a 45% higher conversion rate over download. 

Phase 2 of the case study concluded that 143% more users chose Aethir-powered instant play instance over the App Store, and a 93% ARPU (average revenue per user) increase with Aethir’s Stream Now option. Furthermore, Aethir’s Stream Now option resulted in  77% higher average session counts and a 26% higher average session length.

SuperScale’s case study of Aethir’s cloud gaming infrastructure in action is the first instance of evidence-based research that shows the transformative potential of our cloud gaming solutions in action.

Aethir’s Instant Play User Acquisition Benefits for Gaming Studios

Implementing Aethir’s decentralized GPU cloud for gaming in innovative user acquisition and retention campaigns brings various key benefits to gaming studios.

1. Lower acquisition costs: Try-before-downloading decreases wasted ad spending.
2. Lowered risk: Users try before committing, which results in better-quality acquisitions. Studios acquire dedicated users.
3. Higher lifetime value (LTV): Early engagement correlates with deeper monetization.
4. Data-driven optimization: Real-time analytics from streaming sessions guide design and UA optimization.
5. Cost efficiency: Lower CPI and higher ROAS create a more sustainable UA model that allows gaming studios to maximize profits.

Why Decentralized Cloud Gaming Infrastructure Is the Future

Aethir’s decentralized cloud significantly boosts user acquisition and retention for gaming studios looking for scale and sustainability with our direct-to-consumer (DTC) solutions. Instant Play streaming technology is our signature DTC service that empowers gaming studios to reach users directly and offer a taste of the action before any commitments, such as app downloads or purchases.

SuperScale’s case study on Aethir’s Instant Play streaming technology is a testament to the effectiveness of decentralized cloud gaming infrastructure. We have the numbers to back our claims that clearly show the benefits of our cloud gaming solutions for maximizing user acquisition and retention without excessive UA campaign costs. 

Learn more about Aethir’s decentralized cloud gaming infrastructure in our official gaming section. 

For more details and educational content about Aethir’s GPU cloud for gaming and AI enterprises, browse our official blog.