Battle Mode with Secondary Progressions

Download the January Core Report

Last Day on Earth is building a complex network of features that include multiple progressions of upgrades. Players complete chapters in the app’s Story Mode (released in July 2022) to unlock three new features: a game mode focused exclusively on combat (Expeditions), a new type of hero for this mode (Mercenaries), and a custom design system (Settlement Development). In order to progress in any one of these three features, players must progress in the other two as well.

In this report, we analyze how this deep interconnectedness creates many opportunities to drive spend, and how previewing upcoming features gives players confidence that their investments will be rewarded over time.

Soft-Launch and Breakout Apps

Stormshot: Isle of Adventure broke into the top 50 strategy apps within two months after its launch. The app’s 4X gameplay doesn’t stray far from that of FunPlus’ other leading apps, Guns of Glory, King of Avalon, and Misty Continent. Instead, Stormshot’s distinguishing factors are a puzzle mini-game and a narrative that are both major parts of the app’s core loop.

Even early in soft-launch, Farlight 84 offers an unusually wide variety of weapons, heroes, skins, and abilities. While the app’s battle royale gameplay doesn’t reinvent the genre, the inclusion of jetpacks and high-tech vehicles adds some novelty that will at least encourage players to take a look.

Innovative Features and Events

This month’s noteworthy releases include a hero acquisition system that uses deterministic rewards instead of loot boxes in Brawl Stars, a multi-stage mission event in Rise of Kingdoms, and a team-based defense mode in Pixel Gun 3D.

Download the January Core Report for our complete analysis.