WeMade Finds Its #1 UA Channel with Playfull's Mission-Based Campaigns

WeMade set ambitious goals for the US pilot of Fantastic Baseball — an MLB, CPBL, NPB, and KBO-licensed F2P title — targeting high-quality installs with strong early retention and measurable ROAS. They tested Playfull's mission-based UA alongside every major traditional channel. The result? Playfull ranked #1 across every key metric, delivering more than double the Day 1 retention of competing channels and exceeding ROAS targets through Day 7.

The Challenge

Fantastic Baseball entered one of mobile gaming's most competitive verticals: licensed sports games. Annual franchises from major studios dominate the category with established audiences and massive marketing budgets. For WeMade — a Korean studio expanding its global footprint — acquiring US players who would actually stay engaged past Day 1 required more than reach. It required intent.

WeMade had tested every major UA channel. The team needed a channel that could drive downloads and guarantee that players showed up, stuck around, and engaged deeply with the game — and the numbers would tell the story.

"We used all the traditional marketing channels, but the outcome was clear — the Playfull campaigns provided better, improved results across the board."

— Wook Kim, VP of Business & Service Operations, WeMade Entertainment USA

Key Pain Points

• Low retention on traditional paid channels — display ads drove installs but couldn't guarantee player engagement post-install.
• No deep-funnel control — Google and Meta stop at the click. WeMade had no way to incentivize players to complete tutorials or build lineups.
• Audience intent gap — reaching users who were genuinely interested in a baseball sports game required niche targeting that broad networks couldn't deliver.
• Attribution depth — display ads can't target or attribute to deep-funnel events. WeMade needed a channel that could measure and optimize for the in-game actions that actually matter, not just the install.
• ROAS pressure — with licensing fees across four major leagues, every install had to count.

The Solution

WeMade partnered with Playfull to run a mission-based UA pilot campaign targeting US players on iOS and Android. Unlike traditional UA platforms that optimize for clicks and impressions, Playfull's mission architecture drove players through the entire journey — from install, to tutorial completion, to active gameplay.

The campaign leveraged Playfull's network of 50M+ players across Tier 1, 2, and 3 countries and automatically optimized for performance globally. Missions were structured around core gameplay milestones in Fantastic Baseball — building a lineup, completing the tutorial, progressing through the season — ensuring every rewarded player arrived primed for retention.

Attribution was tracked end-to-end through Adjust MMP, providing WeMade with clean, auditable data across all channels in a single view — making the performance comparison between Playfull and other channels clear and direct.

"Playfull, helps a lot. Even if I didn't ask, they found ways to help the project. They care about the product itself — product performance, product success. That's why I have really good memories with Patrick and the Playfull team."

— Hyunbong Jung, Marketing Manager, WeMade

The Results

WeMade's Fantastic Baseball pilot delivered clear, data-backed proof that mission-based UA outperforms traditional channels — not by a narrow margin, but by multiples.

• 2.6× — Day 1 Retention vs. Other Paid Channels
• #1 — Best Performing UA Channel Overall
• 37.1% — Blended D1 Retention Rate
• 86% — Avg. Tutorial Completion Rate

Retention Performance (vs. Target)

• D1 Retention: 37.1% — exceeded target of 25% by +12 points
• D3 Retention: 28.1% — exceeded target of 15% by +13 points
• D7 Retention: 15.9% — exceeded target of 10% by +5.9 points

ROAS vs. Target

• D1 ROAS: 4.39% vs. 4.0% target — ✓ Exceeded
• D3 ROAS: 7.38% vs. 6.0% target — ✓ Exceeded
• D7 ROAS: 8.9% vs. 8.0% target — ✓ Exceeded

Deep Engagement Signals

• Tutorial completion (iOS): 89.69% — vs. ~60% organic average
• Tutorial completion (Android): 82.63% — vs. ~53% organic average
• Playfull delivered players who showed up, completed onboarding, and stayed — every time.

"I always had an open line of communication with Patrick and the Playfull team. They weren't just doing deals — they were really thinking about the product itself and how to make it succeed."

— Hyunbong Jung, Marketing Manager, WeMade

Channel Comparison — US Market (July 13 – August 16, 2024)

Channel D1 Retention D3 Retention D7 Retention Tutorial Complete
Playfull (iOS) 40.26% 28.00% 13.96% 89.69%
Playfull (Android) 34.69% 25.51% 12.19% 82.63%
Traditional Paid (blended avg) 17.4% 9.6% 6.1% ~63%
Organic (blended avg) 17.6% 9.9% 6.8% ~59%

• Traditional Paid avg blends Google Ads, Meta (iOS & Android), and Apple Search Ads. Individual channel breakdowns available under NDA.

"Patrick and Playfull are a team of marketing experts in my eyes. I would love to work with them again in the near future."

— Wook Kim, VP of Business & Service Operations, WeMade Entertainment USA

What Made the Difference:

Playfull's Proprietary Mission Technology

WeMade's results weren't accidental — they were powered by Playfull's mission-based UA architecture. Here's what makes it unique:

1. Deep-Funnel Mission Design

Display ads stop at the click. Playfull's mission architecture tracks and rewards players through every meaningful step of the funnel — download, tutorial completion, first team build, and in-game progression. Missions were calibrated to Fantastic Baseball's specific gameplay milestones, and because Playfull uses the same Adjust MMP integration WeMade already had in place, every deep-funnel event was attributable, auditable, and directly tied to ROAS. This is a level of measurement and optimization that display advertising simply can't reach.

2. Intelligent Performance Optimization

Playfull's system continuously optimizes campaign performance in real-time across geographies, traffic sources, and user segments — automatically shifting budget toward the combinations that drive the highest-quality users. This is why Playfull hit ROAS targets at D1, D3, and D7 while maintaining strong retention cohorts throughout the campaign window.

3. High-Quality Opt-In Users

Playfull players actively choose to discover and try new games through missions — they aren't passively served an ad. This opt-in model means every install comes from a player who already expressed intent before they ever opened Fantastic Baseball. The result is a fundamentally higher-quality acquisition cohort from Day 1, which flows directly into Playfull's industry-leading retention and tutorial completion rates.

Why Playfull Beats Display Advertising

Deep Funnel Performance

Display ads drive a click and hope users explore on their own. Playfull guides and rewards players every step of the way — download, first play, tutorial complete, level progression — creating retention before the session even ends.

Speed to Performance

Display requires constant creative production — formats, A/B tests, fatigue refreshes. With Playfull, campaigns optimize quickly and automatically without expensive creative resources or weekly design sprints.

User Quality

Playfull players actively opt in to discover new games — they arrive engaged, not passively served an ad. That enthusiasm shows directly in the retention and tutorial completion data.

What's Next

Following the results of the Fantastic Baseball pilot, WeMade and Playfull are in active discussions on how to grow WeMade's other titles globally. The partnership laid a strong foundation — and both teams are aligned on the opportunity ahead.

"If Playfull can drive these results for a genre that's challenging, imagine what we can do together with a game that already has a huge fanbase waiting globally."

— Hyunbong Jung, Marketing Manager, WeMade

"I've met Patrick many times — in Korea, in San Francisco, and many other places. What I can say is that Playfull and Patrick are very passionate and eager to work with us. And the results proved it."

— Wook Kim, VP of Business & Service Operations, WeMade Entertainment USA

Ready to Achieve Similar Results?

See what Playfull mission-based UA technology can do for your game.

→ Get a custom UA strategy for your game

→ See what CPAs Playfull can hit for your funnel

→ Join 50M+ players in the Playfull network

Contact us at diana@playfull.com or visit playfull.com