Let me ask you this: how do you measure player retention in your iGaming business? Day 1? Day 7? Day 30?

But what if I told you that, on their own, those numbers might mean almost nothing?

I’m Alex Baliukonis, Game Design Team Lead at BGaming. And I want to challenge some of the usual thinking around retention in iGaming: why standard tactics often miss the mark, and what actually makes sense in our industry.

Let’s break it down.

How retention marketing started

Retention means getting users to stick with a product over time. Nowadays, it’s a big part of digital marketing and product analytics, but it didn’t start with apps or websites.

Back in the 1970s, researchers noticed something practical: keeping a customer costs less than finding a new one. By the ’90s, that idea was everywhere. Companies started using early CRM tools to manage their user base and build long-term relationships.

Once products went online, retention became easier to track. We could finally see how often users came back, how long they stayed, and what made them leave. That’s when metrics like Day 1, Day 7, Day 30 Retention, and churn rate started showing up, especially in apps and games.

Where retention actually works: industries that depend on it

Before we dive into iGaming, let’s take a step back. In which industries is retention not just a metric, but a core part of the business?

Subscription services

Think Netflix, Spotify, YouTube Premium, Amazon Prime. Their entire model depends on people sticking around and paying regularly. If someone leaves, it’s not just one payment gone, it’s their entire lifetime value (LTV). That’s why retention here isn’t just important, it’s critical.

Example: Netflix uses personalized recommendations, previews, and alerts (like when a new season drops) to keep users engaged.

Fun fact: Netflix even changed how it releases new seasons — often splitting them in half and dropping the second part a few weeks later. The goal? Make sure free trial users stick around longer, and returning subscribers don’t cancel after just one binge — they stay at least two months.

SaaS (Software as a Service)

Slack, Zoom, Notion, Jira — these tools rely on long-term use. The longer a business sticks with them, the more revenue it generates. Churn hits hard.

Example: Slack tracks which features get used and shows tips or onboarding nudges to pull users deeper into the product.

Traditional game development (free-to-play and mid-core)

Games like Clash of Clans, Candy Crush, and Genshin Impact focus on long-term player loyalty, using progression, rewards, collection, multiplayer, and in-game events.

Example: Genshin Impact regularly adds time-limited events and bonuses, even pulling back players who had stopped playing. It’s not about losing money, it’s about gaining value over time.

Social media and messengers

Facebook, TikTok, and Telegram are products that build habits. Retention here means becoming part of someone’s daily routine.

Example: TikTok keeps users hooked with an endless scroll of tailored content and quick dopamine hits from viral videos and a smart recommendation algorithm.

Across all these industries, one thing stays the same: the more users stick around, the more they get out of it. More value, more access, more fun, more efficiency, and it all grows over time.

Why retention caught on in the game dev industry

The game industry runs on engagement. A game isn’t something you sell once and forget; it’s something meant to hold a player’s attention over time. Weeks, months, sometimes even years. That’s why game developers were quick to start thinking seriously about retention.

Here’s what retention makes possible:

• Lower customer acquisition costs (CAC): The longer someone plays, the more value they bring over their lifetime.
• Smarter monetization: Players who stay are more likely to spend.
• Better product decisions: With A/B tests, cohort analysis, and behavior tracking, it’s easier to see what mechanics work and where players drop off.

Many of the retention tactics used across digital products today originated in game development: onboarding funnels, push notifications triggered by player behavior, progression systems, return rewards, and more. Without cracking the code on retention, game studios wouldn’t survive.

Even outside of gaming, these mechanics thrive — like when your taxi app offers a discount after a few inactive days. That’s not just marketing — it’s gamification in action, designed to re-engage users through a sense of reward and progress.

Why retention doesn’t always fit iGaming

At first glance, iGaming looks similar to regular video games, but it’s a different beast.

First, in video games, the "business moment" usually happens once, when the player buys the game or an item. In iGaming, it’s often a longer process. Players might play once, win or lose, and never come back. That’s normal, not an exception.

Second, iGaming is heavily regulated. Many tricks that work in mobile games, like push notifications, "loser" mechanics, or login bonuses, are limited by law or banned outright in some countries. This is a good thing for the industry, because some of those tactics can be pretty harsh on players.

Third, iGaming's content is limited, and this really matters. Look at where retention works: Netflix drops new shows, mobile games add levels and characters, and SaaS tools release updates. In iGaming, the contentusuallystaysthesame: the same reels, symbols, and visuals. What changes is only the result — win or lose. That quickly leads to players getting bored, especially if they keep failing.

This makes holding onto users tough. Repeating the same experience without any story or progress causes people to leave, even if the game runs smoothly.

There’s also a psychological side. Losing sessions don’t just feel boring. They cause frustration, stress, and fatigue. Sure, some negative emotions can keep people hooked in other industries. But after a few bad rounds, most players don’t want to return. Those who do often stay because of habit or addiction, which raises ethical questions around retention numbers.

Players often burn out fast. The highs and lows from wins or losses don’t build lasting bonds. This leads to big drop-offs after just one or two sessions.

So, old-school game retention methods don’t always work in iGaming. Retention here isn’t about engagement mechanics but about managing context and player expectations.

I see two ways forward:

• Using only the tools that genuinely encourage players to return, and using them carefully, for example, well-timed bonuses or fresh visuals at the right moment.
• We're building a newkindofretentionmetric that’s honest for iGaming. One that measures not just if a player comes back but why and whether their return brings real value to the game.

Adapting player retention for iGaming

So, how can we rethink retention for iGaming, without just copying tactics from traditional video games? Here are a few directions that make more sense:

1. Hybrid mechanics

Light gamification, such as quests, missions, progress bars, or player-to-player challenges, adds motivation to return. It’s not about turning iGaming into full games but about offering a feeling of progress and variation.

2. Personalization

Mass campaigns often fall flat. It’s more effective to build scenarios around specific user types. Some come back for bonuses, others for tournaments. Behavioral analytics helps spot these patterns and tailor the approach.

3. Risk awareness

Pushing too hard can backfire. Tools like deposit limits, loss notifications, or break reminders support safer play. These features are part of compliance, but they also encourage long-term trust.

4. Reactivation focus

Retention efforts shouldn’t stop at active users. Many valuable players are those who have already left. Reactivation through emails, retargeting, or time-sensitive offers can have a strong impact.

5. Content That Fuels Long-Term Engagement

Storytelling and content marketing are still rare in iGaming, but they work. A good narrative delivered through emails or in-game features can help foster consistent interaction, even without changes in gameplay.

A smarter way to measure retention in iGaming

In our industry, traditional retention metrics like "Day 1" or "Day 7" returns don’t always tell the full story. A player might come back briefly, claim a bonus, and disappear again. So instead of just tracking if someone returns, it makes more sense to ask: was that return actually valuable?

That’s where a more meaningful metric comes in — Value Return Index (VRI). It’s not about how many users returned, but how much each return mattered to the business.

VRI is based on five key signals:

First is Intent Quality — what triggered the return? A direct visit shows genuine interest. Coming back from an email is still meaningful. But returning just to grab a bonus and immediately leaving? That’s a weak signal. These differences are scored: for example, a self-initiated return might be rated 1.0, while a bonus-triggered return could be 0.4 or lower.

Then comes Engagement Depth — what happened after the player returned? Did they spend time in the game? Play several rounds? Explore new titles? The more involved the session, the higher the value.

Post-Return Value adds an economic layer — did the player deposit again? Were they active beyond that one session? Or did they churn again right away? This part of the score can reflect their updated LTV or the revenue brought in compared to the cost of reactivation.

Channel Efficiency looks at how much it cost to bring the player back. A return from an email is nearly free. A retargeting campaign with bonuses might be expensive. VRI helps highlight whether the cost was justified by the outcome.

Behavioral Shift adds context — did the player’s behavior change after coming back? Maybe they started playing more regularly, chose less risky games, or adjusted their betting patterns. These are signs of meaningful change and more sustainable engagement.

All of this comes together in the formula:

VRI = w? × Intent Quality + w? × Engagement Depth + w? × Post-Return Value + w? × Channel Efficiency + w? × Behavioral Shift

The weights (w? through w?) let each business tune the metric to its goals. For some, intent quality might matter most. Others may prioritize post-return value or behavioral change. If certain inputs are missing or irrelevant, their weights can be adjusted or removed.

So, how do you use VRI?

A VRI above 0.7 signals a strong, valuable return, one that was likely worth the cost and effort.

Between 0.4 and 0.7, it’s mixed, not bad, but possibly in need of improvement.

Below 0.4, the return may have little value or even be a negative signal.

Final thoughts

Retention isn’t a silver bullet, and in iGaming, it follows a different logic. Copying-paste methods from game dev often lead to the wrong moves, but that doesn’t mean retention should be discarded.

What matters is using it wisely. Instead of chasing "Day 30" numbers in isolation, looking at what drives players to stay is better. Focus on their motivations. Respect the legal boundaries. And treat loyalty as something that needs care, not pressure.

Good retention in iGaming isn’t about forcing players back. It’s about understanding why they’d want to return, and creating space for that to happen naturally.

Image credit: Casino Guru News