The Seasonality of Game Monetization: Rewarded Video Performance Year-Round

Rewarded video ads have become a top-performing format in mobile and web game monetization. Players appreciate the value exchange—watch a short ad, earn a reward—and developers love the high engagement and revenue. But here’s something many game developers overlook: rewarded video ad performance isn’t static year-round.

Just like retail and entertainment, game monetization is affected by seasonality. CPMs rise and fall. User behavior shifts. Advertiser budgets fluctuate. If you understand these trends, you can align your monetization strategy for maximum ad revenue at the right times of the year.

In this post, we’ll break down the seasonality of game monetization, explain how rewarded video ads are impacted, and provide tips to help you adapt and thrive across all four quarters.

What Is Seasonality in Game Monetization?

Seasonality refers to predictable changes that occur in consumer behavior and market dynamics throughout the year. In the gaming world, these changes can impact:

• User engagement (players spend more time in games during holidays or summer)

• Advertiser budgets (companies spend more in Q4 for holiday campaigns)

• CPMs and eCPMs (rates increase or decrease depending on demand and inventory)

Rewarded video ads—while highly effective—are not immune to these shifts. In fact, they’re more sensitive to seasonal trends than banner or interstitial ads because they depend heavily on user engagement and advertiser demand.

Why Rewarded Video Ads Are Seasonally Sensitive

Rewarded video ads offer an opt-in experience. Players choose to watch a full-screen video in exchange for an in-game benefit. Because they are user-initiated, their success relies on:

• High-value incentives (e.g., coins, lives, or special items)

• User attention spans (which vary by season)

• Advertiser budgets and campaign frequency

During high-spend seasons (like Q4), advertisers are competing for more impressions. This drives CPMs and fill rates higher. During off-peak seasons (like early Q1), advertisers may reduce budgets, leading to lower CPMs and fewer high-quality campaigns.

Understanding this cycle allows you to plan ahead, adjust placements, and time events that optimize your rewarded ad revenue.

Month-by-Month Breakdown: Rewarded Video Ad Performance by Season

Let’s look at how rewarded video ads perform throughout the year and what it means for your game monetization strategy.

Q1 (January – March): The Post-Holiday Slump

• User Behavior: Players may spend less time in games after the holidays. Some uninstall unused apps.

• Advertiser Behavior: Budgets are tight. Many advertisers evaluate performance before launching new campaigns.

• Impact on Ads: Lower CPMs. Fewer high-paying rewarded video ads.

What to do:

• Reduce ad frequency slightly to avoid overexposure

• Introduce low-cost in-game rewards

• Use this time to A/B test new rewarded video placements

Q2 (April – June): Stabilization and Spring Campaigns

• User Behavior: Engagement stabilizes. Players return to regular gaming habits.

• Advertiser Behavior: Brands launch spring campaigns. Ad budgets begin to rise again.

• Impact on Ads: Moderate fill rates and CPMs. Rewarded ads perform reliably.

What to do:

• Reintroduce more frequent ad opportunities

• Test new incentives tied to spring events (Easter, graduation, etc.)

• Focus on improving ARPDAU and LTV through better reward balancing

Q3 (July – September): Summer Surge in Engagement

• User Behavior: Students and younger audiences spend more time gaming during school breaks.

• Advertiser Behavior: Back-to-school and mid-year campaigns drive spending.

• Impact on Ads: High engagement, variable CPMs depending on the region and vertical.

What to do:

• Launch seasonal in-game events to drive rewarded video engagement

• Use limited-time offers with ad unlocks

• Capitalize on extended session times by increasing ad availability

Q4 (October – December): Peak Monetization Season

• User Behavior: Holiday travel and downtime lead to higher game usage. New devices = new installs.

• Advertiser Behavior: Massive budget spend for Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas, and New Year.

• Impact on Ads: Sky-high CPMs, strong fill rates, increased ad competition.

What to do:

• Scale up rewarded ad placements strategically

• Align ad rewards with holiday content (e.g., gift boxes, seasonal skins)

• Prepare your servers and SDKs for increased traffic and ad loads

How to Optimize Rewarded Video Ads for Each Season

Here’s how to adjust your monetization strategy to match seasonal trends:

Q1 Optimization Tips:

• Focus on retention: run loyalty campaigns instead of aggressive monetization

• Use rewarded videos for daily login bonuses

• Optimize for lower user acquisition costs (CPIs are often lower post-holiday)

Q2 Optimization Tips:

• Refresh ad creatives and in-game assets

• Partner with ad networks running spring campaigns

• Add reward multipliers to drive user action

Q3 Optimization Tips:

• Schedule high-value events around weekends and holidays

• Use rewarded ads to unlock special summer content

• Increase ad frequency during longer session durations

Q4 Optimization Tips:

• Go all in on rewarded videos—CPMs can spike by 50–100%

• Create holiday-specific reward items users can only unlock by watching ads

• Coordinate with your ad platform (like AppLixir) to ensure max fill rates

Tools to Track and Respond to Seasonality

To truly optimize monetization throughout the year, use data. Here are essential tools:

• AppLixir – Ideal for rewarded video ads on web and mobile games. Excellent for seasonal scaling.

• Google AdMob – Offers insights into seasonal CPM changes and ad unit performance.

• Unity Ads / IronSource / Chartboost – These platforms provide quarterly trend data and benchmarks.

• Ad Revenue Calculator – Use to estimate your revenue based on eCPM and impressions per season.

• Analytics tools like Firebase, GameAnalytics, or Adjust – Track ARPDAU, session length, and ad engagement.

Real-World Example: Holiday Season Monetization Surge

A mid-tier mobile game studio using AppLixir saw a 65% increase in CPM during Q4 by adjusting their rewarded video strategy:

• They introduced a limited-time “Holiday Chest” that unlocked via ad views

• Increased ad frequency from 2 to 3 per session during December

• Partnered with top-paying ad networks via AppLixir’s demand-side platform integrations

The result? Their rewarded video ad revenue more than doubled in December, and their ARPDAU peaked at its highest level for the year.

This highlights the importance of not just showing ads—but timing and aligning them with seasonal behavior.

Seasonality as the Hidden Lever in Rewarded Video Monetization

Rewarded video ads offer one of the most user-friendly and lucrative monetization strategies in mobile and web games. But they’re not immune to seasonal shifts in user behavior and advertiser demand.

By understanding how CPMs, engagement, and ad budgets change throughout the year, you can:

• Maximize ad revenue in Q4

• Retain users during the Q1 slump

• Test new strategies during Q2

• Engage more users during Q3

Use tools like AppLixir, keep your analytics updated, and always adapt your monetization strategy to match the calendar. When done right, seasonality becomes a powerful lever—not a challenge.