From early tests to scaling global campaigns across rewarded engagement, playtime, OEM, and programmatic channels, TapNation and AppSamurai have grown together through experimentation, transparency, and trust. In this first issue of the ‘’AdTech Leaders’ Insights’’ series, we caught up with Ecem Calban, User Acquisition Manager at TapNation, to reflect on our journey so far and explore what makes this partnership work.
AppSamurai: It’s hard to believe it’s already been nearly three years of working together! Looking back, what originally made you want to partner up with AppSamurai?
TapNation:
It’s hard to believe it’s already been three years! During this time, we’ve had the opportunity to run significant ad spend and generate strong revenue together. In fact, we were one of the very first publishers AppSamurai partnered with.
I believe the best partnerships often begin at industry events, and that was the case for us as well. I remember attending a conference where Anar and Cihan gave a presentation that really stood out. At the time, rewarded traffic wasn’t yet mainstream, but their insights helped us see its potential. We realized that this traffic could serve not only as an alternative to traditional UA channels but also as a source of highly engaged users, leading to better conversion quality.
From a technical perspective, we noticed the strong user quality and ROAS early on with AppSamurai’s traffic and not just in the US but across T1, T2, T3 countries. Over time, that performance translated into real impact: more than 20 million installs and a solid six-digit revenue figure generated through our campaigns together. Combined with their real-time fraud prevention and transparency, it made scaling both safe and effective.
AppSamurai: TapNation is known for launching hit titles at scale. What’s been your biggest user acquisition challenge lately (or in general), and how has AppSamurai helped address it?
TapNation:
As a mobile game publisher, one of the biggest ongoing challenges in user acquisition is working with low CPIs while still aiming for meaningful scale (even for some hybrid-casual games). Since LTVs for mobile games are generally low, the amount we can afford to pay for each install is extremely limited. This creates a classic problem: if your CPI is too low, it’s difficult to rank competitively on ad networks, which directly limits your ability to scale effectively.
This is where AppSamurai has been a valuable partner for us. AppSamurai was able to support our campaigns effectively, even at different budget levels, while keeping a strong focus on performance and quality. This helped us by making optimization easier and letting us use more sources and inventories, so we could reach more users and grow faster. Right now, we’re running 483 active campaigns with AppSamurai across various global markets, which shows how much the partnership has grown in both volume and coverage.
AppSamurai: We are running quite a few different campaign types together; rewarded models (Rewarded playtime and offerwalls), OEM. How does that variety help you hit your goals? Why do you think hybrid UA strategies are becoming so important in mobile marketing today?
TapNation:
Absolutely! Running a variety of campaign types is crucial for hitting our goals because it lets us diversify risk and optimize for different KPIs simultaneously. Each channel has its own strength; playtime gives us broad scale and precise targeting, rewarded models drive high engagement and retention, and OEMs often deliver high-quality users with strong intent.
Hybrid UA strategies are becoming essential in mobile marketing today because the ecosystem is more competitive and complex than ever. Relying on just one channel limits growth potential and makes campaigns vulnerable to changes in costs or platform policies. By blending multiple approaches, we can balance cost-efficiency, scale, and user quality more effectively, ensuring more stable and sustainable performance over time.
AppSamurai: At the end of the day, partnerships are about people. What do you genuinely appreciate most about the way our teams work together?
TapNation: I cannot agree more. Unlike many other partners, AppSamurai closely monitors campaign KPIs and regularly holds reporting meetings and optimizations to keep campaigns on the desired target. Beyond that, whenever there’s a new inventory, I confidently start testing because I know the company’s approach is not just about spending more, but truly performance-driven. I believe this trust comes from the strong dynamic and relationship between the UA manager and Account manager, which is both rare and very important to build.
AppSamurai: What advice would you give to other studios that are considering exploring alternative UA channels like rewarded playtime?
TapNation:
My advice to studios considering alternative UA channels like rewarded playtime is to explore them without hesitation, as these channels can be relatively low-risk. One of the biggest advantages of rewarded channels is that there is no surprise. Since users who come through these channels are motivated to engage and play, it creates a true win-win situation.
However, I believe rewarded channels are not suitable for every game. It’s especially important during game development to design the event funnel and structure in a way that fits rewarded users, so their behavior and value can be tracked accurately. Additionally, certain types of games naturally attract more interest from rewarded audiences -typically casual, reward-driven titles that encourage frequent engagement and quick wins, whereas more complex or competitive games might struggle to perform well with this audience.
Outro:
What’s next?
With new game launches, evolving UA challenges, and new inventory constantly on the horizon, we’re excited to keep pushing the boundaries with TapNation and continue building on a partnership defined by trust, adaptability, and shared wins.
👉 Want to explore hybrid UA models and scale your next title? Let’s chat!
