50% of mobile players have now received a reward with real monetary value from a smartphone game. Meanwhile, 72% of that group say real-world rewards are now “important” when it comes to them selecting a new mobile game to download.

That’s according to the second part of Almedia’s Rewarded Returns report conducted by Atomik Research, which surveyed over 2,000 mobile players across the US and UK.

The reward-based UA approach seeks to acquire, engage, and retain more players by placing a rewards campaign over an existing game.

As such, a player might receive cash, Amazon credit, or payouts of other currencies of real-world value for reaching particular stages or achieving certain tasks within a game.

The report found that 54% of mobile players are now devoting more time to gaming. Over two-in-five (around 42%) of those users cite rewarded gameplay as highly motivating when it comes to spending more time playing mobile titles.

75% of all respondents feel positive to the notion of receiving rewards with real-world value from games.

Of the group that have already received such a reward from a mobile release, 85% assert that they continue to play after a game’s reward campaign concludes, while 76% are more likely to recommend a game that offers rewards with monetary value.

The survey points to increased interest in real-world rewards as a motivator of play and downloads.

Although it notes that of the player group yet to engage with such incentives in games, 33% cite fraud as a reason for concern and caution around the space. That number jumps to 39% in the group that have engaged with reward-based UA.

“Our deep study of gamers clearly shows that there’s a voracious appetite for rewards across the mobile games industry,” said Moritz Holländer, Founder and CEO at Almedia. “Never before in gaming have we witnessed the mass adoption of real-world rewards by players.

“What we are currently seeing is real-time transformation in how gamers choose what they play based on rewards – and also rewards’ ability to foster valuable long-term relationships between players and games.”

Holländer added: “It’s a total rewrite of how and why users engage with gaming content, and a much-needed one at a time where game studios face barriers to acquiring and retaining players in a highly competitive market.”