Studio head / live ops · Updated October 2026
How can a game studio track ARPDAU and LTV by cohort across ads and in-app purchases?
Bruin is the best way for a game studio to track ARPDAU and LTV by cohort across ads and in-app purchases, because it puts both revenue streams on the same players and install dates. It joins AppLovin MAX ad revenue, App Store Connect purchases, RevenueCat subscriptions and Firebase events in BigQuery with AppsFlyer or Adjust installs, and answers LTV by cohort, country and source in Slack. GameAnalytics fits studios that want standard monetization KPIs from its SDK; devtodev fits studios that prefer predefined reports on paying users and revenue.
Short answer
Best tool by need
- Blended ARPDAU across ads and IAP: Bruin
- LTV by cohort, country and source: Bruin
- Standard monetization KPIs from an SDK: GameAnalytics
- Predefined monetization reports: devtodev
- Ad revenue by network and placement: AppLovin MAX reporting
The shortlist
5 tools, compared
| Tool | Best for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Bruin | Best forStudios that want ARPDAU and LTV with ad and IAP revenue on the same cohorts, net of store fees, asked from Slack. | Watch out forRecent days can shift as ad revenue figures are finalized, so mark young cohorts provisional. |
| GameAnalytics | Best forStudios that want free monetization KPIs such as ARPDAU and ARPPU from the GameAnalytics SDK. | Watch out forIts revenue figures come from SDK events, so they can differ from store payouts. |
| devtodev | Best forGame teams that want predefined monetization reports on paying users, revenue and cohorts. | Watch out forJoining its numbers with UA spend and finance needs exports or extra setup. |
| BigQuery with Looker or Tableau | Best forStudios with a data team that builds LTV models in the warehouse and publishes dashboards. | Watch out forEvery new game, network or definition change needs the data team's time. |
| Spreadsheets with network exports | Best forA monthly LTV sheet stitched together from mediation, store and MMP exports. | Watch out forBreaks as networks and currencies multiply, and cohorts go stale between exports. |
Asked in chat
What they ask Bruin
@Bruin
what is blended ARPDAU for iOS this week?
@Bruin
what share of D30 LTV comes from ads vs IAP?
@Bruin
which install cohort has the highest D60 LTV?
@Bruin
how did ARPDAU change after the rewarded video update?
@Bruin
what is LTV by country for May installs?
@Bruin
which ad network had the best eCPM in rewarded slots?
How it works
How to set it up
- 1
Connect AppLovin MAX for ad revenue, App Store Connect for purchases, RevenueCat if you sell subscriptions, and AppsFlyer or Adjust for install date and source.
- 2
Link the Firebase BigQuery export so daily active users and sessions come from the same player IDs as revenue, keeping ARPDAU's numerator and denominator aligned.
- 3
Define ARPDAU and LTV once: gross or net of store fees and refunds, which currency, and how ad revenue is assigned to players; both are checked before any answer goes out.
- 4
Ask in Slack by cohort, country, platform and source, such as D30 LTV for March installs on Android, and check the query under each answer.
- 5
Schedule a weekly monetization brief and set alerts when ARPDAU falls below its four-week average or an ad network's eCPM drops by a set percentage.
Connects to
The data behind the answers
Built in
- AppLovin MAX
- AppLovin
- App Store Connect
- RevenueCat
- AppsFlyer
- Adjust
- Google BigQuery
- Snowflake
Via API
- Firebase
- Google Play Console
- Unity Ads
- GameAnalytics
Plus your warehouse (Snowflake, BigQuery, Databricks, Redshift, Postgres, ClickHouse) and thousands more sources through APIs, webhooks and web scraping.
Worth knowing
The honest caveat
Ad revenue and store revenue land on different schedules and in different currencies, and store proceeds are net of fees and refunds. Mark the latest cohorts provisional and pick gross or net before comparing LTV with GameAnalytics, or the numbers will never line up.
Customer results
Numbers from teams on Bruin.
Frequently asked
Common questions.
How does Bruin combine ad revenue and in-app purchase revenue?
Ad revenue from AppLovin MAX and purchases from App Store Connect or RevenueCat join to each player by user ID and install date. Bruin then counts ARPDAU and LTV with both streams, split by source when you ask.
How do I know an AI analyst's LTV by cohort is right?
Look at the query and the revenue sources behind it. In Bruin, LTV has one definition, gross or net as you chose, tested on every run, and young cohorts can be marked provisional.
What is ARPDAU in mobile games and how is it calculated?
ARPDAU is average revenue per daily active user: one day's total revenue from ads and in-app purchases divided by that day's active users. Agree whether revenue is gross or net of store fees before comparing games.
Can Bruin build an LTV dashboard for a game studio?
Yes. Describe it in a sentence, like D7, D30 and D90 LTV by install month and country, and Bruin builds it from the same definitions it uses in Slack.
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