Why Data Is Gaming’s New Superpower: Everything You Need To Know About Attribution

Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) did not just change mobile marketing. It rewrote the entire playbook. Four years later, studios are still grappling with lost visibility and weaker signals. Yet some continue to scale profitably. How? By building systems that embrace imperfect data and lean on smarter measurement.

As Roi Nam, CEO of Airbridge, explained in his recent conversation on the GameMakers podcast with host Joseph Kim, the wins came from teams that stopped chasing perfect data and instead built systems that could thrive in imperfection.

"A mobile growth manager from a midcore game studio put it bluntly: “We stopped waiting for perfect data and started building a system that handles imperfection. We test more. We validate with MMM. We run CAPI even when it is hard.” 

That mindset, Roi argued, has now become the standard for studios still growing efficiently.

🎧 Check out the full conversation on GameMakers, available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

The Post-ATT Landscape: More Tools, Fewer Guarantees

ATT reduced access to user-level data, especially on iOS. The fallout? Two major headaches for marketers:

• Visibility loss: Marketers can no longer see the full picture, making it harder to measure which campaigns are actually working.
• Signal loss: Ad platforms receive less feedback data, making it tougher for algorithms to optimize targeting and performance.

Ask any UA manager what has changed since ATT and you will hear the same thing: it is about seeing less and sending less.

But it is not all bad news. Over the past four years, the industry has scrambled to rebuild, and a new stack of tools has emerged.

• SKAN 4.0: Longer windows and up to three postbacks. Still delayed and coarse, but more usable than earlier versions.
• AEM (Meta) and ICM (Google): Platform-led alternatives that broaden conversion tracking while staying privacy-compliant.
• CAPI (Conversions API): Passes hashed event-level data (emails, phone numbers, click IDs) directly from the server to the platform.
• Web-to-App and Web-to-Web-to-App: Attribution via web flows, enabling better tracking without IDFA.
• MMM (Marketing Mix Modeling) and Lift Studies: Provide a higher-level view of performance and validate whether marketing inputs are truly incremental.

None of these are silver bullets, Roi emphasized.

"The smartest teams do not rely on one method. They combine them."

Even with more tools available, data from Mobile Measurement Partners (MMPs) like Airbridge remains the most valuable signal. On iOS, attribution often leans on probabilistic matching, using device-level cues like IP address, OS version, or screen size to link ads to installs. While not perfect, it gives teams a workable view of performance. And since MMPs also clean up SKAN postbacks and conversion values into formats that are easier to interpret, they have become the go-to source for campaign analysis and daily decision-making.

"After ATT, the most impactful data signals that studios are relying on right now still come from MMP data. MMP combines probabilistic attribution using device-level data points and ad platform touch signals with SKAN data from Apple’s SKAN. Together, this gives studios the clearest picture of user behavior, even in a privacy-restricted ecosystem."

Tactics That Separate the Leaders: What Top Gaming Studios Are Doing Differently

1. CAPI as Core Infrastructure

CAPI (Conversions API) has become foundational for studios that want better match rates and richer optimization signals. On mobile, it offsets low ATT consent rates by passing valuable post-install events like in-app purchases. For PC and console titles on Steam, where SDK integrations are blocked and client-side tracking is impossible, it is a breakthrough.

One free-to-play shooter with 1,000 daily purchases saw a 5 percent ROAS lift in three weeks after sending purchase data through CAPI. The gains were small but steady. Roi cautioned

"It will not double your revenue overnight, but it compounds... CAPI usually helps with small but steady improvements, typically around 3 to 5 percent uplift in ROAS. It is worth doing if you have the development resources, but do not expect dramatic results overnight."  
— Roi Nam, CEO of Airbridge & Airflux 

2. Web-to-App’s Quiet Comeback

As iOS app install campaigns became more limited under ATT, marketers started returning to the web as the first touchpoint to regain visibility. Two setups stand out.

• Web-to-App (W2A): Users click a web campaign and go straight to the App Store with UTM parameters attached.
• Web-to-Web-to-App (W2W2A): Users first land on a web page (quiz, shop, landing page), then continue to the App Store via a CTA. With a Web SDK or tracking script, pre-install activity like clicks or interactions can also be captured.

This matters because attribution signals inside the App Store are limited. The web lets marketers measure intent, test creative concepts, and design richer user journeys.

Subscription and content apps have long used these funnels, and gaming studios are now adopting them too. A strong example is embedding HTML5 playables on a landing page so users can try the game before downloading. This improves both tracking and conversion by filtering for engaged players.

3. SKAN: Focus on the First Postback

SKAdNetwork (SKAN) is Apple’s privacy-first attribution system for iOS app install campaigns. It works without user-level identifiers and runs independently of MMPs, regardless of ATT consent. While SKAN 4.0 allows up to three postbacks, Roi emphasizes that studios should focus on the first.

Why the first SKAN postback matters most:

• Arrives within two to four days, fast enough for timely optimization.
• Includes fine-grained conversion values (up to 64), giving richer insights.
• Remains consistent across SKAN 3 and 4, keeping setups simpler.
  Later postbacks are delayed and contain only coarse data, making them less useful for real-time decisions.

Now, just as important as managing postbacks is what happens before SKAN even kicks in, and that starts with ATT consent. The more users who opt in, the more ADIDs you capture, which strengthens visibility through your MMP. In practice, SKAN should be treated as Plan B. Plan A is always maximizing opt-ins.

Roi suggested three proven ways to boost ATT opt-in rates:

• Use pre-prompts: Explain why you are asking and how data improves the experience. Clear, honest messaging builds trust.
• Customize your ATT prompt: Make it sound human. Some smaller studios succeed with lines like “We use this data to show fewer, better ads and keep the game free.”‍
• Send post-ATT reminders: If users select “Do Not Allow,” follow up later and guide them back to settings to update permissions.

"SKAN is Plan B. Plan A is always maximizing opt-ins. The more ADIDs you have, the stronger your MMP data."
‍— Roi Nam, CEO of Airbridge & Airflux 

4. More Studios Are Investing in MMM

As user-level tracking becomes less reliable, more teams are turning to Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM). Unlike attribution methods tied to user identifiers, MMM is privacy-safe and well-suited for today’s environment. It helps answer questions MMPs or SKAN alone cannot.

• How much revenue is truly coming from paid UA?
• Which channels are driving incremental value, not just credited conversions?
• Where can spend be reduced without slowing growth?

Casual game publishers often see the biggest benefits since their campaigns are usually simpler, with fewer channels and cleaner data. This makes it easier for MMM models to deliver reliable insights. 

Studios looking to implement MMM generally have two options: hire a vendor or build a self-serve setup. A typical self-serve workflow looks like this.

1. Select a model such as Meta’s Robyn or Google’s Meridian.
2. Choose variables that combine marketing inputs (cost, impressions, installs) with context like seasonality or app store rankings.
3. Calibrate the model using lift studies from Meta or Google to ground results.
4. Check accuracy with statistical metrics such as R², MAPE, or MCMC convergence to ensure statistical reliability.
5. Run the model on a recurring basis, updating inputs every 1–3 months and recalibrating every 3–6 months.
6. Review and optimize budgets gradually, applying insights without overcorrecting.

“A growth lead from a casual puzzle studio once told me, ‘MMM helped us uncover that influencer campaigns on YouTube outperformed rewarded video spend in certain regions. We would not have caught that using last-touch alone.’”
‍— Roi Nam, CEO of Airbridge & Airflux 

Smarter Monetization with Airflux

Measurement is only half the story. With UA costs rising, the real question is: how much more value can you earn from the players you already have? That is why the Airbridge team built Airflux, an AI-powered engine that boosts LTV by running smarter ad policies at the segment level.

Studios are already seeing results.

👉 See how  Clegames  and Treeplla  put Airflux to work.

UA and Monetization: One Loop, Not Two

For a long time, UA and monetization ran on separate tracks. UA teams chased lower CPIs and ROAS goals, while monetization teams focused on ad placements and IAP flows. Different KPIs, different dashboards, little overlap.

That split no longer works. With CPIs climbing and signals shrinking, growth and monetization now have to operate as one loop. The most efficient studios already know this.

Modern DSPs are leading the way. AppLovin, for example, feeds MAX mediation bidding data back into its UA engine. That closed loop has been shown to boost performance by up to 4x, not because ads are cheaper but because campaigns are optimized against real monetization outcomes.

Studios can follow the same approach by tailoring campaign strategy to player behavior:

• IAP-focused users: Delay ads and encourage early purchases.
• IAA-focused users: Serve ads from the first session for ad-engaged cohorts.
• Blended ROAS: Combine both approaches for sustainable growth.

The challenge is measurement. MMPs and SKAN are built on last-touch attribution, which shows who gets credit but not what is incremental. That is why more teams validate with Lift Studies and MMM. These layers help separate what truly drives revenue from what only looks good on paper.

"The principle here is simple. DSPs are getting very good at identifying players with strong IAP or IAA potential. The job for studios is to match the right campaign strategy to the right audience.” — Roi Nam, CEO of Airbridge

What’s Next: Better Signals, Smarter Systems

The next phase of measurement will not come from a single source of truth. It will come from combining methods, each one adding a different layer of clarity.

MMPs like Airbridge provide real-time visibility across campaigns, creatives, channels, countries, and OS-level trends. MMM brings the long view, showing how online and offline media contribute to revenue over time. Lift Studies from Meta, Google, or third parties validate incrementality so teams know what is truly moving the needle.

The bigger shift, however, is in signal engineering. More data no longer means better performance. Leading studios are filtering out spoofed or low-value signals and focusing on verified, high-quality ones such as app store purchase data that improve platform optimization.

At the same time, AI is reshaping how growth teams operate. We are already seeing:

• Creative automation tools like Poolday ML, Blay, and Incymo
• Agentic platforms such as RetentionX, AppRadar, and Pollen VC for CRM, ASO, and ad ops
• Ad monetization engines like Airflux, which uses reinforcement learning to refine strategies at the segment level

Remember, the studios pulling ahead are focusing on three priorities. 

• Better signals that strengthen platform feedback
• Smarter measurement through MMM, Lift Studies, and CAPI
• Closer alignment between UA, product, and monetization teams

“It is not about rebuilding the old playbook. It is about adapting faster than everyone else.”
— Roi Nam, CEO of Airbridge & Airflux

The future belongs to the studios that adapt, experiment, and rethink how growth is measured and monetized.

👉 See how Airbridge and Airflux fit into your growth strategy.