Bringing a mobile game to market is always risky. Without proper validation, teams can spend months or even years developing a game that fails to attract players. That’s why validating mobile game concepts with testing is crucial in the early stages. We spoke with Jukka Hilvonen, the concept validation guru himself, to understand how studios can test and refine their concepts to guide development with the help of data.
Step 1: Market research and finding opportunities
Before testing any game concept, it’s essential to research the market. Jukka’s approach looks like this:
“I start by doing market research on the genres and subgenres where the company or team focuses. I look for pockets of opportunity, where there’s a relatively good success rate for new games, and no single title dominates more than 70% of the total market share.”
This method ensures developers avoid oversaturated markets and instead position the game in a space where it has room to succeed.
Audience research is another critical step. Understanding potential players, what motivates them, what they enjoy, and how they engage with games can shape both game design and marketing.
“There are so many insights we can uncover from the audience that significantly impact the game concept and overall game design,” he explained. “What keeps them playing? What kind of communication style resonates with them? What kind of experiences do they want from games? All of this matters when crafting a compelling game concept.”
Step 2: Running mobile game concept testing
Once a concept is ready, it’s time to validate it with real users through mobile game concept testing. This process involves creating mock-up assets like icons, screenshots, ad creatives, and store descriptions, then running small-scale market tests using platforms like Meta and Geeklab.
“The goal of concept testing is to measure early marketability, audience fit, and the most compelling unique selling points (USPs) of the game,” Jukka said.
The most important metric in this phase? IPM (Installs Per Mille), which measures how efficiently ads convert impressions into installs.
“Good signals for a promising game concept are a high IPM, low ad frequency, and a strong match between the game’s intended audience and the actual people engaging with it.” according to Jukka.
Step 3: Avoiding common pitfalls
Over-investing
Many game teams fall into the trap of over-investing in concept validation. However, that doesn’t need to be the case.
“You shouldn’t spend too much time and money testing game concepts. You can get valid data with a marketing budget of $500 per concept.”
He suggests keeping the process lean and efficient:
“I like to time-box concept testing to a maximum of one month. In that time, we should be able to generate hypotheses, create a few game concepts, develop assets for the tests, run the campaigns, analyze the data, and make informed decisions.”
Lack of competitor research and benchmarking
Understanding competitors is vital for both game development and marketing strategy.
“It’s crucial to study competing games to position your game differently. You don’t want to be too similar to what’s already out there, but you also need to stay within audience expectations,” he explained.
Genre benchmarking also plays an important role in evaluating a game’s potential. By comparing performance against category benchmarks, teams can determine realistic goals for engagement, retention, and monetization.
Step 4: Segmenting audiences for better results
Tailoring creatives to different user segments can improve the effectiveness of mobile game concept testing—but only if done strategically.
“Different personas have different expectations, but you need to carefully select which ones to focus on,” he advised. “Trying to please everyone can result in a diluted game experience.”
Conclusion
Early-stage testing for validating mobile game concepts is a vital step in the development process. By conducting market research, testing efficiently, and analyzing competitor benchmarks, studios can identify winning game concepts before making major investments.
“The key is to move fast, stay data-driven, and focus on the right signals. With a structured approach, you can significantly increase your chances of launching a successful game.”
