How a Chinese Survivor.io Clone Is Printing $170K/Day in a Brutal Category?
We tear into Mech Assemble: Zombie Swarm, a high-performing “shoot ‘em up” that’s managing to out-earn Survivor.io in a red-ocean market. With nearly $4M monthly revenue, $170K/day at peak, and only ~12K daily downloads, the game is proof you can win with ruthless monetization, creative overload, and a mix of East + West appeal.
Key takeaways:
Category Killer: In a genre where most titles die after launch month, Mech Assemble is holding and scaling revenue.
Revenue Mix: 85%+ IAP with whales from the US, Japan (20%), South Korea, Taiwan, and Tier 1 EU. Ads add ~$14K/day.
Customization Hook: Fully movable, functional weapon placement on mechs — a novelty in the subgenre.
Onboarding Power Move: Classic “Asian onboarding” — start overpowered, then strip it away.
Aggressive Monetization: 200-pull pity timers, daily ad boosts, limited waifu offers, and multiple battle passes.
Creative Strategy: 500+ pages of creatives across TikTok, Google, and Facebook. Mix of AI-generated, meme-driven (Skibidi Toilet, Gundam knockoffs), and misleading playables.
UA Reality: CPIs hitting $30+ in US, mitigated by whale-heavy spending and blended campaigns. Downloads modest, but ARPDAU sky-high.
Why It Works: Strong East + West monetization, relentless creative testing, genre familiarity + novelty in mech customization.
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This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let’s not forget this is a 4 a.m. conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously.
Panelists: Jakub Remiar, Felix Braberg, Matej Lancaric
Join our slack channel here: https://join.slack.com/t/two-and-half-gamers/shared_invite/zt-2um8eguhf-c~H9idcxM271mnPzdWbipg
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to the Episode
04:21 Exploring the Game: Make Assemble
07:16 Gameplay Mechanics and Features
10:10 Monetization Strategies and Revenue Insights
13:14 Customization and Player Engagement
16:08 Creative Marketing and User Acquisition
19:22 Comparative Analysis with Other Games
22:09 Future Predictions and Closing Thoughts
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Matej Lancaric
User Acquisition & Creatives Consultant
https://lancaric.me
Felix Braberg
Ad monetization consultant
https://www.felixbraberg.com
Jakub Remiar
Game design consultant
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakubremiar
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