Customer Story
Kingshot
by Century Games
Kingshot by Century Games: Scaling a 4X Tower Defense with Data
How Century Games used ThinkingData to launch and scale Kingshot into a $100M success through data-driven design, UA, and LiveOps.
After the billion-dollar success of Whiteout Survival, Century Games faced a tricky sequel problem: how to follow up a mega-hit without it feeling like a copy, while still keeping the systems that made the original so profitable. The answer was Kingshot, launched in early 2025, a medieval-fantasy hybrid that fused tower defense, survival simulation, and 4X strategy into one cohesive loop.
With ThinkingData and ThinkingEngine’s analytics and LiveOps tools, Century Games launched and optimized Kingshot it in real time. From UA targeting to feature-event timing, the team used deep player insights to fine-tune every step of the journey. This approach delivered over $100 million in player spending within just 117 days, a top 10 U.S. iOS grossing rank, and a faster revenue ramp than even Whiteout Survival.
Avoiding Pitfalls in a Saturated Market
Following a billion-dollar hit, Century Games knew the sequel could easily fall into two traps: relying too heavily on familiar systems that felt like a reskin, or overcorrecting and losing the players who loved the original game.
The 4X mobile genre was already saturated with titles competing for the same core audience. Player acquisition costs were rising, and retention windows were narrowing. To win in this environment, Kingshot needed to:
- Differentiate itself with fresh mechanics while retaining proven systems
- Onboard new players in a way that reduced early churn
- Maximize UA efficiency by targeting the right players in the right markets
- Coordinate LiveOps and marketing so that major updates directly fueled monetization
Without the right analytics and LiveOps infrastructure, these goals would be guesswork and costly mistakes could sink momentum before the game found its footing.
Analytics to Drive Design & Engagement
To overcome the high-stakes challenges of delivering a sequel that was both familiar and fresh, Century Games adopted a data-driven approach across design, user acquisition, and LiveOps. With ThinkingData, the team was able to validate key gameplay changes, optimize marketing spend with precision, and continuously adapt the game experience in real time to maximize player engagement and monetization.
Validating Differentiation Through Data
Kingshot kept the proven DNA of its predecessor, 4X resource management, survival themes, hero mechanics, but layered in a new tower defense combat system.
During soft launch, cohort-based retention analysis in ThinkingData revealed that a tower defense-led onboarding, inspired by Thronefall, gave players a fast, satisfying “first win” before introducing heavier 4X elements.
This design change led to:
- Higher Day 1 and Day 3 retention than Whiteout Survival’s launch window
- Faster tutorial completion in Western markets
- Lower early-game churn from casual players
Scaling UA with Precision
Using ThinkingData, UA teams connected ad campaign performance to in-game monetization, not just installs. They could pinpoint which creatives drove the highest-value players in each market, detect ad fatigue, and shift spend accordingly.
Key tactics:
- Creative ROI tracking by region
- Funnel analysis to identify U.S. drop-off points vs. Korean/Japanese engagement
- Replacing underperforming creatives before CPI rose
Ad volume jumped 1,327% month-over-month in March, moving Kingshot from approximately #200 to the U.S. top 50 iOS grossing ranks in weeks, and into the top 10 by June.
LiveOps Powered by Real-Time Adjustments
ThinkingEngine gave the LiveOps team direct insight into progression pacing and event timing.
Early Game (Casual Hook):
- Manual hero control in tower defense battles
- Quick upgrades and short cycles
- Auto-repair and respawn to reduce downtime
Mid-to-Late Game (Core Retention):
- Alliance play, city expansion, and trading
- Competitive survival events
- Monetization layers like hero gachas, speed-ups, and limited offers
Tracking time-to-core engagement and event participation let the team shorten the gap between first session and first purchase in Western markets, increase late-game session length, and optimize reward cadence for survival events.
Synchronizing LiveOps and Marketing
Version 1.5 brought a limited-time hero and defense mode variant. UA spend ramped up two weeks before, targeting lookalike audiences of high-value players. ThinkingData tied the resulting $2.4M peak daily revenue directly to this coordinated drop.
LiveOps optimizations enabled by ThinkingEngine:
- Event segmentation by spend tier
- Dynamic mid-event reward adjustments
- Region-specific event timing for peak engagement
The Payoff: A Faster Ramp Than a Billion-Dollar Predecessor
Within 117 days, Kingshot surpassed $100M in gross player spending, outpacing the revenue ramp of Whiteout Survival. Kingshot continues its steady climb to the top of the app stores with July 2025 being their most lucrative month yet, passing $50M in IAP. The U.S. market accounted for the largest share of revenue, with South Korea and Japan as notable secondary markets. Century Games was able to leverage these regional insights to localize UA and LiveOps effectively.
The monetization strategy combined in-app purchases with advertising, balancing sustained revenue growth with player experience. ThinkingData’s analytics gave the team deep visibility into player behavior and monetization funnels, enabling more confident, data-backed decisions.
Key results:
- $100M+ global revenue in 117 days
- $50M+ in IAP in July 2025
- $2.4M peak daily revenue (June 21, 2025)
- Top 10 U.S. iOS grossing rank within 3 months
- Revenue split: U.S. (41%), South Korea (~7%), Japan (~6%)
- Monetization mix: 85–90% IAP, 10–15% ads
“We stopped guessing and started moving faster. ThinkingEngine gave us a clear picture of what was working and what wasn’t, so we could keep improving Kingshot without second-guessing ourselves.”—Century Games
Grow Smarter with ThinkingEngine
Want to launch your next hit with sharper insights and faster iteration? See how ThinkingData and ThinkingEngine can power your UA, monetization, and LiveOps.
Data-driven results for over 8,000 games
ThinkingData has served more than 1,500 game companies, including well-known game companies such as FunPlus, SEGA, IGG, Habby, River Games, Century Games, LoadComplete, 37 Games and so on. More than 8,000 games have been integrated into ThinkingEngine.
