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Whiteout Survival

by Century Games

$2B Snowstorm: Whiteout Survivals' Data and LiveOps Strategy

TL;DR

Launching Whiteout Survival meant balancing complex 4X survival systems with mass-market accessibility across diverse global audiences. With ThinkingData’s strategy game solutions, Century Games monitored live player flows and optimized onboarding, content pacing, and monetization early in the game’s lifecycle. The result: over $2 billion in revenue within 25 months, 100 million downloads in year one, and a 76% jump in monthly revenue that led to a peak (so far) of $144.4 million in March 2025.

 

Whiteout Survival Background

Whiteout Survival, created in-house by Century Games and launched in February 2023, has become a global case study in mobile gaming success, but the path to the top wasn’t easy.

 

Launched amid rising UA costs, intensifying competition, and complex localization demands, Century Games needed fast, actionable insights to stay ahead. By leveraging ThinkingData’s strategy game solutions, the team removed data bottlenecks and adapted LiveOps, regional offers, and retention loops with precision. From onboarding improvements to real-time monetization tuning, data guided the decisions that pushed Whiteout Survival into the top 10 charts across more than 25 countries.

Accelerating Monetization without Hurting Retention

With rising development and UA costs, driving early revenue without alienating players was crucial.
 
Century Games relied on ThinkingData’s segmentation and behavioral tracking to optimize survival curve difficulty, offer timing, and VIP entry points. Within 11 months, Whiteout Survival surpassed $400 million in revenue.
 
Just 8 months later, it crossed $1 billion in gross revenue, fueled by high early retention and a push for smart LiveOps tuning during the second part of their growth journey.
 
whiteout_top_earning_3:25

Regional Scaling for Global Growth​

Different regions showed very different engagement and spending patterns.
Using TD’s multi-level cohort analysis, Whiteout Survival localized monetization offers, event rewards, and LiveOps scheduling to match regional players’ expectations and needs.
 
As of early 2025, the United States alone contributed 35% of total revenue, followed closely by South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan — all markets with uniquely tailored LiveOps strategies.
 
Whiteout Survival consistently ranked #1 in top-grossing charts across major markets, including the US, UK, France, Germany, and Canada.
 

Optimizing Growth Without Wasting UA Spend

Scaling a breakout title like Whiteout Survival meant constantly justifying every dollar spent. But without clear post-install insights, optimizing UA was a high-stakes guessing game.
 
ThinkingData’s integration with marketing-side ad attribution platforms (like Adjust and Appsflyer) coupled with in-game ID linking, creates a full image from first touch to in-game actions, purchases, and churn. This enabled Century Games to dynamically shift budget toward high-LTV channels based on real-time revenue feedback.
 
The team sustained high acquisition momentum while improving cost efficiency, contributing to record monthly revenues, including $144.4 million in March 2025.
 
 

“At any stage of a game's lifecycle, developers need a system that can integrate multiple backend data sources to facilitate multi-dimensional data comparison and one-stop management analysis.”

Century Games

Highlights

 
In March 2025, Whiteout Survival achieved the #1 grossing mobile game worldwide, reinforcing its position as a dominant force in live-service mobile gaming.
 
Whiteout Survival’s rapid growth story showcases what is possible when studios fully integrate real-time data into game operations, marketing, and LiveOps.
 
Through its partnership with ThinkingData, Century Games transformed raw player behavior into high-impact action, achieving over $2 billion in revenue and redefining success for modern mobile 4X strategy games.

Data-driven results for over 6,000 games

ThinkingData has served more than 1,200 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 6,000 games have been integrated into ThinkingEngine.

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