Paul West, founder of Fumb Games, joins Two and a Half Gamers to share the real growth story behind the studio’s breakout year. From Bitcoin Miner’s $10 million run to the launch of Idle Mine and a creative rebrand that hit $1 million in sixty days, Paul explains how ruthless UA strategy, creative expansion, and a “cut what doesn’t work” mindset allowed a lean team to scale tenfold—right in the middle of the industry’s hardest year.

What’s inside:

UA: Bigger Risks, Smarter Focus

Fumb Games ditched the “three-day payback only” mindset, stretched paybacks, and invested in UA even when it was scary. They ran tons of networks, then cut to the four that moved the needle.

Creative Volume and Experimentation

AI tools, influencer gigs on Fiverr, and a nonstop creative testing culture delivered more winning ads and allowed for higher spend. The team tested everything—static, video, and even reskinned gameplay for new themes.

LiveOps and Community as Retention Fuel

Weekend and midweek events, Discord and Reddit codes, and direct player rewards kept ARPDAU and DAU rising together—unusual for a scaling idle studio.

Monetization Upgrades

Subscriptions became 80 percent of purchase revenue in new titles. Side revenue from play gap (offline ad fill), Zebedee (crypto microtransactions), and Discord monetization all helped lift margins.

Market Read and Thematic Focus

When Bitcoin Miner started to plateau, they rebranded a casual project into Idle Mine, doubled down on the Bitcoin theme, and saw instant traction and monetization in a proven niche.

Key Takeaway:

You do not 10x by playing it safe. Cut what doesn’t work, invest big in what does, and let your UA and creative testing do the heavy lifting. If the theme and the community are hot, pour fuel on that fire.

Get our MERCH NOW: 25gamers.com/shop

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Vibe. Vibe is the leading Streaming TV ad platform for small and medium-sized businesses looking for actionable advertising campaign performance.

https://www.vibe.co/

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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.

Host: Paul West

https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulkwest/

Podcast:

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 Fum Games and Growth Strategy

03:35 Challenges in the Gaming Industry

06:41 Core Pillars for Future Growth

09:33 Innovative Monetization Strategies

13:13 User Acquisition and Community Engagement

15:59 Rebranding and New Game Launch

18:11 Key Takeaways and Future Outlook

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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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Please share the podcast with your industry friends, dogs & cats. Especially cats! They love it!

Hit the Subscribe button on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple!

Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me

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How to 10x Your Revenue in a Tough Market by Paul West

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two & a half gamers