In this episode, we break down War Inc: Rise, the new title from the studio behind Art of War: Legions - a game that previously generated over $150M.

The gameplay? Solid.

The systems? Efficient.

The monetization? Confusing.

The UA strategy? Questionable.

We dive into:

Why War Inc feels like Battle Legion + Lucky Defense combined

How Fastone Games recycled their old IP smartly

Why ad monetization is almost nonexistent (and why that’s crazy)

The missed Applovin opportunity

Creative strategy mistakes that cap scale

Whether this can become their next big hit

This game should be scaling 2–3x harder. It’s not. And the reason is simple.

War Inc is actually good. Clean core loop. Smart recycling of IP from Art of War. Efficient production. Even layered modes like Lucky Defense built in.

But here’s the problem.

They barely monetize through ads. They don't push AppLovin. They’re still heavy on Facebook and Google. And their creative playbook looks like 2021.

The lesson? In 2026, you can’t just build a good game. You need the full growth stack aligned. Miss one piece of the puzzle and you cap your scale.

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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 – “Why Isn’t This Game Bigger?”

02:00 – First Impressions & Battle Legion Comparison

06:30 – Core Loop Breakdown (Merge + Army Builder)

10:30 – Gacha System Explained (And Why It’s Weird)

15:30 – Limited Banner Strategy & Power Units

18:30 – Lucky Defense Mode Inside War Inc

23:00 – Why Co-Op Actually Matters

26:00 – Comparing It to Art of War: Legions

30:00 – Revenue & Spend Deep Dive ($40K/Day Reality)

33:30 – Retention, Payback & Scaling Limits

36:00 – Creative Strategy Review (What’s Missing)

39:00 – The Ad Monetization Mistake

41:30 – AppLovin, Blended ROAS & The Missed Scale

43:00 – Final Verdict: Great Game, Capped Growth

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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 feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me

🚀 War Inc Review: It's not 2018 anymore! Great game, questionable UA & growth.

two &amp; a half gamers

two & a half gamers