By the end of January, our beta crossed two milestones:
- 1,000,000+ messaging games played
- 300,000+ messages exchanged
Since the launch of the App Store, mobile game developers have been locked into a single dominant distribution channel. At Jest, we’re building a different path: one where messaging apps become a viable alternative to the app store monopoly.
Today, just 4 months into the Jest beta, we have one million proofs demonstrating the promise of messaging games.
Results
Across the beta, we are seeing:
- 35-60% lower user acquisition costs (measured as mobile app CPI - cost per install vs messaging app CPS - cost per texting subscriber)
- 3-4x higher retention (measured as D7 retention)
These are early numbers, and we are still in beta. But they indicate two things:
- Messaging is a largely untapped distribution channel, with structurally lower acquisition costs than the hyper-competitive mobile app store ecosystem.
- Messaging games reshape the retention curve by tapping into the stickiest surface on mobile - the messaging inbox.
Four months in, the model is no longer theoretical - it’s operating in the real world. The shift is underway.
A Few Thank Yous
None of this would exist without the people who decided to lean into the Jest messaging games experiment with us.
To our beta players, thank you for stepping into something early and unfinished, for inviting friends, and for turning conversations into gameplay.
To our partner studios, thank you for adapting your games to a new environment and trusting a distribution model that challenges the traditional system.
And to our team, thank you for the work behind the scenes - from infrastructure to messaging to product to growth and beyond. None of this would exist without you.
Thank you all for being part of it.