Case Study
Highcore games

iOS Retargeting: How RZR and Highcore Games Partnered to Generate 5X Higher D7 ROAS

iOS
Global
Gaming (Idle Tycoon)
iOS Probabilistic Retargeting

up to 5X above target

D30 ROAS

~43% below target

CPI

up to 5X above target

D7 ROAS

RE-ENGAGING ROADSIDE EMPIRE PLAYERS WITHOUT IDFA

Highcore Games builds mobile games that keep players earning and coming back over long lifecycles. Roadside Empire: Gas Station is an idle tycoon title built around that loop: players run and expand a gas station, upgrade pumps and service bays, hire staff, unlock new locations, and keep earning while offline. For Roadside Empire, re-engagement is a core growth lever. Returning players already understand the game, have existing progression, and can come back into revenue-generating behavior across both in-app purchases (IAP) and in-app ads (IAA). The challenge for Highcore Games was iOS signal loss. A majority of Roadside Empire's iOS players opt out of tracking, leaving little to no IDFA signal for conventional retargeting. Highcore Games needed to find valuable lapsed players, bring them back, and keep the campaign accountable to D7 ROAS, D30 ROAS, and CPI.

RZR ran Roadside Empire's iOS retargeting on a probabilistic model, reaching opted-out players without IDFAs and optimizing delivery around Highcore Games performance goals. The work combined Highcore Games' title context with RZR's audience modeling. Highcore Games brought player behavior, progression, value signals, and KPI priorities; RZR turned that into a retargeting engine that scales without IDFAs.

Play 1: Expand Reach Without IDFAs
Target: Re-engage lapsed Roadside Empire players in a near-zero IDFA environment.

‍Execution highlights:‍

  • Built probabilistic user cohorts from non-PII signals only (IP ranges, device model, OS and app context, and event timing and sequence), with no device identifiers and no fingerprinting.
  • Deterministic for the minority who opted in. Probabilistic for everyone else.

Play 2: Prioritize Value, Not Just Reach
Target: Keep Highcore Games' D7 and D30 ROAS above target over time.

‍Execution highlights:

  • Segmented the lapsed audience by behavior, predicted LTV, and time since last activity, prioritizing value, not volume.
  • RZR’s DNN model, tuned to iOS available signals, priced every impression at bid time.
  • Optimized toward D7 and D30 return across both IAP and IAA revenue.

Play 3: Keep CPI Below Benchmark
Target: Keep cost per install under control while scaling.

‍Execution highlights:

  • Ranking models were retrained and optimized on real-time signals to identify the right target audience.
  • RZR’s pricing models adjusted bids and spend as supply and audience shifted. Over time, the models learned to win the highest-value players at the most efficient price.
  • RZR’s AI Creative Studio refreshed and refined creatives based on ROAS signals.
The Results
Roadside Empire's iOS retargeting stayed above Highcore Games D7 and D30 ROAS targets for six consecutive months, while CPI stayed below benchmark.
What Drove the Win

Player Intelligence‍

Highcore Games knows its players: progression, monetization behavior, and what a lapsed-user is worth. RZR’s models turned that into player-behavior predictions and allocated spend towards the ones most likely to return and convert. 

Massively Expanded iOS Reach‍

While many DSPs pulled back from iOS after Apple deprecated the IDFA, RZR rebuilt its infrastructure to keep reaching opted-out users at scale. For Highcore Games, that meant re-engaging lapsed Roadside Empire players most DSPs can no longer see on iOS, and exceeding ROAS targets by 5x. 

‍Scaling ROAS without Raising CPI‍

As spend scaled, RZR kept D7 and D30 ROAS above target and CPI below the benchmark, growing Highcore Games' revenue without driving up costs.

HOW RZR BUILT A REPEATABLE iOS RETARGETING PLAYBOOK 

‍
Roadside Empire is a live game with progression depth, monetization loops, and a player base that cannot be treated as a flat retargeting pool. RZR helped Highcore Games turn game-level audience insight into a privacy-safe iOS retargeting system that could reach valuable players, optimize toward revenue, and keep costs controlled.

Probabilistic by design built to re-engage iOS players without IDFAs.

Highcore Games context at the center grounded in Roadside Empire's player behavior and monetization dynamics.

Sustained, scalable performance proven across six months of above-target D7 and D30 ROAS, with CPI held below benchmark as spend scaled.

Built to replicate the same playbook is ready to be replicated across Highcore Games' global portfolio of titles.

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