Skip to content
MotoMeows

Home Game Data

Game Data

DAU, MAU and Stickiness: The Engagement Metrics Every Game Tracks

Definitions of DAU, WAU, MAU and stickiness, how to calculate and read them, common mistakes and a simple dashboard.

By Sam Porter Miller · · 5 min read

DAU, MAU and Stickiness: The Engagement Metrics Every Game Tracks: minimal line art of a bar chart in orange, teal and blue
5 min left

DAU, MAU and stickiness are among the first numbers anyone looks at in game analytics. They're simple, but easy to misread. Here's what each one means, how to calculate them and how to use them well.

The definitions

  • DAU (Daily Active Users): unique players active on a given day.
  • WAU (Weekly Active Users): unique players active in a 7-day window.
  • MAU (Monthly Active Users): unique players active in a 30-day (or calendar month) window.
  • Stickiness: DAU divided by MAU, shown as a percentage.

"Active" must be defined clearly: launched the game, finished a session, or played at least a few minutes. Different definitions give very different numbers, so write yours down and keep it consistent.

Calculating stickiness

If your game has 20,000 DAU and 100,000 MAU, stickiness is 20,000 / 100,000 = 20%. Roughly, an average monthly player shows up about one day in five.

Typical values vary a lot by genre and platform. Daily-habit games such as many mobile titles aim higher; story-driven premium games are often lower and that can be perfectly healthy.

How to read the numbers

PatternWhat it may mean
DAU rising, MAU flatExisting players are playing more often
MAU rising, DAU flatNew players arrive but don't build a habit
Both falling slowlyNatural decay; new content or features may be needed
Weekend spikesNormal for many games; compare like-for-like days
Sudden dropCheck tracking first, then bugs, outages or a competing launch

Common mistakes

  • Comparing different definitions of "active" across games or time.
  • Celebrating DAU from a marketing burst without checking whether those players return.
  • Using averages only. Segment by platform, country, acquisition source and cohort.
  • Ignoring seasonality. Holidays and school breaks change behavior.

Better together: pair with retention

DAU and MAU describe the size of your audience; retention describes its health. Look at them together: a stable DAU built on strong retention is very different from a stable DAU propped up by constant new installs.

A simple dashboard

  1. DAU, WAU, MAU and stickiness by day.
  2. New vs returning players each day.
  3. D1, D7 and D30 retention by install cohort.
  4. Sessions per DAU and average session length.

Simple metrics, clearly defined and tracked consistently, beat complicated dashboards nobody trusts.

Keep reading

Comments