Sulake

The Objective

Scaling user acquisition for sustained global growth and higher revenue

Hotel Hideaway, developed by Finnish mobile gaming company Sulake, is a free-to-play social avatar adventure set in a 3D metaverse. As a social simulation game, it allows users to interact as avatars within a virtual hotel environment where players can chat live, meet people from around the world, visit unique locations, and explore all that the hotel has to offer.

The game targets users aged 18 and above and monetizes through in-game purchases such as virtual currencies, clothing and seasonal passes. After five years in the market, Sulake sought to scale Hotel Hideaway’s user acquisition (UA) to drive higher revenue and sustain long-term growth.

To scale its UA efforts, Sulake turned to TikTok, recognizing the platform’s vast gaming community and its strong alignment with the game’s target audience. By leveraging TikTok’s ability to reach a highly engaged and relevant user base, they aimed to amplify their user acquisition and expand their reach globally.

The Solution

Leveraging TikTok Creative Challenge for scalable, high-quality UA campaigns

To meet their objective of scaling user acquisition and driving higher revenue, Sulake leveraged the TikTok Creative Challenge (now available in TikTok One) to address the need for creative quantity. This allowed them to generate large volumes of content without implementing in-house production, ensuring a constant flow of fresh and relevant creatives for testing.

By leveraging TikTok’s extensive gaming community, Hotel Hideaway was able to focus all the UA efforts exclusively on the platform, tapping into a highly engaged user base that aligned perfectly with their target audience. The creative process was both structured and highly strategic, designed not only to achieve quantity but also to ensure the quality of content.

Hotel Hideaway’s approach to the TikTok Creative Challenge involved creating detailed briefs that centered on the game’s core social and interactive elements. These briefs broke down gameplay visuals into categories such as hook videos, dress-up sequences, room-building, and general gameplay. Recognizing that "hook" videos were particularly engaging, the team concentrated on providing creators with multiple options for hooks to keep the content fresh and compelling.

The creative testing process was equally comprehensive. Each week, the team created “test groups” of 10-30 fresh videos, targeting EU Android users, who offered a balance of low cost and high retention. After allocating a small budget per video, the team would assess which videos performed best based on spend and engagement after just one day. The top performers were then moved to a “qualifier” group, where they competed against previous high-performing videos with a slightly higher budget. From there, the very best videos advanced to "Hero" campaigns—high-budget efforts targeting payers in Tier 1 countries.

Throughout this process, the team monitored performance daily, ensuring the best creatives were in rotation while avoiding ad fatigue. This systematic, tiered approach enabled the publisher to optimize their campaigns at every level.

In addition to TTCC, another key component of their UA strategy was the shift from Mobile App Installs (MAI) to App Event Optimization (AEO), specifically focusing on in-game purchases. This transition allowed Hotel Hideaway to attract higher-quality users who were more likely to make purchases, further boosting revenue and enhancing the overall campaign effectiveness.

Results

Exceptional growth in UA performance and high ROAS

The consistent flow of fresh and engaging creatives enabled Hotel Hideaway to scale their monthly spend by 9x. The strategic decision to focus entirely on TikTok allowed them to tap into the platform’s vast user base, which perfectly matched their target demographic.

The cost per install (CPI) dropped by 44%, while ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) experienced significant growth. Compared to the previous year, ROAS on Day 1 increased by 3.3x year over year and ROAS on Day 7 grew by 4x in the same period.

By combining the power of TikTok’s creative ecosystem with a precise testing and optimization strategy, focusing on both creative quantity and quality, Sulake successfully scaled Hotel Hideaway’s user acquisition efforts, ensuring sustained long-term growth.