What was the marketing budget? You mentioned buying ads. I have a similar issue now, launching a game, I will need to ensure a constant influx of players. In

What was the marketing budget? You mentioned buying ads. I have a similar issue now, launching a game, I will need to ensure a constant influx of players. In my case the game is multiplayer though, so the value of the game goes up with more traffic (more players = more fun), and hopefully some of them will come back (LTV+) and refer their friends. So I think it can make sense to buy traffic even for an ad supported game, depending on th circumstances. Because even if I lose money per bought visitor, the alternative (empty servers) is much worse. In your case, there's probably some feedback loops there too: more traffic = more downloads = more reviews = higher trust + algo promotes you more. So here is the "dead game" problem seems to be extremely relevant also, and it probably takes a certain amount of "energy" to hit escape velocity.