Research Article

Prediction of Player Churn in Mobile Games Using Classification Algorithms

Number: 4 January 9, 2026
EN

Prediction of Player Churn in Mobile Games Using Classification Algorithms

Abstract

This study aims to predict player churn in a mobile game using machine learning algorithms. A behavioural dataset from Kaggle was used, and five key features were extracted through feature engineering: success rate, average duration, help usage, number of levels played, and remaining step rate. These features were used as inputs for the three classification models. Random Forest (RF), XGBoost, and Logistic Regression (LR) algorithms were used for model development for the prediction. The model performances were evaluated based on the evaluation metrics. Among all the models, RF achieved the highest overall accuracy (0.70) and strong recall for churned users (0.84). XGBoost showed the highest recall for churn (0.90). LR offered a balanced performance. The most influential predic tors were avg_reststep, level_count, and avg_duration. The findings showed the usefulness of behavioural features and machine learning algorithms in early churn detection. These results can support game developers in designing targeted interventions to retain users and reduce churn.

Keywords

References

  1. Alomari, K. M., Ncube, C., & Shaalan, K. (2018). Predicting success of a mobile game: A proposed data analytics-based prediction model. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Industrial, Engineering and Other Applications of Applied Intelligent Systems (IEA/AIE 2018) (pp. 587–598). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92058-0_12 google scholar
  2. Alves, J., Lange, S., Lenz, M., & Riedmiller, M. (2014). Case study: Behavioral prediction of future revenues in freemium games. In Proceedings of the Workshop on New Challenges in Neural Computation 2014 (NCNC 2014) (pp. 26–33). google scholar
  3. Arik, K., Gezer, M., & Tayali, S. T. (2022). The study of indicators affecting customer churn in MMORPG games with machine learning models. Upravlenets, 13(6), 70–85. https://doi.org/10.29141/2218-5003-2022-13-6-6 google scholar
  4. Banerjee, T., Mukherjee, G., Dutta, S., & Ghosh, P. (2020). A large-scale constrained joint modeling approach for predicting user activity, engagement, and churn with application to freemium mobile games. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 115(531), 1277–1290. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1080/01621459.2019.1611584 google scholar
  5. Burelli, P. (2019). Predicting customer lifetime value in free-to-play games. In D. S. Alexandrova & L. Calefato (Eds.), Data analytics applications in gaming and entertainment (pp. 129–146). CRC Press. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.1201/9780429029023-9 google scholar
  6. Chauhan, S., Mittal, M., Woźniak, M., Gupta, S., & Pérez de Prado, R. (2021). Predicting churn in mobile games using explainable machine learning. google scholar
  7. Symmetry, 13(8), 1545. https://doi.org/10.3390/sym13081545 google scholar
  8. David, D., & Zahra, A. (2024). Player Churn Prediction in Free to Play Game Using Ensemble Learning. Action Research Literate, 8(4), 543–549. https://doi.org/10.46799/arl.v8i4.280 google scholar

Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Data Engineering and Data Science

Journal Section

Research Article

Publication Date

January 9, 2026

Submission Date

July 15, 2025

Acceptance Date

October 17, 2025

Published in Issue

Year 2025 Number: 4

APA
Emre, İ. E., & Çotul, S. E. (2026). Prediction of Player Churn in Mobile Games Using Classification Algorithms. Journal of Data Applications, 4, 20-29. https://doi.org/10.26650/JODA.1742874
AMA
1.Emre İE, Çotul SE. Prediction of Player Churn in Mobile Games Using Classification Algorithms. Journal of Data Applications. 2026;(4):20-29. doi:10.26650/JODA.1742874
Chicago
Emre, İlkim Ecem, and Selin Evrim Çotul. 2026. “Prediction of Player Churn in Mobile Games Using Classification Algorithms”. Journal of Data Applications, nos. 4: 20-29. https://doi.org/10.26650/JODA.1742874.
EndNote
Emre İE, Çotul SE (January 1, 2026) Prediction of Player Churn in Mobile Games Using Classification Algorithms. Journal of Data Applications 4 20–29.
IEEE
[1]İ. E. Emre and S. E. Çotul, “Prediction of Player Churn in Mobile Games Using Classification Algorithms”, Journal of Data Applications, no. 4, pp. 20–29, Jan. 2026, doi: 10.26650/JODA.1742874.
ISNAD
Emre, İlkim Ecem - Çotul, Selin Evrim. “Prediction of Player Churn in Mobile Games Using Classification Algorithms”. Journal of Data Applications. 4 (January 1, 2026): 20-29. https://doi.org/10.26650/JODA.1742874.
JAMA
1.Emre İE, Çotul SE. Prediction of Player Churn in Mobile Games Using Classification Algorithms. Journal of Data Applications. 2026;:20–29.
MLA
Emre, İlkim Ecem, and Selin Evrim Çotul. “Prediction of Player Churn in Mobile Games Using Classification Algorithms”. Journal of Data Applications, no. 4, Jan. 2026, pp. 20-29, doi:10.26650/JODA.1742874.
Vancouver
1.İlkim Ecem Emre, Selin Evrim Çotul. Prediction of Player Churn in Mobile Games Using Classification Algorithms. Journal of Data Applications. 2026 Jan. 1;(4):20-9. doi:10.26650/JODA.1742874