Treehouse Games · Case Study · April 2026
Steam Paid Acquisition · Case Study

2.47× ROAS on Steam.
Three markets. One campaign.

Adzap ran Meta ads in the US, DE, and FR during a Spring 2026 Steam sale. Using geo holdout methodology, we confirmed profitable, incremental revenue lift across all three markets simultaneously.

2.47×
Gross ROAS
1.73×
Developer ROAS
3 / 3
Markets profitable
00

The game & campaign objective

Context on Voyagers of Nera and why Treehouse Games partnered with Adzap to run this campaign.

Voyagers of Nera: sailing through a fantasy archipelago
PC · Steam Early Access

Voyagers of Nera

Voyagers of Nera is a cooperative survival-crafting game where players must survive a magical ocean world brimming with lost spirits and deadly monsters, sail to distant islands, build beautiful villages and surf across the waves with up to 10 players.

Developed by Treehouse Games, the title launched into Steam Early Access with a strong foundation: a large wishlist base, positive player reviews, and high organic performance during its initial sale events.

The question was simple: can paid acquisition on mobile reach high-intent Steam players and convert them during a sale, unlocking a new audience for the game, profitably? This was the second time Treehouse Games would test this with Adzap.

Colony Survival RPG Exploration Early Access Fantasy

Campaign objective

1
Lift sales in strategic geos during a Steam sale
Target the US, DE, and FR : Voyagers of Nera's highest-value markets with timed Meta ads during a Spring 2026 Steam sale window. The goal: push mobile gamers who had wishlisted the game over the purchase line while the discount was live.
2
Prove incrementality, not just correlation
Use untouched control markets (AU, GB, CA, NL, ES) to establish a clean organic decay baseline. Any outperformance in test markets against this baseline is directly attributable to the campaign : no estimation, no last-click guesswork.
3
Validate the multi-market playbook
Campaign 1 proved the concept in a single market. Campaign 2 was designed to replicate positive ROAS simultaneously across three geos; the prerequisite for a standing, repeatable acquisition budget at scale.
01

Results : indexed sales

Each country indexed to its own Week 1 daily average (= 100). Ads ran in US, DE, FR only during Week 2. The divergence from control markets is the visual proof of Adzap's impact.

💡
What to look for in this chart: When ads turned on in Week 2, the three test markets (US, DE, FR) held their sales levels dramatically better than the control markets, which decayed to 0.40× of their Week 1 average. France, in particular, actually grew in Week 2 : ending at 1.09× of Week 1 : the opposite of the organic decay seen everywhere else. This is the Adzap effect in its clearest form.
W2 avg index by market · holdout geos
Dashed line = control avg · green bars = markets where ads ran · W1 avg = 100 per market
0.40×
Control markets W2/W1
The organic decay baseline : what would have happened without ads
0.72×
Avg test markets W2/W1
Test geos held 72% of Week 1 volume vs. 40% in control : a +32pt gap
+80%
More revenue vs. no-ad scenario
In the absence of ads, test markets would have followed the same 0.40× decay curve
02

ROAS by market

Control decay (0.40× W2/W1) applied per market to isolate incremental sales. All three markets cleared breakeven : including developer net after Steam's 30% revenue share.

🎯
All three markets were profitable for the developer, not just at the store level. A developer ROAS above 1.0× means the publisher kept more money than they spent, after Steam's cut. US at 1.93× and FR at 1.86× are standout results. Even DE at 1.11×, the softest market, returned a positive developer margin.
🇺🇸
United States
2.76×
GROSS ROAS · 1.93× DEV NET
W2/W1 vs. control avg0.55× vs 0.40×
Incremental lift+15 pts above organic
🇩🇪
Germany
1.59×
GROSS ROAS · 1.11× DEV NET
W2/W1 vs. control avg0.52× vs 0.40×
Incremental lift+12 pts above organic
🇫🇷
France
2.66×
GROSS ROAS · 1.86× DEV NET
W2/W1 vs. control avg1.09× vs 0.40× ★
Incremental lift+69 pts above organic
Gross vs. Developer ROAS per market
Hover for values · red rule = 1.0× breakeven
W2 avg index : actual vs. organic baseline
Solid = actual W2 avg · light = organic baseline (what W2 would look like without ads)
03

Week 2 sales retention by market

Average daily sales in Week 2 (Apr 6–12) as a % of Week 1. Steam sales are frontloaded — every market drops. The question is by how much. Every test market held above the control average.

W2 / W1 avg daily sales retention · holdout markets
Dashed line = control market average · green bars = markets where ads ran
04

About Adzap

ROAS-positive acquisition for Steam games, targeting Steam gamers on mobile ad inventory through a proprietary targeting engine.

Adzap — run ads that actually work for your game