14Monetization

Monthly Card

A subscription-adjacent product that provides a daily currency drip over 30 days in exchange for a single upfront payment.

Best for
Achiever
Context
Monetization
Motivation drivers
OwnershipMastery
How it works

Daily drip creates daily touchpoint

The monthly card converts a one-time payment into a daily reason to open the app. FC Mobile uses two cards targeting different player bottlenecks. Post-match is peak emotional engagement, the player is invested and the offer maps directly onto their desire for progression. The instant currency grant removes hesitation before the 30-day drip even begins.

Core principle

Daily drip creates daily touchpoint. The card is purchased once but felt every day.

Watch out for

Monthly cards presented outside peak emotional moments convert poorly. Cards providing currency the user has no immediate use for also underperform.

Structural variants

Three ways to build it

01

Daily currency drip

02

Daily resource pack

03

Subscription with daily claim

Lifecycle placement

Mid-to-late lifecycle. Most effective once the user has a specific goal they are trying to reach.

Case studies · 1

Seen in the wild

FC MobileSports Game
screenshot
The Monthly Card tab in the store showing both cards side by side with instant reward and daily gift details listed
screenshot
The post-match popup in Session 3 showing the Monthly Supply Card offer interrupting the return to the home screen
How they use it

Two monthly card products are available simultaneously. The Monthly Supply Card ($1.99) delivers 200 FC Points instantly and 1,000 gems every day for 30 days. The Elite Monthly Supply Card ($4.99) delivers 500 FC Points instantly plus 1,500 gems and 30 rank-up points every day for 30 days, totaling 45,000 gems and 900 rank-up points over the month. Both cards can be purchased and active simultaneously. The delivery mechanic does not require daily login, gems accrue regardless of whether the player opens the app.

Why it works

At $1.99, the Basic card sits below the psychological threshold for deliberate consideration. Its daily gem drip creates a daily login reason that feeds quest completion and season pass progress, the card is purchased once but generates compounding retention value. The Elite card addresses a specific bottleneck: rank-up points, which players blocked by training caps actively need, making its $4.99 price feel targeted rather than generic.

The detail

Monthly cards appeared at three distinct moments during analysis: as a popup before reaching gameplay on Session 7 (the first monetization surface seen that session), as a post-match popup on Session 3, and in the store's dedicated Monthly Card tab. On Session 7 they were visible before the player accessed any game content.

Takeaway

Both cards can be purchased simultaneously, a player can hold both for a combined $6.98/month, receiving 2,500 gems per day and 30 rank-up points per day.