HTML5 Game eCPM Benchmarks: What's Normal in 2026
HTML5 Game eCPM Benchmarks: What’s Normal in 2026
Honesty note: no single source owns “the” eCPM number — benchmarks below are ranges from 2026 industry reports (AppLixir, Playgama, Playio, Prefer Systems among others) and are directional, not your guarantee. My game is pre-monetization (the plan); this is the table I’ll measure against, not a promise of income.
TL;DR
- Rewarded video is the highest-paying format, by a wide margin: roughly $15–28 eCPM (US), $8–15 (EU), $1–3 (Tier-3) in 2026 — versus interstitials (
$10–14 US mobile; lower on web) and banners ($1.2–1.3 US), which pay the least (ad format reality). - Region decides more than format: US/CA/UK/AU traffic pays multiples of Tier-3 (India/Brazil) traffic. “My eCPM is $2” is meaningless without saying which country — always read benchmarks per geography (monetization math).
- The other two numbers matter as much as eCPM: opt-in rate (50–65% of DAU for rewarded) and fill rate (~90–95% with bidding) decide revenue more than the eCPM number alone. A high eCPM with low fill earns nothing.
- Read your own numbers honestly: week-one data is noise; a casual game’s ARPDAU benchmark is roughly $0.08–0.15 — if you’re above range early, it’s either a great game or small sample size.
The 2026 benchmark table (directional)
| Format | eCPM (US/Tier-1) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Rewarded video | $15–28 | Highest; opt-in, positive UX |
| Interstitial | ~$10–14 (mobile US); $3–12 web ranges | Frequency-sensitive; hurts retention if overused (placement rules) |
| Playable ads | $3–8 | Interruptive; mixed |
| Offerwalls | $5–15 (volatile) | High friction; situational |
| Banner | ~$1.2–1.3 | Lowest; high volume, low value |
By region (rewarded, directional): US/CA $8–15 (web), UK/Germany/Nordics/AU $7–13, Southern EU/JP/KR $4–8, Eastern EU/Brazil/Mexico $2–5, Tier-3 (India) $1–3. The spread is the lesson: geography is a bigger multiplier than ad format.
The supporting metrics (don’t skip these)
- Opt-in rate (rewarded): 50–65% of DAU click the ad button — if yours is below ~40%, the placement or reward design is wrong, not the eCPM (reward design).
- Fill rate: ~90–95% is achievable with bidding/mediation; low fill means wasted requests and empty ad spots.
- ARPDAU: $0.08–0.15 casual benchmark — the sanity check for total revenue per player per day.
How to read your own numbers without fooling yourself
- Segment by country first — global eCPM is a meaningless average; look at Tier-1 vs Tier-3 separately (income math).
- Give it time — first-week CPMs are noisy and seasonally low; compare month-over-month, not day 1 vs day 7.
- eCPM × fill = the real number — “high eCPM” with 40% fill is worse than mid eCPM with 95% fill.
- Rewarded revenue = eCPM × opt-in × fill × impressions — all four, not just the first.
- Compare against your genre/geography — a US-traffic casual game and a Tier-3 traffic RPG are different businesses entirely (SDK comparison).
Pitfalls
- Believing one benchmark number — sources disagree; use ranges, and the source’s geography.
- Global averages — “the average eCPM” hides the 20× spread between Tier-1 and Tier-3.
- Optimizing eCPM alone — placement changes that raise eCPM can tank opt-in or retention; the four-factor formula wins.
- Judging week one — noise, not signal; compare like-for-like periods.
- Treating benchmarks as promises — they’re baselines for sanity checks, not income projections (the honest income view).
Bottom line
In 2026, rewarded video leads HTML5 game eCPM at roughly $15–28 (US) / $8–15 (EU) / $1–3 (Tier-3), with interstitials and banners far behind — and region, opt-in, and fill matter more than the eCPM column alone. Use these ranges as directional baselines, segment by geography, and read your own revenue as the four-factor product: eCPM × opt-in × fill × impressions (the full monetization picture).