Two thirds of players apparently ditch free-to-play mobile games after a day of playing them for the first time, according to a report by app testing firm Swrve.

Swrve’s own CEO, Hugh Reynolds, said that it is critically important to keep the attention of users for more than 24 hours. He said “It’s a bit like a first date.”

“If it’s going to be effective, it needs to be effective quick.”

This might play to Swrve’s own motives however. Swrve was founded to help app developers increase their in-app revenue by providing services such as in-app campaigns, push notifications and usability testing. Free-to-play developers such as Ben Cousins lashed out at Swrve on Twitter, accusing them of attempting to create a depressing image of the industry in order to drive sales of their services.

Cousins said it “[s]ounds like Swrve are trying to paint a depressing picture to sell services. Those numbers are totally normal, can drive success”

First posted on Re/code, Swrve claimed its survey tracked over 10-million players over a three month period that started in November last year, during which more than 30 titles were tracked.

Source: GameSpot