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The sink-to-source ratio is the single most useful number Qyren gives you about your economy. It’s simple, it’s hard to game, and it predicts problems weeks before they show up in revenue.

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Definition

Over a rolling window (default: 7 days), for each currency:
Both numbers come from your currency_spent and currency_earned events. The ratio is unitless — a pure scalar. Example: in the past 7 days, players in aggregate earned 50 million gold and spent 65 million gold. Ratio = 65M / 50M = 1.30.

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The healthy band: 1.2 to 1.5

A healthy F2P economy runs slightly sink-heavy. That may sound counterintuitive — if players are spending more than they earn, where does the extra come from? Answer: from IAP, from prior balances, and from occasional event faucets. The slight surplus on the sink side is what gives currency its sense of value. Target: 1.2 ≤ ratio ≤ 1.5.
  • 1.2 says “for every 100 gold earned, 120 are spent.” Gentle pressure. Players feel mild scarcity, which makes shop purchases feel meaningful.
  • 1.5 is the upper comfort band. Beyond this you risk grind complaints.

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What different values actually mean

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Ratio < 1.0 — inflation

More currency is entering than leaving. Every day, the average balance grows. Three things happen, in order:
  1. Weeks 1–2. Nothing visible. Balances climb quietly.
  2. Weeks 3–6. Mid-core players start saying “there’s nothing to buy.” Conversion rates on non-exclusive offers drop.
  3. Weeks 6+. Top-end players hoard. When you launch your next premium item, they buy it with stockpiled currency instead of making a fresh IAP — your revenue per player falls on a content drop that should have raised it.
Below 0.8: this is usually fixable only with a currency reset, a new currency layer, or aggressive sinks. Painful either way.

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Ratio ≈ 1.0 — stasis

Currency is in perfect equilibrium. Sounds healthy, isn’t. At exactly 1.0, currency has no demand pressure — players don’t feel they need to save, plan, or IAP. Shops feel like vending machines; items lose narrative weight.

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Ratio 1.2–1.5 — sweet spot

See above. Keep it here.

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Ratio 1.5–2.0 — mild over-sinking

Players are spending noticeably faster than they earn. Some grind complaints likely. IAP conversion may actually go up short-term (players need currency, they buy it), but engagement time per session creeps up in a bad way — people are grinding, not playing.

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Ratio > 2.0 — burnout risk

Players cannot keep up. Non-payers churn. Payers feel the game is pay-to-play. If sustained >2.0 for more than 3 weeks, expect a visible drop in D7 retention.

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How Qyren measures it

We split the ratio three ways automatically:
  1. Per currency. Gold, gems, event tokens — each has its own ratio. A game can be at 1.3 overall while its event-token economy is at 0.6 (about to break).
  2. Per segment. Whale economies often run hotter (1.4–1.8) than minnow economies (1.0–1.2). We show both and flag outliers.
  3. Per day. We show the 7-day rolling ratio so event spikes smooth out. You can also view 1-day and 30-day windows on the dashboard.

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If your ratio is out of range

Ratio below 1.0 (inflating):
  • Add a recurring sink. Consumables, upgrade stones, repair costs.
  • Introduce tiered gear that scales into the late game — so veteran players have something worth their stockpiles.
  • Throttle your biggest faucet by 10–20%. Start small; you can always loosen later.
  • Add a cosmetic shop — pure sink, no power implications.
Ratio above 2.0 (over-sinking):
  • Boost a passive faucet. Double daily login rewards for a month and watch the ratio.
  • Reduce the cost of mid-tier sinks by 10–15%.
  • Check if one single sink is eating everything (often a timer-skip mechanic). If so, reprice it.
Always:
  • Change one thing at a time. Two changes simultaneously and you won’t know which one worked.
  • Wait 7 days before judging the effect. The ratio is a 7-day window; it needs that long to reflect the change.

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Worked numeric example

Origins of Lume, past 7 days: Diagnosis:
  • Gold is inflating hard (0.74). Players are earning 420M but only spending 310M — 110M new gold circulating each week. Within a month, top-end balances will be unbuyable.
  • Gems are near stasis (1.11). Fine for now, watch it.
  • Raid coins are over-sinking (2.07). Players running out of coins before they run out of the things they want to buy. If raid coins are hard to earn, this will drive burnout.
Recommended actions Qyren would surface:
  1. On gold: add a gear enhancement cost of 2,000–3,000 gold per attempt, targeted at level-40+ players.
  2. On raid coins: boost boss-kill coin reward from 50 to 65, or lower the top shop item from 3,000 coins to 2,500.
A week after both changes, pull the ratios again. Healthy new values: gold ~1.1–1.3, raid coins ~1.3–1.6. Gems unchanged.

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TL;DR

  • Divide currency spent by currency earned over 7 days.
  • Aim for 1.2–1.5.
  • Below 1.0: add sinks.
  • Above 2.0: add faucets or reduce sink costs.
  • Watch per-currency and per-segment, not just the blended number.