Gaming Deep Links: rewards & quests from a single tap

Overview

Growth teams and live-ops rely on precise routing and clean attribution. Gaming deep links let you move players directly to a relevant screen — from a social post, stream overlay, ad, newsletter, or QR code at an event — and keep the context intact through App Store or Play Store. SDDL issues a unique key per link, stores the metadata you define (e.g., quest_id, reward_code, source, campaign), and returns that payload to your app on first launch so you can personalize and attribute.

How deep linking works for games

1. Create a link for a campaign, creator, or live-ops beat. Add UTM and JSON metadata.
2. Player taps from social, a video description, an in-game message, email, or SMS.
3. If the app isn’t installed, SDDL redirects to the store and safely stores the context.
4. On first launch, the app fetches payload (SDK or GET /api/{key}/details) and routes: redeem reward, open quest, resume onboarding, show paywall, etc.
5. Optionally, webhooks notify your backend about clicks and resolved payloads — ready for BI and payouts.

Rewards, bonus codes & inventories

Deliver value immediately when players arrive. Deferred deep links are ideal for starter packs, invite rewards, seasonal cosmetics, or quest unlocks. Encode the necessary attributes in link metadata and apply them in-app after you resolve the payload.

{
  "reward_code": "STARTER100",
  "quest_id": "q-42",
  "source": "UA",
  "partner_id": "creator_123",
  "expires_at": "2025-12-31T23:59:59Z"
}

On first launch, read the payload and validate server-side before granting items. You can expire codes, cap redemptions by account/device, or attach rewards to specific geos or campaigns.

UA & re-engagement campaigns

SDDL carries UTM parameters plus your own identifiers into the app session so you can attribute installs and measure quality. For re-engagement, deep links bring lapsed users back to fresh content — live events, battle passes, limited-time modes — reducing friction and improving conversion.

• Creators & affiliates: one vanity link per partner for clean attribution and payouts.
• Ad platforms: keep utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign intact.
• Lifecycle: target onboarding steps, paywall trials, or win-back bundles.

Implementation: SDK or pure REST

Choose the integration style that fits your stack. Many game teams start with REST and adopt the SDK for automatic cold-start handling.

• REST only: When the app launches, call /api/{key}/details. If the key is unknown, call /api/try/details. Use the returned JSON to route and grant rewards.
• SDKs (iOS / Android / Flutter): Lightweight helpers that handle open-URL events and first-launch recovery. They also add helpful headers for attribution.

See API documentation and the guides for iOS Universal Links, Android App Links, and the Deferred Deep Links overview.

Analytics, UTM & webhooks

Every click is tracked with timestamp, device hints and geo (where available). UTM parameters are preserved and returned to your app, and you can subscribe to webhooks for click and payload-resolved events. That makes it straightforward to build partner dashboards, reconcile budgets, and monitor cohort quality.

• Attribution: tie installs and post-install actions to campaigns or creators.
• Quality: review source/medium performance and zero-click links that need fixes.
• BI: stream events to your data warehouse via webhooks for flexible reporting.

Guardrails & abuse prevention

Gaming promos attract scanners and abuse attempts. SDDL applies practical guardrails: filtering known preview bots, one-time payload use, and basic time-window checks between click and resolve. We recommend validating reward claims on your server (e.g., one grant per account or device, limited redemption windows) and auditing high-volume sources.

Setup requirements

SDDL supports iOS Universal Links and Android App Links. We automatically publish apple-app-site-association and assetlinks.json from your dashboard configuration — no extra hosting. Use your custom domain for brand trust and deliverability. For the most reliable deferred flow, enable the optional interstitial before redirecting to the store.

Need a QA checklist? Use our Testing & QA Playbook to verify end-to-end before you scale.

Best practices

• Map the first session: decide exactly which screen to open for each campaign type.
• Keep metadata small & clear: include only what you need for routing and reward issuance.
• Use consistent UTM: align naming across ad platforms, creators and channels.
• Validate rewards server-side: limit redemptions and log anomalies for review.
• Instrument webhooks: build a simple backoffice to reconcile creator payouts.

FAQ