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Case study: 14,997 entries in 25 days — actu.fr's Advent calendar

NL
Nicolas Lecroëre
July 3, 2026

What happens when actu.fr, a major French regional news outlet, turns December into a daily appointment? Its Advent calendar powered by QronoPlay recorded 14,997 entries in 25 days — and above all 34 plays per player on average: proof that a well-designed game creates a habit, not a one-off visit.

The context

actu.fr, a regional news outlet with a very large audience, was looking for an engagement campaign for December: retain its audience over the holidays, showcase local partners through prizes, and collect qualified opt-ins for its communications.

The setup

  • A digital Advent calendar: one door per day from December 1 to 25, instant-win format;
  • One entry per person per day — the constraint that creates the daily return ritual;
  • 399 prizes distributed over the period, provided by the outlet's local partners;
  • Automatic daily quotas: the platform spreads prize distribution across the 25 days, with no manual intervention.

The results, in numbers

  • 14,997 entries in 25 days;
  • 443 unique players, i.e. ≈ 34 entries per player — an exceptional daily retention rate;
  • 399 winners over the period;
  • Over 11,000 marketing consents collected along the way, timestamped and auditable (GDPR).

What to take away

The daily format is the best habit builder: here, a player came back 34 times on average over the period. For a media outlet — or any brand looking for recurrence — the calendar mechanic turns an audience into an appointment. And the QronoPlay infrastructure (quotas, anti-fraud, native GDPR) handles thousands of plays per day without a technical team.

An event, a season, a key moment to activate? Launch your own game calendar in 15 minutes — 14-day free trial.

FAQ

How many entries can a digital Advent calendar generate?

In this real case: 14,997 entries in 25 days, with 443 players coming back 34 times each on average — the daily format creates a return ritual.

Can the platform handle a high-audience game?

Yes: automatic daily quotas, native anti-fraud and a European infrastructure sized for thousands of plays per day, with no technical team needed on the client side.

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actu.fr case study: 15,000 entries in 25 days