New frontier for advertisers2 Apr 2022 22:23
Gaming is hot right now. Hailed as the next frontier for the advertising industry, in-game advertising is set for a meteoric rise. 81% of media buyers plan to increase in-game ad spend over the next 12 months and 93% of media buyers intend to run in-game advertising by 2025.
This is largely due to the fact that the number of gamers has skyrocketed over the past few years – partly driven by the pandemic – now totaling more than 3.1 billion. With the influx of these new gamers, we now have a better understanding of who they are and the immense potential in this market.
A new frontier for advertisers
In a rapidly evolving space, in-game advertising has become one of the best opportunities for advertisers to increase their reach. Gaming audiences remain largely untapped despite their size, diversity and high levels of engagement. The prevailing stereotype that gamers are mostly male console players could not be further from the truth. In fact, 2.8 billion of the 3 billion global gamers play on mobile, and these mobile players are split equally between men and women. Gamers are not who we would have thought they were, and it’s important that advertisers start to break down any previous assumptions to engage with them in a meaningful way.
Even more promising is that gamers are more receptive to advertising, which can be attributed to the non-disruptive format of many in-game ads. In fact, 7 in 10 UK gamers are positive or neutral in their feelings about in-game advertising, according to a report by Emarketer, compared to 69% of Internet users who actively avoid ads. This is an important opportunity for brands to reach an audience that is more welcoming towards them.
Brands and agencies with gaming audiences are noticing this opportunity and taking advantage of it. Some of the biggest brands are foraying into mobile, desktop and gaming consoles in this segment. In addition to growth and interest in the gaming space, the amount and scale of gaming-focused content is also increasing. This includes not only blogs, guides and tutorials, but also news, streaming and esports.
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