Does the in-game ad market need big brand buy-in?

The in-game advertising market is a billion dollar industry – but it needs big brands like Coca-Cola and Tide to make it flourish according to founder and CEO of mobile gaming platform Skillz Andrew Paradise.

Advertising is one of the key drivers of the mobile gaming industry, accounting for 40 percent of industry revenue. In fact, a recent report from Vantage Market Research projected the global value of the in-game advertising market would hit US$12.35 billion by 2028.

As valuable as advertising is to this sector, it has to be done in the right way, according to Andrew Paradise, founder and CEO of mobile gaming platform Skillz. Andrew explained that, “for anyone who is a games developer, you’re quite aware that every time you want to monetise, you’re directly attacking your retention and engagement”.

“My ‘a-ha’ moment on founding Skillz was an ad for a one-dollar coupon for a Whopper. I was playing this racing game, and they were putting the banner ad right beside the controls to try to get people to tap on it by mistake,” Andrew said.

“The number-one advertiser in mobile gaming right now is other mobile games. That has to change for it to be a sustainable industry.” – Andrew Paradise, Skillz

“I tapped the ad, it stopped the game, and I kind of hated Burger King in that moment. I thought there had to be a better way to monetise this artform. That was the genesis behind building the company in the first place.”

Andrew thinks it’s still early days for developing the right monetisation technologies for gaming, but that the sector is rapidly evolving.

For example, the playable ad only came out around 2015, but is now one of the most common ways to run ads in video games – particularly on mobile. These are usually for casual games that offer a quick tutorial and a playable level before introducing a call to action to download the full game.

But big brands outside the gaming world need to get in on the act, Andrew explained: “We have to get to a world where Coca-Cola and Tide and every other non-endemic brand finds value in video games.”

“The number-one advertiser in mobile gaming right now is other mobile games. That has to change for it to be a sustainable industry,” added Andrew.

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