Mobile Gaming Measurement in 2026: What's Actually Working?

We're moving towards a world that where there's more and more privacy, but at the same time, there's like steps that could indicate having a bit more data, but still protecting the user. So, as usual, the the industry is constantly evolving and we will need to adapt. But I wouldn't say that everything is black right now. We are looking in to 2026. It's exciting times, but the exciting thing might be the shift. What is the shift that you see in how you'll be measuring marketing impact and growth?
Um, I do believe there's going to be different changes. Uh, for us, um, I think we're going to look into much more holistic uh, way of measuring marketing. Um, we have bigger launches expected. uh that means that uh there's not only going to be performance marketing uh but also content creators, CTV etc etc

you're talking about so many touch points you know your customers they jump between app web CTV other touch points with your influencers as well so it is important to understand the journey end to end how important is it for you or for marketers to be able to connect the LTV back to the same person or the same account.
It's it's fundamental, right? Like everything that we do um our job relies actually on on making sure that whatever we invest is actually profitable. And in order to know that, we need to know how much our users are costing us and how much they're bringing. Now, if we think about what we've done mostly throughout all these years, you know, for people that have been in the industry for so long, we always just said C CPI LTV. But nowadays with all the privacy changes with how the industry is evolving, it's not only about CPI and LTV. It's about I would say marketing and LTV and the

impact of marketing because it's not purely just CPI and cost of attribution, but the impact that it can have on organics, K factor, incrementality, however you want to call it. um all of these things that are not necessarily directly measured by attribution but that do exist and that marketing campaigns contribute to it and whenever we run content creator campaigns not everything is tracked but everything has an impact so um I would say that yes we need we need to look at things um from a much more holistic view but let's not ignore the real data that we have the full attribution because that gives us um very strong direction on where to go.
So that is the point you know we're looking at the data but we're also looking at the signal and we're focused on privacy safe signals and identifiers of course fading. So for example we do have in 2025 and we'll see the impact

into 2026 of privacy safe signal partnerships we'll call them and curated data that you're going to get around intent which is also very valuable. For marketers in your position, Marcel, what is the real opportunity in using these higher value signals for targeting and for measurement in 2026 as well as what you're watching personally?
Well, the more signals that we have, the better we can do our jobs because the more we can measure. Um, so yes, uh, 100% um, tools can be very very beneficial to what we do. Um I'm still waiting to see how it actually translates into reality. What are those signals? Um because they are or allegedly uh privacy safe. Um but we need to see that and I would say that the basic like the the fundamental thing is that we need to be privacy compliant. We are a big company Ubisoft. Um we we cannot just play around. So we need to

be privacy compliant and on top of that then we can build the rest. I would also say that yes, um, privacy is a big word right now. There's more and more things coming up. Uh, right now for January 2026, we're expecting a new law in Texas, right, that we need to be compliant with.
But at the same time, um, circling back to when we were like two, three years ago, back in the day, there were like two buzzwords from the industry. One of them was ATT, right? the whole AT change losing IDFA blah blah blah blah blah
and at the same time the other big thing that was coming from Google was privacy sandbox and privacy seems to have stopped so yes we are moving towards a world that where there's more and more privacy but at the same time there's like steps that could indicate having a bit more data but still protecting the user so as usual the the industry is constantly ly evolving and

we will need to adapt. But I wouldn't say that everything is black right now.
Well, you touched on evolution, so I'll go there with you, Marcel, because one of the big things we're seeing in evolution and what is moving like a just constantly. There's no way of knowing exactly how it's going to evolve, but it is evolving. And that's AI or automation. Where do you see or need AI or automation to step in right now? Yeah, I think that's the 2025 buzz word, right? Everybody claims to have AI that's like if you don't have AI, you just don't exist, right? Even like it it very often I'm I'm thinking to myself, okay, what used to be called machine learning is now AI, right? They just changed the term and make it m much more sexy right now, right? That's the big thing. Um but yes, it it is true. It's a big thing. Um I would say that for us uh or in my case

right um I would see a very strong benefit from AI in two aspects. Um first of all creative um production ideation etc etc right um I do believe that the human conception part um is essential because AI relies on data right and what I believe is that AI will just take all the data compile it analyze it and then bring an answer to it what I don't see it doing yet is coming up with something new that hasn't been tested Right? And if you have followed the mobile gaming industry, any of you that have been working here, um, at some point a few years ago, there was a huge shift on creatives, right? And then
when hyper casual became a big thing and it all became about dad versus mom, pro versus noob. Um, now there's so many creatives with lava. So I'm not sure that AI would have come up with those

concepts, right? would have AI created that or is that just product of like human uh brain and human workshops etc. Um but still um AI very strong for production facilitating things. And the second angle where I do see AI um being able to help us a lot is when it comes to filling up the gaps of the data, right? Uh when working with an MM model, holistic marketing approach, um having AI could uh be very beneficial as those are tasks that are very very difficult to do and that requires so much data analysis. I I believe that AI can be a big help there.
I like that. I haven't heard of that filling in the gaps, but that's true at some level because you come so far with what you're doing and then you need that leap. You need that something that understands performance, something that

understands optimizing media, you know, to get you to that goal. Speaking of goals, I'm just wondering, Marcel, on a on a on a professional level, you know, you talked about what's going to be going on in uh in 2026 without telling us exactly because I'm sure you won't be able to do that, but can you give me an idea of like where you're going and how that matches, you know, where marketing is also going and evolving? You know, we talked a little bit about the signal partnerships. We talked about AI, talked about MM, which sounds like it's going to be big on your radar in the future. How does that sort of fit together?
So, for 2026, um it's going to be a big year for us. Um we will be launching two two AAA games. Um they have been announced. Um it's going to be Rainbow 6 mobile. It's going to be The Division Resurgence. Um, so the first time at Ubisoft, we're bringing big console IPs into mobile. Um, which is actually a

pretty big thing because it completely changes the dynamic of how we used to launch games and how we used to operate games because there's so much more at stake and there's so much more hype around those brands, right? compared to what we had in the past and that's when media mix modeling comes in as as very interesting because we will not only do performance marketing we cannot only do performance marketing on such big brands and such big launches um and I do believe that that's where we are heading on 2026 so very very excited uh we have been waiting quite a long time for these launches but they're coming close so stay tuned for that
this truly is exciting because You're right. You have the IP, you have the other touch points. This cannot be performance marketing as we've known it up to this point. And I will circle back with you um because it will be live and it will be real and ready for prime time and we can chat about that. But in the

meantime, I just want to bring us back to the beginning. We were talking about the trends in the future and that's a big one for me is you know if you were rebuilding your measurement and growth jack from scratch today which many marketers are thinking about doing you know so I want to learn from you what would be for example the capabilities that will be non-negotiable from day one
well I think um more than a capability I think the ground work the the the ultimate um needed thing is to be privacy legally compliant, right? That that has been a has been a huge thing in the last four or five years. Uh all the changes that have been required first um all the changes around iOS 14, IDFA losing it, switching to scan, um CMP introduction, um age gates, etc., etc. So the first thing the first fundamental thing is let's be legally privacy compliant right

let's have that stack ready and approved by every stakeholder and then on top of that we need to build the basics the very minimum is to be able to measure ROI of our campaigns and to be measured to have to to to be able to measure the ROI we need to have two simple things we need to have attribution knowing where the users came from and we need to have an LTD right so again it's very simple but it's the basics and then the I I believe that the next big thing is incrementality
so incrementality K factor however you want to call it I think each company calls it different way but
whatever we're not attributing directly to a specific campaign does have an impact measuring that being able to value it somehow um be it by multitouch attribution, media mix modeling, um

whatever technique or whatever tool you're using, I believe that would be fundamental um to how we work and how I would rebuild the way we actually work because we're still stuck um in the old world of last touch attribution and this install came from this campaign and that's the way it's going to stay forever, right? Um, but there needs to be a tech switch, but also a mentality switch from um, UA folks or media folks, however you want to call them, um, into thinking more holistically.
And it's not just the UA folks, right? You have company because you have collaboration now on data between, you know, with partners, publishers, platforms, payment providers. Everyone's coming in with the need to improve targeting while staying um privacy safe as you said yourself. Last final question and if you answer this one we probably have a book [laughter] so I

don't expect the answer but how do you see that balance on collaborating on data with partners and I think this brings us back to that position of looking at curated data you know understanding intent but also understanding the signals that we have.
Yeah I believe this has to come from an independent third party. Um that's my belief right it's the same way that it's the same discussion we had probably what we could have had 10 years ago about attribution right I believe anyone could have done attribution by themselves but in order to have like proper agreement everybody around the table to be um agreeing on attribution then we needed to have a third party tool an MMP in this case that would actually define whether uh or where the user came from now When it comes to the new world about signals, privacy, sharing thirdparty data is much more limited than owning first party data. But would every

partner agree to first party data that we would interpret that we would measure the way we want it? That's where it becomes tricky. And if each company, you know, works on their data their own way, there's no unification of uh of a system that could work globally and help the whole industry grow. That's where a third party company would come in very very handy and and to standardize all the metrics across the the industry with publishers, advertisers, networks, and whomever is on the playing field. Well, until then, um, you have a lot ahead. You have a launch, two launches, um, a lot of work, and we've discussed how you're going to be approaching it, Marcel. So, I can feel the energy. I can feel the determination. You're not going to let it hold you back that we do not have the perfect growth stack or the

perfect balance yet, but you're working towards that. And um I really look forward to hearing back from you as you figure that out because I think that there are valuable lessons in there for everyone. And uh hey, a high five on what's coming down the road because you are doing some amazing things at Ubisoft as well. So more power to you.
Thank you very much. Much appreciated. It's a pleasure. This show is all about how to do your job better, how to make an amazing game, how to market it, and you have a say. So, if you have a story or know someone we need to shine a light on, then we would love to hear from you.
We want to hear from you. We want to reflect the reality of the mobile games market in all its wonderful complexity and strangeness. So, if you have any suggestions for us, if you have any feedback for us, you can always get in touch. You can email us at podcastpocketgamer.biz. You can find us on Twitter @pgbiz and

you can reach out to us through the pocket.biz website. [music] If you're interested in listening to all of our podcasts, you can find them at pocketgamer.biz/mpodcast. And we would love to hear your thoughts on future shows.
And we've got you covered on all the major platforms. So subscribe to the audio podcast as Brian said, look for us on YouTube. But if you want to read it, hey, you can do that, too, because we have a companion post for you as well on the pocket gamer.biz website.
Tune in again for the next edition of the pocketgamer.biz podcast, and we look forward to speaking to you in the near future.