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Panel: Best Practices For Navigating The Rewarded UA Space.
Rewarded user acquisition has evolved from a volume-centric strategy into a sophisticated, data-driven channel focused on long-term player loyalty.
- Rewarded user acquisition has evolved from a high-fraud, low-quality volume play into a data-driven channel that provides high-intent users who engage with games deeply to reach specific milestones.
- Unlike traditional media sources that may require up to 365 days to realize ROI, rewarded UA allows developers to recover costs and generate revenue earlier, facilitating faster reinvestment and scaling.
- Modern rewarded platforms utilize adaptive economy models and real-time automation to personalize reward structures based on individual user behavior, moving away from outdated fixed-CPI models.
Session: From Installs To Lifetime Value How Snapchat Powers Gaming Growth - Sara Antonelli, Snap.
Snapchat’s strategy for driving growth in the gaming sector centers on a four-pillar framework: scalable audience reach, performance-driven solutions, accurate measurement, and automated onboarding.
- Snapchat's 'App Power Pack' suite of performance solutions has demonstrated a 25% lift in app installs for advertisers focusing on mid-funnel volume.
- Snapchat's audience is highly relevant to gaming, with 78% of daily Snapchat users engaging with gaming apps and a significant portion playing multiple times per day.
- Target Cost bidding solutions have enabled gaming advertisers to achieve up to 84% lower CPIs and 90% lower cost per purchase, while simultaneously driving six times more first-time depositors.
Curated Panel: The Privacy-First Advantage: Smarter Data, Smarter Monetization In 2026.
By 2026, privacy compliance has transitioned from a mere legal obligation into a fundamental operational strategy that dictates the success of monetization and user experience within the gaming industry.
- Privacy compliance has evolved from a legal checkbox into a core component of the monetization stack, with non-compliance leading to significant financial penalties, such as the $1.4 million fine issued to Jam City for CCPA violations.
- Publishers must shift from passive data collection to active activation of first-party data to improve ad targeting, eCPMs, and overall monetization strategies.
- Major ad networks, including Google, have moved toward making the sharing of publisher first-party data a default requirement to improve ad relevance and player journey insights.
Gaming and Esports in Vietnam: A New Arena for Brands
Vietnam’s gaming and esports landscape has evolved into a high-growth, culturally resonant channel for brands targeting the country’s youthful, tech-savvy population.
- Vietnam has the world's highest adult gamer rate at 85%, with a demographic where 70% of the population is under 25 and one-third of citizens are engaged in esports.
- Mobile gaming dominates the market, supported by high smartphone penetration and 4G coverage, with gamers typically spending 1–3 hours per session.
- Influencer marketing is highly effective, as 51% of gamers trust key opinion leader (KOL) recommendations and 42% report purchasing products endorsed by them.
🤬 Meta is NOT back on iOS. We have been FOOLED!
Meta’s recent, transient surge in iOS advertising revenue does not represent a technological breakthrough or a successful circumvention of Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework.
- Meta’s recent spike in iOS advertising revenue was a temporary anomaly driven by aggressive ad formats rather than a circumvention of Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework.
- The performance surge lasted only 48 hours, as the use of intrusive end-cards and double-ad templates led to a sharp decline in user retention that neutralized initial gains.
- Meta has failed to regain its pre-2021 market dominance on iOS, as the underlying signal loss issues caused by privacy-centric restrictions remain unresolved.
🚨📢 BREAKING NEWS: Mobile Stagnates, Monopoly GO Hits $6B, Liftoff Files for IPO
The mobile gaming industry experienced a period of divergence in 2025, characterized by a slight rise in global revenue to $81.8 billion while traditional app store metrics suggested stagnation.
- Scopely’s Monopoly Go became the fastest mobile game in history to reach $6 billion in lifetime revenue, achieving the milestone in 1,275 days and currently generating approximately $200 million per month.
- Global mobile gaming revenue reached $81.8 billion in 2025, though traditional app store metrics show stagnation due to a massive shift toward web stores that bypass platform fees.
- Industry observers estimate that 40% to 50% of revenue from large-scale developers is now excluded from standard iOS and Google Play tracking, meaning official reports likely underrepresent actual market performance.
TWiG #368: Ubisoft Cuts, TikTok Slips, and Gaming’s Next Distribution Crisis
The global gaming industry is currently navigating a period of significant structural volatility, characterized by widespread workforce reductions and evolving regulatory pressures.
- Ubisoft has reduced its workforce by over 3,000 employees within the last two years, reflecting broader structural volatility in the gaming industry.
- Valve is facing an $897.7 million legal challenge regarding its Steam commission structure while implementing new AI disclosure rules that only require transparency for content used in gameplay, store pages, or marketing.
- TikTok’s mobile advertising share has dropped from 21% to 12% amid stagnant daily active user growth and ongoing efforts to decouple from its parent company, ByteDance.
🎯 Mobile Ad Monetization Checklist: From Soft Launch to Scale by Felix Braberg
This guide provides a strategic framework for mobile game developers to implement and scale ad monetization, covering the transition from soft launch to full-scale operations.
- Prioritize user retention by enforcing strict ad creative standards, as networks often default to intrusive, long-form end cards that degrade the user experience.
- During soft launch, target a 45% viewer rate for rewarded video ads and a 70% viewer rate for interstitials to balance monetization with retention.
- Maintain an updated app-ads.txt file to ensure full access to reseller demand and maximize potential ad revenue.
Influencer Marketing for Mobile Apps 101: 2026 Edition
Mobile app developers are increasingly pivoting away from traditional paid user acquisition toward micro-creator marketing to combat the unsustainable surge in advertising costs.
- Paid user acquisition costs have surged significantly, with CPMs increasing 10x over the last two years, making micro-creator marketing a necessary alternative for scaling apps.
- High-performing influencer campaigns can achieve CPMs as low as $0.60 to $0.70 in the U.S. market, compared to the standard industry range of $3 to $5.
- Effective creator compensation should prioritize performance-based bonuses over fixed fees, using the creator's median view count from the previous three months as the benchmark for success.
☠️ The end of original creatives: Creative Trends just got darker
The mobile gaming industry is currently undergoing a fundamental shift toward a copy-first development strategy, prioritizing high-volume, replicable creative assets over original intellectual property.
- The mobile gaming industry is shifting toward a copy-first strategy that prioritizes high-volume, replicable creative assets over original intellectual property to maximize conversion metrics.
- Artificial intelligence is being leveraged to mass-produce deceptive creative content, significantly lowering production costs while enabling the rapid deployment of fabricated, high-drama scenarios.
- Publishers are increasingly utilizing 'fake ads' that feature unauthorized use of major global brands and misleading gameplay representations to drive user acquisition.
Festive Season 2025: App Marketing Trends and Strategies for India
India’s festive season—from Onam in August through Diwali and Christmas in December—drives more than 30% of the country’s annual digital advertising spend, making it a pivotal period for app marketers.
- India's festive season (August–December) accounts for over 30% of annual digital ad spend, driving a 36% increase in installs and a 69% surge in re-engagements during the peak window.
- Mobile gaming remains a primary growth driver, recording 3.2 billion downloads and $151 million in-app purchase revenue in 2024.
- Ad spend efficiency improved during the festive period, with a 53% increase in mobile ad investment accompanied by a 12% reduction in cost-per-install (CPI).
Mobile Gaming Measurement in 2026: What's Actually Working?
The mobile gaming industry is undergoing a significant transition in measurement strategy as privacy regulations and the decline of traditional identifiers render last-click attribution insufficient.
- Ubisoft is shifting from last-click attribution to a holistic measurement framework for 2026 mobile launches, such as Rainbow Six Mobile and The Division Resurgence, to account for brand impact, content creators, and CTV.
- Effective growth measurement now requires integrating performance data with incrementality testing, organic lift, and K-factor analysis to capture the total value of multi-channel campaigns.
- Media Mix Modeling (MMM) is becoming a critical component of the modern growth stack, with AI being deployed specifically to analyze complex datasets and fill gaps in attribution data.