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S07, E32: The CAPI revolution
The digital advertising landscape is undergoing a fundamental structural shift as the industry moves away from browser-based pixel tracking toward server-to-server Conversions APIs.
- The transition from browser-side pixels to server-to-server Conversions APIs (CAPI) represents a permanent structural shift in digital advertising, moving measurement away from browser-controlled environments to direct, authenticated data exchanges.
- CAPI allows platforms like Meta to receive deterministic conversion feedback by matching advertiser-supplied identifiers—such as email addresses, phone numbers, and IP addresses—directly against the platform's own authenticated user base.
- The 'everything is an ad network' phenomenon has intensified as retailers (e.g., Lowe's, Ace Hardware) and service providers (e.g., Chase, United Airlines) leverage their own first-party purchase and transaction data to build proprietary advertising businesses.
Steam Platform 2026: How Valve is Helping Game Developers Succeed on PC Gaming
Steam has solidified its position as the dominant PC gaming storefront by 2026, achieving a massive scale with 42 million peak concurrent users and 13.9 million in-game concurrent users.
- Developer revenue from Steam Daily Deal placements increased by 274% year-over-year following the implementation of a self-service scheduling system that allows developers to claim slots directly via Steamworks.
- Steam now categorizes user reviews by language to provide context for players and developers, addressing concerns about review bombing and regional-specific issues without removing content.
- Controller usage on Steam is significant, with nearly 5 billion gameplay sessions involving gamepads in 2025; developers are encouraged to use the Steam Input API to ensure compatibility across various hardware, including Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo controllers.
How AI Is Transforming User Acquisition
Artificial intelligence is fundamentally reshaping user acquisition in the mobile gaming industry by transitioning workflows toward agentic systems capable of automating both creative asset generation and campaign management.
- AI-driven user acquisition is shifting from simple creative generation toward agentic workflows that manage campaign deployment, performance monitoring, and creative fatigue identification.
- While 2D asset generation is highly efficient, 3D asset production and complex, high-fidelity playable ads remain significant technical hurdles where AI currently falls short of professional standards.
- The demand for playable ads has surged, but traditional agency costs of $3,000 to $7,000 per concept are unsustainable for studios requiring 20+ new concepts per month.
GTA 6 Netflix reveal causes Xbox and PlayStation sales to jump by a third
The reveal of Grand Theft Auto 6 has served as a powerful catalyst for the gaming industry, driving a 572% surge in pre-orders and triggering a 33% to 34% increase in PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S sales across the United Kingdom.
- The GTA 6 reveal triggered a 33% to 34% sales increase for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S in the UK and drove a 572% surge in pre-orders.
- GTA 6 is projected to generate a $2 billion annual run rate through its online component, highlighting a broader industry shift toward recurring revenue models.
- The gaming industry generated $320 million in global digital spend in just two months, even as studios face rising development costs and a reliance on established franchises to mitigate risk.
S07, E31: Understanding the privileged position of chatbot advertising
Chatbot advertising represents a significant evolution in digital marketing, functioning as a hybrid model that merges the high-intent precision of traditional search with the sophisticated behavioral targeting characteristic of social media.
- Chatbot advertising represents a hybrid model that combines the intent-driven precision of search with the behavioral targeting capabilities of social media, creating a new, highly effective category of digital inventory.
- OpenAI has reached a $1 billion annualized revenue run rate with its advertising-integrated products in less than a year, proving that the commercial opportunity for chatbot ads is no longer hypothetical.
- Google is successfully monetizing AI-enabled search, with search revenue growing 16.8% to $63.3 billion in Q2, while 500,000 advertisers have adopted its 'AI Max' optimization layer to monetize previously difficult-to-capture queries.
Game PR in the Age of AI: What Actually Works?
Generative Engine Optimization has emerged as the definitive strategy for game studios seeking to maintain discoverability in an era where AI models like ChatGPT and Gemini increasingly dictate consumer decision-making.
- Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is the practice of ensuring a brand is cited in AI responses; AI platforms now pull 9.5 billion visits monthly, representing a 70% year-over-year increase while traditional Google search remains static.
- AI models prioritize games that have earned media coverage over those with high grossing chart rankings, as evidenced by AI recommending 2014's 'Monument Valley' for puzzle game queries despite it not being a top-grossing title.
- Data indicates that 88% of users accept the initial shortlist provided by an AI without performing a second prompt, and 74% of users select the AI's top-ranked recommendation.
💳 A Credit Card that resets your LIMIT when Your ROAS is good: PVX's UA financing card is here!
Mobile game studios and app developers face a persistent challenge in maintaining consistent user acquisition momentum due to the restrictive repayment cycles and fixed limits of traditional corporate credit cards.
- PVX is launching a dynamic UA financing card in Q4 that adjusts credit limits based on real-time return on ad spend (ROAS) rather than fixed repayment cycles.
- The financing model integrates directly with mobile measurement partner data to allow developers to scale marketing spend without operational interruptions from standard balance clearance requirements.
- The product is specifically designed for early-stage studios and solopreneurs in the UK and European markets to provide capital at rates more competitive than traditional credit card APRs.
S07, E30: MDM Mailbag #8 (with Thomas Petit)
Modern mobile marketing demands a sophisticated, multi-layered strategy that balances deterministic last-click attribution with rigorous incrementality testing.
- Incrementality testing cannot replace deterministic last-click attribution for mobile advertisers because ad networks like Meta, Google, and TikTok require user-level data to function effectively within their auction mechanics.
- Scaling creative production is shifting from a challenge of volume to a challenge of technical deployment and the creation of truly unique concepts that avoid being mere clones of previous assets.
- The transition to web-to-app funnels should be driven by the need for merchant flexibility and improved user onboarding rather than solely as a strategy to bypass app store commission fees.
How to Add an App to Tenjin Using Claude | MCP Server Tutorial
The integration of the Tenjin Model Context Protocol (MCP) server with Claude desktop enables mobile marketing teams to automate administrative and configuration tasks through natural language processing.
- Tenjin has released an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that allows users to perform mobile measurement and configuration tasks directly within the Claude AI interface.
- The Tenjin MCP server enables users to execute administrative tasks via natural language prompts, including creating, listing, updating, and deleting mobile apps.
- Beyond app management, the MCP server supports broader campaign operations such as listing ad accounts, managing channels, configuring callbacks, and defining tracking events.
My Five Year Indie Game Launched. My Mind Is Blown
The launch of the indie title Twisted Tower, a five-year development project, has achieved significant commercial and critical success upon its release.
- After five years of development, the indie game 'Twisted Tower' achieved significant commercial success, reaching the Steam front page and the top of the platform's charts.
- The game currently maintains a 95% positive review rating on Steam.
- Community-driven beta testing was instrumental in the final 23-day launch sprint, with testers actively identifying and reporting bugs to stabilize the build.
WEBTOON Is Bigger Than Monopoly Go: Inside a New Game Marketing Channel
WEBTOON has established itself as a potent marketing channel for the gaming industry, effectively bridging the gap between brand awareness and performance-based user acquisition.
- WEBTOON reaches a global audience of 160 million monthly active users, 90% of whom are under the age of 35, providing direct access to a core gaming demographic.
- The platform’s 'Coin Hunter' offerwall tool currently generates 10,000 verified Steam wishlist additions per week, demonstrating its capacity for measurable lower-funnel conversion.
- Brands can integrate into existing comic narratives through branded epilogues and creator partnerships, moving away from disruptive advertising to achieve higher engagement rates.
S07, E28: Digital Advertising's M&A Resurgence (with Maor Sadra)
The digital advertising landscape is undergoing a significant transformation, shifting from simple inventory aggregation toward the strategic integration of data, identity, and causal measurement.
- The Mobile Measurement Partner (MMP) landscape is evolving into stable, essential infrastructure, as evidenced by the recent industry-wide investment in AppsFlyer, which serves to codify the status quo rather than drive radical innovation.
- Causal measurement is becoming a strategic necessity for large-scale platforms, moving beyond traditional attribution models that often misattribute 100% of credit to a single touchpoint.
- Enterprise clients are increasingly skeptical of 'AI-first' startups that lack deep domain expertise, preferring established partners over new entrants who rely solely on generic LLM wrappers.