New Mintegral report highlights shrinking game advertising

Mintegral has recently released its “State of Games Media Buying Spotlight for 2024,” offering valuable insights into the trends and shifts in the game advertising landscape. The report, which encompasses data from 2023 through the first half of 2024, provides a comprehensive overview, though it notably excludes Chinese market data. This omission is significant given Mintegral’s deep understanding of the Chinese market, a competitive edge that remains untapped for public analysis.

Key insights include…

U.S. dominates in advertiser numbers, but Southeast Asia leads in impressions

Mintegral’s report breaks down the global gaming ad market into four regions outside China: the U.S., Southeast Asia, India, and the Middle East. As expected, the U.S. has the highest number of overall advertisers. However, Southeast Asia takes the lead in ad impressions, highlighting the region’s extensive user base on various gaming apps.

Flat growth in advertisers and buyers

The report reveals a concerning trend in the number of app advertisers, which has remained largely flat from H1 2023 to H1 2024, with a notable spike in H2 2023. New advertisers entering the platform have decreased by 30%, reflecting broader industry trends amid challenging macroeconomic conditions. This stagnation suggests a cautious approach from early-stage companies, many of which are scaling back on growth marketing and paid advertising efforts.

Video ads dominate across game types

A significant portion of the report highlights the dominance of video ads within the gaming ad inventory. Video ads account for the majority of ad placements, particularly in reward-based channels. Playable ads, while less prevalent, still hold a notable share in hypercasual games, accounting for about 13% of the inventory. Banner ads, on the other hand, are prominent only within the RPG genre.

Growth of playable ads

Despite the dominance of video ads, the report shows a steady increase in the adoption of playable ads across the network, growing from 3% in H1 2023 to 7% in H1 2024. This trend indicates that playables are gaining traction, especially as they often outperform top-performing video ads when well-constructed.

Decline of hypercasual games

One of the more striking observations in the report is the decline of hypercasual games, particularly in terms of ad impressions and overall popularity. This genre, once dominant, has seen a significant drop, especially on iOS, where it was heavily impacted by Apple’s SKAdNetwork (SKAN). The report suggests that as the hypercasual segment matures, it is proving to be a lower-value segment for advertisers, leading to a shift in buyer preferences.

Key takeaways

Mintegral’s report provides crucial insights into the current state of the gaming ad market. The decline in new advertisers and the growing importance of video and playable ads reflect broader industry trends, while the fall of hypercasual games marks a significant shift in genre dynamics. As the market continues to evolve, these trends will likely shape the strategies of gaming marketers and developers in the coming years.