In-Game Advertising Market Size, Share, Industry, Forecast and outlook (2024-2031)

Global In-Game Advertising Market is segmented By Ad Type (Static Ads, Dynamic Ads, Advergaming), By Game Type (PC/Laptop Games, Console Games, Smartphone/Tablet Games), and By Region (North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa) – Share, Size, Outlook, and Opportunity Analysis, 2024-2031

In-Game Advertising Market Overview

The In-Game Advertising Market is expected to grow at a high CAGR during the forecast period (2024-2031). 

In-Game Advertising allows the developers to show their mobile or pc game ads to their users. It allows them to increase their game’s revenue. In-game advertising provides the platform to showcase the name or products featured in digital games. In-Game Advertising can be integrated into the game through the background or highly integrated within the game.

Different types of advertisements such as rewarded video ads, wall ads, and interstitial ads are provided by the developers. It is an effective way to boost game engagement and retention among users. In-game advertising connects the brand with the emotions of the users. It provides a high rate of acceptance among the users.

In-Game Advertising Market Summary

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In-Game Advertising Market Dynamics

Rising Growth of Mobile Games is Driving the Market

The market is driven by the increasing demand for in-game advertising with the rising adoption of various mobile games across the globe. In-game advertising has provided the platform for marketers to reach consumers in a brand-safe environment. It has been observed that there has been an increase in the proportion of free-to-play mobile games with in-game advertising as a large number of the developers sold ad space to monetize their content. Mobile games can be played easily on mobile phones, tablets, smartwatches, PDA, portable media players or graphing calculators. Mobile games such as Pokmon Go, Player Unknowns Battle Ground, and Free Fire are mostly used by gamers. Smartphones have expanded mobile games beyond consoles and personal computers. There is increasing popularity of online games on mobile platforms. Mobile games can be run on various platforms such as Apple's iOS, NTT DoCoMo's DoJa, Sun's Java, Qualcomm's BREW, and Google's Android.

Growing Penetration of the Internet is expected to boost the market growth over the forecast period

There is increasing penetration of the internet with the growing availability of fast and cheaper internet services. The internet is the most transformative and fast-growing technology. The usage of the internet has increased with the high adoption of smartphones for gaming purposes. According to the Our World in Data Organisation, the number of internet users has increased from 413 million in 2000 to over 3.4 billion in 2016. Every day, an average of 640,000 people went online for the first time over the past five years. China has 765 million internet users, India has 391 million internet users, the United States has 245 million internet users, and Japan has 116 million internet users during the year 2016-2017.

Rising Funding & Investment for In-Game Advertising is expected to fuel the Market Growth

Several public & private companies are raising the funding and investment for In-Game Advertising. For instance, in August 2018, Anzu.io had raised the funding of USD 6.5 million for its programmatic in-game advertising platform with real-time analytics. Its in-game advertising platform can seamlessly integrate digital ads directly into the gameplay, without disrupting the user experience. In June 2020, Admix had raised the funding of the USD 7 million in Series A funding. This funding would be used to bring ads to games, esports, virtual reality and augmented reality.

COVID-19 Impact Analysis on In-Game Advertising Market

The global in-game advertising market has received immense impetus from the COVID-19  pandemic, as there is an increase in the usage of mobile games since the lockdown. There has been an increase by 50% in daily active users of HD games due to COVID-19 across the globe.  There is an increase in the number of installing the apps for playing games. The game advertisement revenue has witnessed drastic growth due to an increase in the number of marketers and developers promoting their games for increasing the number of users. In-game advertising has provided higher interaction of the users. It has raised the retention and converted more players for the games. In-game advertising has served as the approach to evolve the new and changing consumer behaviours.

Several governments have raised their initiatives to promote the use of in-game advertising. For instance, in April 2020, the UK Government had revealed the usage of in-game advertising to connect with the increased use of gaming platforms as people are staying home to save lives. The UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is using in-game advertising to promote the usage of the games among the younger audience. The use of video games for public health messaging would avoid unnecessary trips and large gatherings for the prevention of the COVID-19 infection. It also provides lucrative opportunities to get in front of influential brand decision-makers while being home and shopping online.

In-Game Advertising Market Segmentation Analysis

Static Ads segment is Expected to Hold the Largest Share in the In-Game Advertising Market

By Ad Type, in-game advertising is classified as static Ads, Dynamic Ads, and advergaming. The static Ads segment is anticipated to hold a significant market share in the in-game advertising market owing to the higher usage of the static Ads as the platform by the developer for promoting the games. Static Ads have a greater impact on consumers in comparatively lesser time. Static Ads are programmed directly into a game. These ads can be integrated into both personal computers and mobile games. Static Ads are integrated into the storyline of the game. These ads allow the players to interact with the advertisement through the questions. These ads allow the game players to be exposed to the advertisement. The static Ads allows more customization as these ads provide the game developers and advertiser to plan the advertisement.

Dynamic Ads are displayed as posters, billboards or hoarding are strategically throughout games. These ads can be given to consoles, mobile, and flash games. These ads are real-time advertisements that can be inserted and removed from games in Real-Time. Dynamic Ads can accommodate time-sensitive campaigns such as promotions. Dynamic Ads are extremely fast in comparison to static Ads.

By Game Type, PC/Laptop Games Segment is Expected to Hold the Largest Share in the In-Game Advertising Market

The market is classified as the game type as the PC/laptop games, console games, and smartphone/tablet games. The PC/laptop games segment accounts for the highest market share of XX% in 2019 due to the large number of PC/laptop games being played by the players worldwide. PC/laptop games provide high graphic resolutions online games. According to the Entertainment Software Association, every year approximately 65% of American households play PC/laptop games. Around, 26% of people age-group over 50 age-group play PC/laptop games. PC/laptop games are interactive digital mediums comprising the different genres of digital games. PC games are interactive multimedia played on the personal computer. These games are distributed via standard storage devices such as CDs and DVDs. PC games are comprised of diverse and user-determined gaming hardware and software, greater capacity in input, processing, video and audio output. PC games have multiplied rapidly and their fidelity has increased over the years.

Global In-Game Advertising Market Geographical Share

North America region holds the largest market share global In-Game Advertising Market   

North America region is dominating the global in-game advertising market accounted for the largest market share in 2019 due to the growing adoption of games as a medium of advertisement by the developers. There is an increase in the launch of new games with high quality for smartphones, tablets, and consoles. Several developers are using in-game advertising as these advertisements can be displayed during the games and are non-interrupting. In-game advertising allows the developers to reach large users and increase their market presence.  In-game advertising allows the players to seamlessly play their games without any difficulties. The growing technological advancement in gaming platforms shall have a positive impact on the market. The advancement of technologies such as virtual reality and augmented reality has improved the quality of the games. These technologies have generated a new level of interest among gamers. Big data provides personalization to the gamer’s experience with the game. The growing investment in the 5G technology by the telecom providers shall increase the adoption of games with high internet requirements.

Asia-Pacific region is expected to grow at the fastest CAGR during the forecast period

Asia-Pacific region is estimated to be the fastest-growing region in the global in-game advertising market owing to the increasing availability of free mobile/ PC games using in-game advertising to increase their revenues. In-game advertising integrated with mobile/ PC games provides location and tracking features. The drastic market growth is expected to be observed in developing countries such as India, and China due to the increasing number of online game players. There is high demand for social and mobile games. There is a presence of lucrative opportunities for in-game advertising in the Asia-Pacific region. In-game advertising provides various opportunities such as advertisers content creation or while creating their advergames to the advertisers. There is an increasing number of manufacturers developing gaming smartphones, tablets, PC, and laptops. The growing domestic income and purchasing power of the people shall stimulate the market growth over the forecasted period.

In-Game Advertising Market Companies and Competitive Landscape

The in-game advertising market studied is a fragmented market with the presence of a large number of market players. RapidFire, PlaywireMedia, Electronic Arts Inc., Double Fusion, Engage Advertising, Giftgaming, Media Spike Inc., Gamelin, Social Growth Technologies, Inc., and Motive Interactive Inc. are the market players with significant market growth. The major players are adopting several growth strategies such as platform launches, acquisitions, licensing, mergers and collaborations, which are contributing to the growth of the in-game advertising market globally.  For instance,

Mergers & Collaborations:

• In August 2020, Anzu.io, a world-leading in-game advertising platform had entered into the collaboration with Ubisoft, the leading video game publisher to bring the blended in-game ads into Trackmania.
• In April 2020, Anzu.io, a world-leading in-game advertising platform had entered into the collaboration with Nielsen Connectivity to bring the advanced advertising effectiveness measurement, optimization, and real-time brand-specific metrics to in-game ad campaigns, driving a new wave of investment in video game advertising. This collaboration would allow the media sellers to measure the performance of advertising campaigns running on their digital properties quickly and effectively. It would help the media sellers to increase their value for brands and agencies.
• In September 2020, Bidstack, In-game ads firm had entered into the collaboration with the Real Cricket creator Nautilus Mobile for a new advertising partnership. Under the terms of the agreement, Bidstack would design non-intrusive ads that would be integrated into the in-game environment in Real Cricket 20. Nautilus would monetise the free space within its game efficiently.
• In August 2019, Bidstack Group, the native in-game advertising platform had entered into the collaboration with the Epic Games’ Unreal Engine. This collaboration would allow the video game developers to monetise their titles through developing the advertising space within their currently live and soon-to-be-launched games, via a new Bidstack plugin.

Platform Launch:

• In September 2020, Adverty AB had launched an in-game brand advertising format i.e., In-Menu that enables contextually relevant IAB to display banner ads on menu screens in between gameplay. In-Menu is an in-game advertising unit that provides performance-based, programmatic advertising to Adverty’s range of seamless ad solutions. It enhances a highly innovative product suite that includes the In-Play format that allows brands to take over billboards and other virtual outdoor sites within games.
• In September 2019, Adverty AB had launched the seamless in-game advertising platform into a casual action mobile game. It allows the 1 billion gamers to connect with brands in joyful, brand-safe environments during gameplay worldwide.
• In September 2016, Zero Games, a gaming company had launched the PLAKC, a native advertising platform for the casual gaming industry. This platform would be adding more features that make it attractive for a marketer/advertiser. It would allow the marketer/advertiser to dynamically change advertising creatives on the fly, have a dashboard to for observing the campaign's performance

Acquisition:

• In September 2020, Microsoft had plans to acquire ZeniMax Media Inc. for $7.5 billion in cash. This acquisition would provide the company with the ownership of some of ZeniMax's proprietary technology, including the Creation Engine, used by Bethesda to build truly massive worlds on a comparatively rapid cadence, and the id Tech engine, used in games like DOOM and RAGE 2
• In May 2014, RapidFire had acquired the IGA Worldwide's proprietary technology i.e., Radial Network for delivering real-time advertisements inside of video games. Radial Network provides the brands and advertisers to reach gamers playing AAA game titles across console, computer, and mobile video games. This technology would allow the advertisements to be streamed in real-time inside of a video game's 3D environment on objects such as billboards, hoardings, buses, and posters
• In July 2011, Live Gamer, an online marketplace for players had acquired the BrandPort, video game ad network GamerDNA and engagement advertising platform to add the advertising capabilities for game publishers.

Partnerships

In September 2020, AdColony, the in-app marketplace for brands had entered into an exclusive partnership with the global in-game advertising platform, Anzu. Under the terms of the agreement, AdColony would provide Anzu’s market-leading blended in-game advertising solutions across both display and video to brands and agencies in Australia and New Zealand.