Our trends for gaming advertising

2024 was a fairly fraught year for the gaming industry. Overall, the number of casual and serious gamers are continuing to grow. But industry layoffs within studios were the highest reported yet, totaling almost 15,000 developers, marketers, and programmers according to the Game Industry Layoff Tracker.

The gaming industry itself has widely been considered to be in a downturn for 2023 and 2024. Experts believe this two-year valley for gaming studios and employers may be over. But in the highly-competitive attention economy, advertisers will have to work harder than ever to find their audiences. Read on to see our trends for gaming advertising in 2025.

In: Around-the-game and in-game advertising

Immersive, evergreen games like Fortnite or Roblox have massive audiences that span a wide variety of demographics, which makes it an ideal place for advertisers to target gamers of all ages. Through customization and branded partnerships, brands can create positive play experiences with their products, even if they’re not necessarily gaming-adjacent.

Just take a look at the Hellman’s-branded battle arena we discussed in our LinkedIn newsletter. Unilever wanted to reach a younger audience that wasn’t as tuned in to television or other ad formatting available. So they flipped the script and made the advertisement a place Gen Z would want to be: a fun, competitive island in Fortnite.

Out: Longform video

Attention spans have been dwindling over the last few years (thank you, TikTok). While longform video is making a serious comeback on platforms like YouTube, in terms of advertising, short and snappy is king.

Another hurdle is the all-powerful mute button. Users on social platforms like X, Facebook, and Bluesky often choose to scroll without sound, which means if your advertisement isn’t subtitled or relies too much on soundscapes to sell your product, the messaging may be completely missed by users.

Our advice for 2025 is stick with short videos and utilize subtitles for accessibility, so you can reach those silent scrollers.

In: GaaS

With the time between AAA and AA studio releases stretching into a 2 or even 3 year wait for players, more and more gamers are turning to GaaS franchises. Gamers get to immerse themselves in worlds they love, like Genshin Impact or Elder Scrolls Online, and reap the rewards of constant updates and expansions.

Another perk for GaaS is the buy-in price to pay is typically free, or nearly free. When a gamer is looking at a $60 AAA title that offers 40 hours of playtime, as opposed to a free-to-play GaaS that offers purchases at the player’s discretion with new content coming throughout the year, which do you think they’ll choose?

Out: Console loyalty

Gone are the days of Playstation vs. Xbox. Now, it’s all about the franchise. With popular games bridging the formidable gap between consoles and Xbox decreeing that basically *anything* is an Xbox now, gamers are less loyal to their chosen console and more likely to move to where the game lives. Dedicated PC gamers can now pick up a Steam Deck or a Switch when they’re AFK and play the same software across both consoles.

Because of this, more developers are looking at porting existing software to other consoles and platforms. New releases are often launching on multiple consoles, as opposed to a launch locked behind a Playstation, Xbox, or PC release. In 2025, we’re expecting to see more broad applications of franchises that may have been traditionally console, PC or mobile.

In: Branded content

Gamers turn to curated content from their favorite sites for everything. Whether it’s the announcement of new titles to add to their wishlist, walkthroughs and hints for achieving that last coveted achievement on their playthrough, or reviews and retrospectives of games they missed, gamers appreciate content from gaming news sources and tools. Clients can work in tandem with these sites and sources to create branded content, situated specifically to inform, introduce, or entice a loyal readership into engaging with the brand.

For studios, it’s a goldmine for reaching an incredibly relevant audience in a channel they’re more likely to pay attention to. Branded content, written in the right way and created with the intent to interest and engage the site’s audience, can bring in valuable returns for the client. Make 2025 the year you invest in branded content.

If you want to reach more relevant audiences in 2025, reach out to us here to discuss our advertising solutions and bespoke packages.