Gaming
Innovative new AdTech provider Interact makes a splash with charity: water partnership
Interact, a pioneering new AdTech platform that offers immersive in-game advertising solutions for brands, has announced that its innovative new technology raised awareness of the ‘Clean Water Pledge’ by charity: water. The display campaign resulted in hundreds of thousands of impressions, with one in four [27.5%] users tapping on the interactive in-game billboards.
The success of this partnership marks a strong start to the year for Interact. Launched in December 2021 by leading video game publisher Playstack, Interact is a new form of advertising technology. Interact seamlessly places brands into games in a non-disruptive way, making them part of the play. Its unique approach makes in-game brand engagement easy, accessible and relevant to developers, brands and players alike.
Interact prides itself on delivering non-intrusive ads that encourage engagement without disrupting gameplay in any way. Building on years of knowledge and gaming industry experience, Interact’s SDK integrates easily into games, using simple tools to deliver advertising solutions. The expert team works with top brands, building bespoke ads with multiple touch points, that work for developers, players and brands.
The perfect partnership for Idle Aquarium and Idle Sea Park, the charity: water interactive billboards integrated seamlessly into the mobile game in locations, just like those where they would be seen in real life – such as beside exhibitions. Over the course of 15 days, the billboards were watched for over 180 hours, with an impressive 27.5% of viewers tapping to find out more.
Peter Griffin, Head of Brand Partnerships at Interact, said: “At Interact, we are really passionate about creating campaigns that really make brands part of the play – adding to in-game player experience rather than disrupting it. We focus on finding the right brand partnerships and ensuring that our ads make sense, resulting in lifelike experiences in games, that are just like you would see in the real world. We work closely with developers, making it easy for them to integrate our SDK into their games in a way that benefits everyone.
“Supporting charity: water to deliver in-game ads in Idle Aquarium and Idle Sea Park was a collaboration that just made sense. It fitted so well with the games, and was such a relatable brand for players. We are really happy with the results the campaign achieved, especially for such a worthy cause.”
The charity: water campaign, which was launched in partnership with Walk-In Media to coincide with World Water Day [Tuesday 22 March], saw groundbreaking interactive ads served in Playstack’s Idle Aquarium and Idle Sea Park mobile games. Using cutting edge new technology from Interact, interactive water-themed billboards were placed into the in-game parks, which players could then click on to find out more about charity: water and the ‘Clean Water Pledge’.
Ellie Scouller, Brand & Communications Senior Manager, charity: water, said: “It’s been a great experience working with the Playstack team to test this new form of in-game advertising. We’re always looking for innovative and engaging ways to tell more people about the water crisis and our work.
“There are currently 771million people living without access to clean water, that’s 1 in 10 or ten times the population of the UK. It’s a massive problem but one we know how to fix, we just need more people to help. A big thank you to Playstack for their support of our World Water Day campaign. We look forward to working more with them in the future!”
Interact places great importance on measurement across its campaigns, offering the best possible value for its clients. Giving prominence to accuracy, Interact calculates impressions by a number of set criteria including viewing angle, screen space and visibility duration.
With Interact, brands really are part of the play.
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The former Founder and CEO of Grover Gaming has officially launched a new brand in land-based gaming. Named by combining the names of his daughters, Valicy Gaming was unveiled during a recent company launch party held in Greenville, North Carolina.
Evolving from Grover Gaming—which was recently sold to Light & Wonder for a total consideration of $1.05 billion —Valicy will now focus on becoming a major manufacturer in land-based gaming across North America. Retaining a majority of the employees from the acquisition, Valicy will continue forward with a veteran team that will have a sharper focus on game development and hardware design.
Despite the name change, Valicy continues under the same experienced executive leadership team and remains dedicated to providing best-in-class customer service and technical support—qualities customers have come to depend on. The company’s values, represented by its CARE triangle—People, Company, and Work—are deeply rooted in its culture and will remain central to its mission moving forward.
The public debut of the Valicy brand will take place at the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) in Las Vegas, October 6–9, at the Venetian Expo, Booth #1623, where the team will showcase its new identity and game offerings to casino partners and operators from across the industry.
“This is an exciting time for our teams,” said Garrett Blackwelder, Founder and CEO of Valicy. “We have the opportunity to do big things in new markets, which gives us energy and enthusiasm. As we grow Valicy, we will focus on relationships, excellence, and innovation.”
The post Valicy Gaming Launches as New Brand in Land-Based Gaming, Evolving from Grover Gaming appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.
Call of Duty
Monster Energy and Call of Duty Unite Again with Exclusive In-Game Rewards and Expanded Program Timing
Monster Energy is teaming up once again with Call of Duty to deliver bonus in-game rewards, bonus 2XP and an expanded promotional window that gives fans even more opportunities to fuel up and power their gameplay.
Gamers and Monster fans can start collecting codes to stockpile rewards ahead of the highly anticipated release of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 on November 14. Following the record-breaking success of the last year’s program – the 2025 campaign has been extended and will run through March 31, 2026, with code redemption available until April 30, 2026.
Players who purchase specially marked Call of Duty cans of Monster Energy, Monster Zero Sugar, or Monster Zero Ultra can find a unique code under the tab and redeem it online at callofduty.monsterenergy.com. Every can unlocks bonus in-game items and double experience points.
2025 in-game rewards include:
• 1 Can = “Energy Flash” Large Decal + 15 min 2XP
• 2 Cans = “Peacekeeper MK1 – Hyper Green” Weapon Blueprint + 15 min 2XP
• 3 Cans = “Green Fury” Operator Skin + 15 min 2XP
• 4 Cans = “VS Recon – Green Thunder” Weapon Blueprint + 15 min 2XP
• 5 Cans = “Daylight Ripper” Operator Skin Recolor + 15 min 2XP
In addition, select retailers will feature specialty bonus in-game content such as Emblems, Charms, Weapon Stickers, and Dual 2XP.
And as an added bonus, fans who create an account on callofduty.monsterenergy.com before October 31 will score a Black Ops 6 in-game skin – no purchase required.
“Monster Energy is built on fueling competitive spirit and our collaboration with Call of Duty continues to push that to new levels. With expanded timing, bonus rewards and the unmatched value of Double XP in every can, this year’s program is our biggest and most exciting yet,” said Dan McHugh, Global Chief Marketing Officer at Monster Energy.
“We’re proud to continue building on the success of our partnership with Monster Energy. Monster is the go-to fuel of gamers and they are going to drink up these exciting in-game rewards,” added Cody Neal, Associate Director of Global Partnerships, Call of Duty.
The limited-edition Monster Energy Call of Duty cans are available in 16oz in Original Monster Energy, Monster Zero Sugar and Monster Zero Ultra. Special 4, 12, and 15 can Monster Energy Call of Duty multipacks are on shelves now.
The post Monster Energy and Call of Duty Unite Again with Exclusive In-Game Rewards and Expanded Program Timing appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.
Gaming
Gamescom 2025: New Records and Important Impetus for the Games Industry in Germany and Worldwide
Gamescom 2025 ended with numerous new records and strong momentum for the games industry in Germany and worldwide. Records were once again set, particularly in terms of key figures such as internationality (70% of visitors from abroad, exhibitors from 72 countries), digital reach (more than 630 million views worldwide by 23 August evening alone), exhibition space (233,000 square metres) and the number of exhibitors (1568). On site, 357,000 fans visited the world’s largest festival of games culture. The number of trade visitors rose to 34,000, with a particularly strong increase in participants from the US, China, Canada and Japan.
“This year, gamescom 2025 is sending out a particularly positive signal. After two challenging years for the games industry, you could really feel the mood improving this year. The new record figures underline not only the global appeal of gamescom, but also the upward trend in the entire games industry. gamescom 2025 is also a milestone for the German games industry: political support for the additional tax-based games funding at gamescom was stronger than ever – from both the federal and the state level alike. This creates hope that progress will be made quickly. But there were also positive signals on many other political topics, whether for e-sports from Federal Minister Bär at the political opening or from Federal Minister for Family Affairs Karin Prien, who was just as convinced of the important work of the USK in the protection of minors as she was of the enormous potential of games for the education sector,” said Felix Falk, Managing Director of game – The German Games Industry Association, the co-organiser of gamescom.
Political interest in gamescom 2025 was greater than ever before. In total, over 600 politicians came to Cologne to see for themselves the current developments in the games industry and the enormous economic, cultural and technological potential of games. Whether from the federal states, the federal government or the EU, the political guests came from all levels. In addition, a particularly large number of international delegations travelled to gamescom, for example from this year’s gamescom partner country Thailand as well as from Brazil, Indonesia and India.
Gamescom 2026 will take place from 26 to 30 August. It will open on 25 August 2026 with the gamescom Opening Night Live.
The post Gamescom 2025: New Records and Important Impetus for the Games Industry in Germany and Worldwide appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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