Gaming
EMPIRE Leverages In-Game Advertising Within iOS’s #1 Sports Game To Bring Afro Pop Artist Kizz Daniel To Soccer Fans During The FIFA World Cup
American independent record label EMPIRE partnered with the world’s most advanced in-game advertising platform Anzu.io to reach gamers during the FIFA World Cup with an ad campaign for Afro pop artist Kizz Daniel’s latest single, “Cough”.
Kizz Daniel became synonymous with soccer after performing at the FIFA World Cup. Off the back of this success, his record label EMPIRE launched a cross-channel campaign to promote his new single, which he performed live in Qatar to a packed stadium of soccer fans, by tapping into the excitement of the global competition.
As gaming was part of the marketing mix, Anzu helped EMPIRE to tap into Soccer Super Star, a mobile game ranked number one in the sports games category on iOS and boasts over a million monthly active users globally (Newzoo). There’s an established synergy between music and sports gamers, with Comscore data showing that players of Soccer Super Star are up to 30 times more likely to visit music-related websites, which made it a perfect fit for EMPIRE to leverage Kizz Daniel’s performance.
Using Anzu’s geo-targeting capabilities, EMPIRE was able to serve the in-game ads to players within countries that were competing in the quarter-finals of the tournament. Intrinsic in-game advertising is already known for high attention and viewability levels, and this campaign was no exception, achieving a 99.91% in-view rate measured by Oracle Moat.
“We previously worked with Anzu on a campaign for another artist Babyface Ray and saw huge success and interest from players for his music. When we learned that Anzu was able to bring our latest campaign to the most popular sports title on iOS and allow us to hone in on our target audience of World Cup fans, working with them again was a no-brainer,” said Peter Kadin, SVP Marketing at EMPIRE.
“Using gaming as an extension of a real-world campaign or experience is nothing new, especially in sports games, as we are used to seeing ads in these environments in the real world, and in-game advertising allows advertisers to bring their campaigns to stadiums, courts, and arenas, enhancing game realism. However, this campaign was unique because it allowed us to help EMPIRE tap into the excitement of the FIFA World Cup and expose an overlap between sports and music fans,” said Natalia Vasilyeva, EVP Marketing & Strategy at Anzu.
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Gaming
The mobile gaming market is growing and attracting new companies. GAMIVO is the latest example
Usually, consoles and PCs come to mind when discussing the gaming industry. The mobile sector is often treated as a child of a lesser god, even though it generates almost as much revenue as console and PC combined. Some companies can see this potential. For instance, the e-commerce platform GAMIVO has recently entered the mobile market, allowing players to buy in-game items cheaper.
Back on course
The entire video game industry has evolved incredibly, but the most spectacular has been the growth of the mobile sector. It expanded from 36.9 million dollars in 2016 to 93.2 billion in 2021. Unfortunately, the gaming market suffered from a decline that stemmed from the overoptimism of the pandemic era. As a result, the mobile gaming industry revenues dropped to 92.2 billion in 2022 and to 90.5 billion in 2023. Recent information has indicated this was a necessary correction rather than a long-term trend.
The latest Newzoo report, issued in August 2024, shows that the industry is on the right track again. According to analysts, the mobile sector will generate revenues of $92.6 billion, representing +3.0% growth year-on-year. It’s nearly half of the entire gaming industry.
Billions of players
Revenues are crucial, but they only show part of the story. To fully understand the size and potential of mobile gaming, it’s necessary to consider the number of players, which constantly grew even when revenues dropped. Newzoo estimates that it will reach 2.8 billion in 2024. It means that almost twice as many people play on mobile devices than on PCs and consoles combined. Currently, every third person on Earth plays on mobile devices, and there’s still space for further growth.
“There are emerging markets where smartphones and mobile networks can expand, providing new potential players. Furthermore, this type of entertainment has a low entry barrier because most popular games are free and don’t require high-end devices,” explains Mateusz Śmieżewski, the CEO at GAMIVO.
One hobby, different habits
GAMIVO is an example of a company that has recently joined the party to get a piece of the mobile pie. “We examined the mobile market for a very long time, trying to find a suitable place for us. It’s essential to understand that mobile gaming and mobile gamers differ from their PC or console counterparts. You can’t do the same things you do with PC and consoles and hope to replicate your success,” said Mateusz Śmieżewski.
Studies confirm this observation. Average PC and console players spend about 2.1 hours a day in virtual worlds. It’s half an hour more than mobile gamers. However, things get interesting when we take a look at playtime per week, which is the same for mobile and console (5.4 hours) and slightly longer for PC (5.7 hours). Moreover, typical PC and console owners play 2.6 and 2.7 days a week, respectively, while mobile players play 3.4 days per week.
Those statistics prove that PC and console players are more dedicated, spending more time in games’ worlds once they enter them. However, mobile gamers prefer shorter but more frequent sessions. They play while commuting or have a short amount of free time.
“Mobile players are more willing to uninstall games and give another title a chance. Hence, the gameplay has to be captivating and designed to provide quick but intense sessions.
Furthermore, even though the average weekly playtime is identical to PC players, many mobile players don’t think of themselves as gamers,” clarifies Mateusz Śmieżewski.
Another major difference regards the way in which revenue is generated. PC and console games traditionally represent the premium model, where players buy the game. Most popular mobile releases are free and generate revenue with microtransactions. Almost all titles allow players to spend their real money on virtual coins, crystals, and other items that can be used to unlock additional content or reduce cooldowns.
Entering the mobile market
Those contrasts and nuances scare most companies from the mobile market. Let’s see how GAMIVO has coped with this.
“We decided to launch a new product category dedicated to mobile gamers. Our model allows them to top up in-game accounts cheaply. As a result, they can save up to 30% on buying virtual items, upgrades, and other content. The GAMIVO offer includes the most popular mobile titles, such as Genshin Impact and PUBG Mobile, and still extends,” describes Mateusz Śmieżewski.
“We dedicated a lot of time to research and analyses. Also, the development process required a lot of work to provide GAMIVO customers with safe transactions and a user-friendly environment. The first reactions are very positive, confirming our belief that our decision was right and there is still more space in the mobile game market,” concludes the GAMIVO CEO.
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ADG
Arizona Department of Gaming Reports $43.9 Million in Tribal Gaming Contributions for the First Quarter of Fiscal Year 2025
The Arizona Department of Gaming (ADG) announced today $43,926,346 in tribal gaming contributions to the Arizona Benefits Fund for the first quarter of Fiscal Year (FY) 2025. This amount represents an
approximate 3.6 percent increase when compared to the same quarter of FY 2024.
The Arizona Benefits Fund receives 88 percent of tribal gaming contributions, providing significant dollars to support instructional improvement in schools, trauma and emergency care, tourism, and wildlife conservation throughout the state.
FY 2025 Qtr 1 Total: Tribal Gaming Contributions to the Arizona Benefits Fund.
“We are pleased to report yet another increase in the first quarter of the FY 2025, reflecting steady growth in the state’s tribal gaming industry,’ said Jackie Johnson, Director of ADG. “This growth highlights the continued strengtht
of the partnership between the state and our Arizona tribal partners. Notably, cumulative tribal contributions to the Instructional Improvement Fund have now surpassed $1 billion, demonstrating the significant and ongoing impact of tribal gaming on education and communities across Arizona.
Per the Arizona Tribal-State Gaming Compact, Tribes with casinos also contribute a percentage of their Class gross gaming revenue to cities, towns, and counties. Currently, there are 25 Class Il casinos in Arizona, which ADG
regulates in partnership with Arizona tribes. Since FY 2004, approximately $2.3 billion in cumulative contributions
have been received by the state and its cities, towns, and counties.
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