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Adverty enters next phase of growth and global expansion by focusing founder Niklas Bakos on product strategy and promoting Tobias Knutsson to CEO
Adverty AB (publ) announces the promotion of Tobias Knutsson to CEO, alongside the appointment of Thorbjörn Warin as Chief Supply Officer, with founder Niklas Bakos to focus on product strategy and development, as the leading in-game advertising specialist enters its next phase of growth and global expansion.
Adverty, the leading in-game platform for advertisers, agencies and game developers, prepares for the next phase of growth in the commercialization of its seamless in-game brand advertising platform, by expanding the management team to accelerate developments within product and sales.
Tobias Knutsson, currently Chief Commercial Officer, brings years of leadership, strategic sales and extensive business development experience to the role as CEO of Adverty. Previously Chief Commercial Officer at DanAds, and CEO at Strossle, where he was responsible for revenue optimisation at the fast-growing media tech company, he comments: “Adverty is taking the next step in its journey towards unlocking previously unreachable audiences and comprehensive monetization streams. I am beyond excited and can’t wait for this next stage on our journey and taking the reins as CEO.”
Adverty’s founder Niklas Bakos will now be able to focus on key areas within product strategy and development, as the company readies itself for further acceleration and expansion globally. He says: “We are at an exciting junction both industry and company wise and as a leader within the in-game advertising space we continue to push our boundaries to make sure what we build today is what the industry needs both now and tomorrow. My emphasized focus will allow me as a product-centric founder to fully work on short to long term product related strategies and developments – not only the soul of the company, but fundamental to our future success.
“We have been very impressed by Tobias’ qualities, leadership skills and his contribution to the management of the company, beyond his role in sales”, says Joachim Roos, Chairman of the Board of Directors. “This change of responsibilities is a great opportunity to avoid any disruption to the current business, while setting the scene for further growth, and for the company to mature.”
To accelerate further growth of its games portfolio, Adverty is hiring Thorbjörn Warin as Chief Supply Officer. Based in Finland, Warin was previously VP of Publishing EMEA at US based adtech company AdColony, where he worked closely with game publishers in the region. With over 15 years of experience from senior roles within the mobile industry, Warin is a mentor with the first European game development accelerator and advisor to one of India’s leading mobile F2P game developers, Cympl. He served as CMO of Helsinki-based game developer Grand Cru, and, prior to that, as Head of Marketing at Berlin-based game studio, Wooga. Warin will oversee growth on the supply side, by engaging more game developers to become part of Adverty’s seamless in-game advertising portfolio, and lead a diverse team of business developers across Adverty’s offices in London, Madrid and St Petersburg.
Warin comments: “I am excited to bring Adverty’s unique, seamless and unobtrusive ad offering to more game developers across the globe and help both smaller and larger publishers maximize their ad monetisation. Gaming is slowly becoming the next big thing for brands – Verizon is set to create a virtual Super Bowl stadium in Fortnite this year – and game developers have used traditional ad solutions for years already. Now we just need to connect the dots and introduce them to the new way of monetizing through brand advertising.”
Adverty is also expanding the team further with the hire of Olga Kazanski, based out of Russia, who will join Warin’s team as Director of Business Development. A strategic-minded specialist in gaming, she joins from ad tech company Mintegral, where she focused on publisher business development.
The news follows Adverty’s recent multi-patent grants in the US and partnership announcements with InMobi and Verizon Media, which enables the media giant’s wide range of partners and advertisers access to Adverty’s in-game ad solutions, in order to reach wider audiences within gaming.
Adverty is currently in the process of strengthening its demand-side team with a replacement to the Chief Commercial Officer position.
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Totogaming Joins Cernica Pantelimon RunFest: Not Just Present, But Fully Participating
“We weren’t just present — we were participants of Runfest. And that’s one of the most important aspects,” said Artak Ashkhatoyan, Deputy CEO of Totogaming.
On July 6, Totogaming joined the Cernica Pantelimon Runfest in Romania, once again emphasizing the importance of promoting amateur sports and a healthy lifestyle.
“Supporting such initiatives is a priority for TotoGaming. First, 50% of the proceeds from RunFest will be donated to the CLOVES Romania Foundation, supporting children affected by CLOVES Syndrome. And second, we’ve always believed in showing our passion for sports through actions, not just words. Have you noticed how we’re constantly rushing through life, yet when we look back, it often feels like we haven’t moved at all? It’s important for us to lead by example and show the importance of participation. This is exactly the message we’re promoting through our team’s active involvement in the marathon. After all, there can never be too much sport in our lives,” said TotoGaming’s Deputy CEO, Artak Ashkhatoyan.
A Simple Concept, a Powerful Impact
The concept of this sports event is straightforward: choose a distance between 1 to 21 kilometers and run. The goal? Make sport an integral part of everyday life. The crowd certainly embraced that, gathering as early as 8:30 a.m. — on a Sunday morning.
Totogaming contributed in two distinct capacities: as an official sponsor and as an active participant. A dedicated team of 13 employees represented the company at the Cernica Pantelimon RunFest, with 7 of them proudly taking part as runners.
More Than Just a Run
It wasn’t an easy challenge — especially because among Totogaming’s runners were people for whom running isn’t a daily habit, or even part of their life at all. Yet they couldn’t miss the opportunity, not least from the perspective of corporate responsibility.
“We just finished the 7.5-kilometer race!” shared Petrut-Adrian Toea from the Totogaming team.
“It was amazing, honestly. Around the 2-kilometer mark, I had this little battle with myself — I told myself I had to finish the race, no matter what. And I did it! I came in around 60th place out of over 100 runners, which for me is a really good result.”
“I see my participation as a small contribution toward promoting a healthy lifestyle. In my close circle, everyone knows I’m not exactly the sporty type. I’m not athletic, and I usually prefer having fun in other ways. But showing up here, early in the morning, in this intense heat, and completing almost 8 kilometers with just one short break — I think it set a good example.”
“I hope seeing someone like me finish this challenge motivates my friends to try something similar for their own health. I believe that’s a meaningful contribution”, – added Petrut-Andrea.
Totogaming also made it possible for every attendee to bring sport into their lives — quite literally. At the Totogaming tent, participants could ride stationary bikes and receive prizes based on the number of points they earned through their efforts.
Whether they were running, cycling, or simply cheering for friends, the goal for everyone was the same: to reach the destination of champions — by bringing sport into everyday life.
The post Totogaming Joins Cernica Pantelimon RunFest: Not Just Present, But Fully Participating appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
BMM Testlabs, the world’s original gaming test lab renowned for exceptional product compliance and certification services, today announced the promotion of Sacha McLaughlin to Vice President of Global Quality Assurance.
BMM’s President of Land-Based Gaming & Inspections, Kirk White, said, “Sacha has consistently demonstrated exceptional leadership, operational excellence, and a customer-first attitude. Her experience and passion will be critical as we continue to grow our QA services to meet the always-evolving needs of the global gaming industry.”
With over 18 years of experience in software implementation and seven years in the gaming industry, McLaughlin brings extensive knowledge of both agile and waterfall development methodologies, test planning, project management, and cross-regional team leadership. She is recognized for her ability to build and scale QA organizations that deliver quality, speed, and value to customers.
McLaughlin joined BMM in 2018 and has held roles of increasing responsibility within the Company, most recently serving as Senior Director of Quality Assurance. Throughout her tenure, she has been instrumental in expanding BMM’s QA capabilities and helping customers launch products into the global gaming market more quickly, with a focus on regulatory compliance, functionality, fairness, and security.
The post BMM TESTLABS PROMOTES SACHA MCLAUGHLIN TO VICE PRESIDENT OF GLOBAL QUALITY ASSURANCE appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.
Major findings from the newly launched report include playable ads having the potential to deliver impression-to-install rates 16 times that of non-playable formats for emerging gaming apps and a 20% increase in spending on interactive ads year over year.
Liftoff, a leading AI-enabled growth platform for the mobile app economy, has published its seventh annual Mobile Ad Creative Index. The report explores top creative trends that are attracting and scaling in ad spend across consumer apps and games. It also highlights the expanding role of AI in creative production, testing, and optimization.
This year’s Mobile Ad Creative Index specifically analyzes creative concepts that have excelled in scale for Liftoff’s highest-spending advertisers over the past 12 to 48 months. It is based on findings from over 4.7 trillion impressions, 263 billion clicks, and 1.1 billion installs between 1 January 2023 and 31 May 2025.
Highlights from the report include:
Top consumer apps are investing in interactive ads to compete for engagement
In 2024, the share of spend on interactive ads for top apps increased by 20% year over year. The share of spend increased by 2% for spenders outside the top tier. Top-spending apps differentiate their campaigns by adding innovations to evergreen concepts such as social scrollers, carousels, and scratch-offs.
Playable ads deliver returns across ad budgets for mobile game advertisers
In 2024, the share of spend on playable ads for top games averaged 35% higher than other games. Across all ad budgets, however, playable ads delivered higher conversion rates. Impression-to-install rates were 8 times that of non-playable formats for top spenders and 16 times that of non-playable formats for other game advertisers.
Tailoring “metaplay” elements to motivations can improve performance
“Metaplay” elements—gameplay that diverges from an app’s core design to appeal to a broader audience—are widespread, but top games gain an edge by tailoring their metaplay ads to the publisher audience. The report found that aligning “metaplay” creative with publisher audiences resulted in a 93% increase in installs-per-mille.
UGC is becoming a key differentiator in driving scale for consumer apps
The share of spend on user-generated content (UGC) increased 11% for top-spending apps, with social and utility apps seeing the most significant jump of nearly 30% between 2023 and 2024.
Widespread adoption of Gen AI leads to more customized ad experiences
Creative teams increasingly leverage AI to enhance top-performing assets with 3D and motion and to create and test variations. Top advertisers also use AI to recombine their assets in customized ad experiences that break away from standard video to playable formats.
Yann Zeller, Chief of Staff, Creative at Liftoff, said: “Today’s creative landscape is shaped by a single, powerful truth: attention is the commodity, and brands, games, and influencers are all vying for it. Great mobile ad experiences can earn attention by aligning context with behavior. As ad formats become richer and AI expands our ability to personalize and adapt creatives at scale, we’re able to unlock new insights into user behavior and motivation. We see users spend meaningful stretches with the right content, sometimes 60 to 90 seconds when the ad feels personal or prompts meaningful participation. This isn’t just a better way to advertise—it’s a better way to tell stories and the most exciting brief we’ve had in years.”
Soren Steelquist, Director of Creative Production, said: “The proof is in the data—more and more consumer apps are incorporating UGC into every stage of their marketing, and programmatic is no different. UGC works because it’s authentic and relatable, and users are more likely to be influenced by ad when it’s coming from a trustworthy source. To see higher impact from UGC creatives, work with a partner that can match the right creator with your brand and develop winning concepts that resonate with audiences.”
The post Liftoff’s 2025 Mobile Ad Creative Index Reveals UGC Is a Key Differentiator for Top Apps appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.
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