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The news: Gaming is becoming a powerful vehicle for delivering ads to engaged audiences, with gamers spending significant time gaming across platforms, per a study from Activision Blizzard Media. Seventy percent of gamers play or watch video games daily, while 95% play or watch weekly. Seventy-seven percent of weekly gamers play on mobile devices, while 52% play on console and 34% play on PC. Our take: In-game advertising provides reach that few other channels can match, connecting with an engaged, highly attentive, and diverse audience, making it a critical touchpoint鈥攂ut advertisers must understand what strategies work best.

The news: Affirm partnered with Shopmonkey and Xsolla so auto mechanics and video game developers can offer installment plans at checkout. Our take: Affirm has focused on building out its partnership network and the Affirm Card鈥攁nd its fiscal Q3 results (ended March 31, 2025) bear out the strategies鈥� success, with total revenues increasing 36% YoY.

Video games now reach players of all ages, but kids and teens remain key to growth. Recent data shows who's gaming, what revenue forecasts look like, and gamers' sentiments about ads.

The news: Gamers are more involved in gaming content than ever before, thanks in large part to titles like Roblox, Minecraft, and Fortnite. And they鈥檙e not keeping that interest solely on-platform. 46% of gamers say their time spent creating in-game video game content has somewhat or significantly increased over a year ago, per Bain & Company鈥檚 Gaming Report 2025. 蘑菇AV 20% say they spend less time. 27% of 驳补尘别谤蝉鈥� social media time and 25% of their streaming video time is spent focused on gaming-related content. Our take: The gaming audience is growing, and it鈥檚 not focused on a single platform or console. 骋补尘别谤蝉鈥� interests reach through the game and into social media, streaming, TV, and audio, giving marketers a wide path to reach gamers where they are.

The news: OpenAI鈥檚 GPT-5 could be the start of ChatGPT becoming a transaction-driven super app that monetizes user intent, not attention. GPT-5鈥檚 router鈥攚hich analyzes queries and decides how hard to 鈥渢hink鈥� based on complexity鈥攍ets OpenAI invest more resources during high-intent moments like 鈥渃ompare hiking boots under $200鈥� or 鈥渂est smart TVs for co-op 驳补尘颈苍驳.鈥� Prioritizing queries with high commercial value could help OpenAI monetize users not through ads but via affiliate or take-rate revenues, per SemiAnalysis. Partnerships with Shopify and others suggest that monetization stack is already on the way. Our take: A full-service ChatGPT that鈥檚 intuitive enough to guide full shopping journeys inside a chatbot while keeping backend costs minimal could rewrite the AI platform鈥檚 business model. Brands should be working to optimize for AI-native commerce and integrate with agentic tools.

The news: Despite its massive reach, gaming still accounts for less than 5% of worldwide media investment, per Dentsu鈥檚 2025 Gaming Trends report鈥攊ndicating a disparity between where audiences spend their time and where advertisers invest. Our take: Concerns about brand safety with in-game advertising linger, but brands that are willing to take the risk stand to gain through an approach that considers that simply investing in the format isn鈥檛 enough to drive results.

Netflix's Q2 2025 earnings results came in at $11.1 billion in total revenues. The company鈥檚 shift away from reporting net subscriber growth now places investor focus squarely on margins, ad performance, and global monetization. While churn remains low and its brand strong, Netflix faces growing competition from YouTube and TikTok for user screen time. With hit content, live sports, and gaming on deck, the streaming giant鈥檚 next act will test its ability to monetize an already massive user base while retaining cultural dominance. For Netflix, growth now means doing more with what it already has.

The news: Gen Z鈥檚 media habits are changing fast鈥攁nd most brands aren鈥檛 keeping up. New data shows Gen Z spends hours on social media daily, but not passively: they鈥檙e engaging in participatory, creator-led environments where trust and relatability matter more than production polish. Fifty-two percent say they feel closer to creators than celebrities. Gaming platforms like Roblox are central, with adults 25鈥�34 averaging 100 minutes per session. Our take: legacy ad formats don鈥檛 cut it anymore. To earn Gen Z鈥檚 attention, brands need to integrate into native experiences, empower creators as collaborators, and measure more than just impressions.

The news: On Thursday, Nintendo released the Switch 2, 鈥嬧�媔ts first new console since the Nintendo Switch was launched in 2017. The handheld device comes with upgraded specs, social gaming features, and bundles with exclusive titles like Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza. It also includes GameChat, a feature that combines voice and video and lets up to 12 people chat while playing games. Our take: With a growing package of subscription perks and social hooks like GameChat, Nintendo may be taking a page from Apple鈥檚 playbook by turning its hardware into a recurring revenue engine. The Switch 2 could be a sticky ecosystem for Nintendo, even if the price goes up.

More than just a cloud leader: Microsoft ad revenues surged 21%, gaming stabilized, and LinkedIn grew, too.

Gaming audiences are a powerful force in back-to-school shopping, influencing both digital and in-store purchases. Activision Blizzard Media鈥檚 latest research reveals how this often-overlooked group鈥攎any of them parents鈥攁re planning early, spending big, and responding to mobile-first ads.

Companies waste no time hiking prices: The cost of everything from coffee to video game consoles to sexual wellness products is going up, which will prompt shifts in consumer spending habits.

50% of adult US mobile gamers spend between $1 and $50 per year on mobile games, according to an April 2024 CivicScience survey.

Nearly two-thirds of digital advertising spending in 2025 will be delivered on mobile devices. Tariffs may dampen spending growth but shouldn鈥檛 reduce mobile鈥檚 share of the digital advertising pie.

Xbox hits 500M MAUs and $5 billion Game Pass run rate: Franchise power and console loyalty fuel Microsoft鈥檚 gaming momentum.

The situation: Best Buy鈥檚 comparable sales rose 1.6% in Q2, its fastest pace in three years, driven by gains in gaming, computing, and mobile phones. A major boost came from the high-profile launch of Nintendo Switch 2, which pushed June sales up nearly 10%鈥攖he retailer鈥檚 best month since March 2021, per Bloomberg Second Measure, which tracks US debit and credit transactions. Our take: Best Buy is experimenting to reignite growth. Earlier this month it rolled out a third-party marketplace to broaden its assortment and began testing a store-within-a-store partnership with Ikea, positioning its appliances inside Ikea kitchens and laundry rooms. While neither move is likely to be a game-changer, in today鈥檚 tough environment, even small wins matter. Still, to spark lasting growth, Best Buy may need to augment these moves with bolder bets in services and subscriptions.