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The news: Ad quality has a big impact on whether gamers will stay in the game or walk away from a session. Over half (52%) of gamers in the US, the UK, Germany, and Japan would quit playing if they encountered multiple disruptive ad features, per Deloitte鈥檚 Quality Drives Value: A Look into Mobile Gaming Ads survey. Our take: Prioritizing features like rewards and skip options can help players feel in control and properly compensated for their time, helping mobile gamers to stay engaged, click through, and return. Poorly timed or deceptive ads, on the other hand, risk alienating gamers and increasing churn.

Digital gaming has become one of the most popular activities in the world, thanks mainly to the proliferation of smartphones and free mobile games. Here is our worldwide forecast for total gamers, with breakouts by region and for 13 countries.

Game developers, martech platforms, and agencies are increasingly trying to convince advertisers that consumers playing mobile games are worth reaching.

Scopely鈥檚 $3.5 billion acquisition of Niantic鈥檚 games division strengthens its position in mobile gaming. Pok茅mon Go鈥檚 live-service model opens new revenue streams through in-game advertising, branded integrations, and sponsorships.

Mobile-first gaming leads the charge into 2025: Smartphones and portable consoles are reshaping gaming as enhanced hardware makes premium mobile games a competitive force.

US mobile game ad revenues. US digital gamer penetration, by age. US esports viewers.

In-game advertising is also effective at boosting brand recall compared with other channels: A PepsiCo study discovered that advertising within mobile games boosted recall to 21.9%, compared with the average 5.5%. Will it work? The companies are betting on the untapped potential of in-game audio ads specifically at driving action.

Advertising in games boost brand recall significantly鈥攁 PepsiCo study found that advertising in mobile games boosts recall to 21.9% compared with the average 5.5%, while Overwolf Ads found that PC gamers show 50% higher brand recall for integrated gaming ads.

Up until that point, the company owned over 200 free-to-play mobile games that served as valuable data sources for AppLovin鈥檚 ad tech ecosystem. (We forecast US mobile game ad revenues will reach $7.96 billion by the end of this year.) By analyzing in-game behavior, the company offers advertisers precise user segmentation and targeting鈥攕omething that consumers increasingly see as less obtrusive.

Gen Z and millennials are particularly likely to discover brands through mobile game advertising compared with older generations, and 45% of consumers from these demographics are interested in buying products while gaming.

That could alter how studios design games, shifting toward shorter, modular, pick-up-and-play formats optimized for mobile gaming hardware. The Xbox鈥檚 key advantages are deep integration with Windows 11, which enables its  handheld consoles to work as personal computers, and Microsoft鈥檚 cloud gaming ecosystem.

Mobile gaming is fueling the growth. We don鈥檛 forecast mobile gamers in Canada, but smartphones are clearly the top device for gamers. Our US forecasts show that 90.0% of digital gamers play on a smartphone compared with 49.6% who use a gaming console. Because any digital device will suffice, the barriers to digital gaming adoption are low.

The news: Gamers prefer mobile gaming, prioritize cross-platform gaming, and have mixed attitudes toward in-game ads. 73% of US and UK gamers primarily play video games on smartphones or tablets, per Attest鈥檚 2025 Gaming Consumer Insights report. Half (51%) said cross-platform play is important. 32% actively ignore in-game ads, 31% find them intrusive, and 32% think they鈥檙e helpful.

Fetch is already entrenched in the grocery vertical, and last year it launched Fetch Play, which offers rewards for mobile gaming. The expansion into streaming, where most consumers are, is a natural progression. Kochava can track incentives, watch times, and video popularity and share that data with streamers.

As mobile games adjust to privacy rules and consoles pursue new native ad formats, brands finally have more chances to advertise in games.

Most in-game ads advertise other mobile games, with an app install as the primary goal. Some of the more effective install ads are interstitial video ads, playable ads, or rewarded ads that give players in-game currency for watching the ad. These formats offer interactivity that could work well with ecommerce, especially if combined with Axon鈥檚 consumer insights.