What Is In-Game Advertising and How Does It Work?
In-game advertising has moved well beyond novelty status. Brands from virtually every vertical are embedding themselves into gaming environments — not as interruptions, but as elements woven into the experience itself. This guide covers what in-game advertising is, how the three main formats work, how ads are served and measured, and which AdTech companies are most active in the space.
The in-game advertising market is estimated to reach $18.4 billion USD by 2027, a figure that reflects both the scale of the gaming audience and the maturation of the underlying ad infrastructure.
What Is In-Game Advertising?
In-game advertising (IGA) is a type of digital advertising that displays image, video, and audio ads inside video games. Most examples of IGA are found inside mobile games on iOS and Android, but they also appear in games played on PCs and consoles such as Xbox and PlayStation.
There are three main forms of in-game advertisements: dynamic in-game ads, static ads, and gamevertising.
The Three Forms of In-Game Advertising
Static In-Game Ads
Static ads are placed on stationary elements such as virtual billboards, posters, and banners. Once introduced into the game, they cannot be changed — they are effectively hardcoded into the game asset.
The first static ads in games appeared in the 1980s. In 1992, Chupa Chups presented their lollipops as a background element in Zool: Ninja of the Nth Dimension. Two years later, Adidas and Panasonic showed their logos on in-game banners in FIFA International Soccer.
Because static placements are baked into the game itself, there is no mechanism for swapping creatives after launch, and measuring whether a specific player has actually seen the ad is difficult. Brand-lift studies tend to be the primary measurement approach in these cases.
Dynamic In-Game Ads (DIGA)
Dynamic ads evolved as internet connectivity became standard. Their most common formats are billboards and posters placed in contextually appropriate locations within the game world. What sets them apart from static placements is their variability: the same billboard that displays a Coca-Cola ad today might show a Subway ad the next time a player passes it.
Dynamic ads require an active internet connection to update as players progress. Ad delivery is typically facilitated by an SDK that sits between the game and the player's device — a smartphone, for example — and handles communication with the ad server.
Gamevertising
Gamevertising moves beyond ad placement and into brand ownership of the game experience itself. It typically takes one of two forms:
- Brand-created games — A brand develops its own game as a marketing vehicle. RedBull's Bike Unchained is a well-known example, putting the brand's identity at the centre of a mountain biking game.
- Brand integration within existing games — Game developers build real-world brands into core mechanics. In Forza Horizon 4, for instance, players choose from real manufacturer marques — Ford, Dodge, Audi, and others — making the brand relationship inseparable from gameplay.
A third variant involves directing players toward in-game storefronts stocked with items promoted by influencers, a mechanic popularized in mobile titles associated with celebrities such as Kim Kardashian.
How Are In-Game Ads Served and Measured?
The ad-serving process varies depending on the ad type and the platform:
- Static ads are hardcoded into game assets at development time. There is no real-time serving infrastructure involved.
- Dynamic ads require an active internet connection and typically rely on an SDK to facilitate communication between the game environment and the ad server.
Measurement Options
Measurement in IGA is more constrained than in standard display or video advertising, though the toolset is growing.
Brand-lift studies are currently the primary option for static in-game ads. Because those placements are part of the game environment itself, it is difficult to confirm with certainty whether a given user has seen an ad — making recall and awareness surveys the most practical approach.
The IAB's Open Measurement SDK (OM SDK) can be applied to certain dynamic in-game ads when connected to a mobile game, enabling viewability measurement more in line with standard digital advertising metrics. This opens the door to more direct comparisons with other ad channels — including ad viewability, audience verification, and fraud detection signals.
Innovation in measurement is ongoing. Cross-platform interoperability and the extension of programmatic infrastructure to console and PC environments have made it increasingly possible to apply digital advertising standards to gaming contexts that were previously difficult to quantify. In late 2022, Cannes Lions revealed that gaming would have its own dedicated category at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity 2023 — a signal of the industry's growing recognition of gaming as a serious advertising medium.
Advantages of In-Game Advertising
Compared to banner ads and pop-ups, in-game ads tend to be perceived as natural and non-invasive. When an ad appears on a billboard in a realistic open-world game, it fits the environment rather than interrupting it — which generally translates to higher receptivity.
Telepresence
One phenomenon worth noting is telepresence: the experience of actually interacting with the advertised brand within the game world. A player who selects an Audi in Forza Horizon 4 and then drives it for an hour has a qualitatively different brand interaction than someone who glances at a banner ad. This kind of active engagement is difficult to replicate in traditional digital advertising formats.
Other Practical Advantages
- Geo-targeting — Dynamic in-game ads can be targeted by geography, allowing regional campaigns within a global game.
- Real-time ad moderation — Creatives can be updated or pulled without requiring a new game build.
- Fast implementation — New advertising creatives can be deployed quickly through the SDK infrastructure, without patching the game itself.
AdTech Companies Specializing in In-Game Advertising
Several specialized vendors have built platforms and services around in-game advertising. The list below covers some of the more prominent players.
bidstack logo
BidStack enables advertisers to reach audiences through in-game advertising with an emphasis on preserving an undisturbed playing experience.
Founded: 2015 Headquarters: London, Great Britain
anzu anzu logo
Anzu.io is an in-game advertising platform that integrates non-intrusive ads into gameplay. The platform uses programmatic technology and real-time data to improve ad viewability across mobile, PC, console, and metaverse environments.
Founded: 2017 Headquarters: Yafo, Tel Aviv, Israel
pocketwhale logo
PocketWhale is a marketing agency focused on mobile games, offering full-service advertising solutions for brands looking to reach mobile gaming audiences.
Founded: 2014 Headquarters: Paris, France
gamned
Gamned is a programmatic trading desk offering multichannel programmatic campaigns across desktop, mobile, social, native, video, radio, and DOOH. The company delivers approximately 3 billion customized ads monthly.
Founded: 2009 Headquarters: Marseille, France
rapidfire
RapidFire delivers real-time, geo-targeted in-game ads across console, PC, and mobile platforms.
Founded: 2010 Headquarters: Vancouver, Canada
hotplay logo
HotPlay provides an IGA solution that adapts to player preferences through audience learning, targeting advertisers who want contextually relevant placements in mobile gaming environments.
Founded: 2020 Headquarters: Bangkok, Thailand
Takeaways
In-game advertising sits at the intersection of attention, engagement, and scale. Static placements offer brand presence within premium game titles; dynamic ads bring the targeting and measurement capabilities of programmatic advertising into the game environment; and gamevertising creates brand-owned experiences that can generate deep engagement. The infrastructure — particularly around SDK-based dynamic delivery and open measurement standards — continues to mature, making in-game advertising progressively more comparable to other digital channels on the metrics that matter to media buyers.