Gaming Advertising Statistics 2026: In-Game Ads, UA Costs & Brand Spend

The gaming industry spent $25 billion on mobile user acquisition. Mobile game advertising revenue exceeded $12 billion.

Oliver GrantUpdated:
gaming advertising statistics

Gaming advertising spans two very different markets: in-game advertising (brands placing ads inside games) and mobile user acquisition (game publishers buying ads to find new players). The gaming industry spent $25 billion on mobile user acquisition in 2025 alone (AppsFlyer). Mobile game advertising revenue exceeded $12 billion in 2025 (Sensor Tower). The in-game advertising market sits at $9–119 billion depending on what “in-game advertising” is defined to include — a scope discrepancy explained below. 65% of mobile gamers accept ads. Rewarded video completion rate: 75.8%. AppLovin and AdMob control 65% of mobile game ad revenue. For broader market context, see our video game industry statistics. Here are the verified numbers.

Key statistics

  • $25 billion — global mobile gaming industry UA spend in 2025 (AppsFlyer State of Gaming for Marketers 2026 Edition via Mistplay; FoxData).
  • $12 billion+ — mobile game advertising revenue in 2025 (Sensor Tower Gaming Deep-Dive Ad Monetisation Report via Game World Observer, July 2026).
  • 2.4 trillion — ad impressions served in mobile games in 2025 (Sensor Tower via Game World Observer).
  • 55.6% — share of mobile games carrying ad monetisation as of May 2026, up from 45.1% in 2021 (Sensor Tower via Game World Observer).
  • 65% — share of mobile gamers who accept in-game ads (Business of Apps / IronSource).
  • 75.8% — rewarded video ad completion rate (Embryo citing industry data; Adjust).
  • 71% — gamers who prefer in-game video ads to making in-app purchases (AdPushup).
  • 65% — mobile game ad revenue controlled by AppLovin and AdMob combined (Sensor Tower, May 2026).
  • $4.70 — average iOS mobile game CPI in 2026 (Business of Apps; Mistplay).
  • $3.40 — average Android mobile game CPI in 2026 (Business of Apps; Mistplay).
  • $5.28 — average North American mobile app CPI, the most expensive region (Mistplay citing Mapendo 2024).

The scope problem: what “in-game advertising” actually means

Before citing any market size figure, the scope must be defined — because published estimates range from $9 billion to $229 billion for what is loosely called “in-game advertising”:

Scope2025 Market SizeSource
Gaming-specific in-game ads only (mobile game ad revenue)$12B+Sensor Tower (direct measurement)
Narrow in-game advertising (static/dynamic ads in games)$9.4–10.0BIMARC Group; SkyQuest
Broad in-game advertising (all platforms, all formats)$119BMordor Intelligence
Total in-app advertising (all apps, not just games)$154–229BDataintelo; Grand View Research

The Sensor Tower $12B figure is the most reliable — it is a direct measurement of gaming-specific ad revenue from Sensor Tower’s proprietary tracking of mobile game advertising, not a modelled market estimate. All other figures are market research estimates with differing methodology.

The $119B Mordor Intelligence figure is the broadest interpretation — it includes all forms of advertising associated with games across all platforms, including sponsorships, esports advertising, streaming/content advertising related to games, and programmatic ads served within games. It is a legitimate market definition but not comparable to the narrow Sensor Tower figure.

In-game advertising

55.6% of mobile games now carry ads — 2.4 trillion impressions in 2025

(Source: Game World Observer citing Sensor Tower Gaming Deep-Dive Ad Monetisation Report, July 6, 2026; SkyQuest; IMARC Group)

Ad adoption in mobile games (Sensor Tower):

  • 55.6% of mobile games use ad monetisation as of May 2026 — up from 45.1% in July 2021.
  • This growth occurred as IAP monetisation stagnated, pushing publishers toward advertising as the incremental revenue model.
  • 24.6 billion downloads of ad-monetised mobile games in 2025 alone.
  • Peak download month: January 2026 at 2.33 billion.

In-game advertising formats (market share by revenue, SkyQuest / Market.us):

  • Static ads: billboards, banners, and fixed placements within game environments — 51.1% of market in 2023.
  • Dynamic ads: programmatically updated real-time ad placements (e.g., virtual billboards showing current real-world brands).
  • Rewarded video: opt-in video ads in exchange for in-game rewards.
  • Advergaming: entire games built around a brand as the core mechanic.
  • Interstitials: full-screen ads between game sessions.

By device (SkyQuest; Market.us):

  • PC/laptop: 51–70.5% of in-game advertising market share — reflecting the ad-supported free-to-play PC gaming ecosystem.
  • Smartphone/tablet: the fastest-growing segment; driven by hypercasual and casual mobile game explosion.

US market specifically (Research and Markets):

  • US in-game advertising market: $7.91 billion in 2024, projected to reach $13.74 billion by 2030 at 9.7% CAGR.
  • North America held 38.3% of global in-game advertising market share in 2023 (Market.us).

AppLovin and AdMob dominance (Sensor Tower, May 2026):

  • These two ad networks control 65% of all mobile game advertising revenue — up from 61% eighteen months prior.
  • Concentration is increasing, not decreasing. The ad network market is consolidating around AppLovin (APPLOVIN: +730% stock gain in 2024) and Google’s AdMob.

Rewarded video ads

75.8% completion rate — the most gamer-preferred ad format

(Source: Embryo citing industry data; Adjust; AdMob/Google; Business of Apps (updated July 30, 2026); IAB)

Rewarded video ads offer in-game rewards (virtual currency, extra lives, power-ups) in exchange for watching a 15–30 second unskippable video. They are consistently the top-performing and most gamer-preferred ad format.

Performance metrics:

  • 75.8% — video completion rate for rewarded video ads (Embryo).
  • 2× — rewarded video ads are twice as effective as interstitial ads (Applixir).
  • 38% higher than average engagement rate vs standard video ads (Unity/IronSource case study).
  • 41% average revenue increase for developers after implementing rewarded video (Venatus).
  • 20–40% revenue increase range reported by publishers adding rewarded ads (Business of Apps).

Gamer preferences:

  • 71% of gamers prefer in-game video ads to making in-app purchases (AdPushup).
  • 75% of mobile gamers consider rewarded video ads “less disruptive” than other formats (Applixir).
  • 53% of gamers play for longer because of in-game rewards (Udonis).
  • 84% of gamers would adopt a new game advertised to them with tangible rewards (Mistplay).
  • 50% of gamers would be less satisfied if rewarded video ads were removed (AdMob/Google).

IAB finding (Internet Advertising Bureau — the industry’s primary advertising standards body):

  • Over 80% of users prefer rewarded video as an advertising format — the highest preference rate of any ad format tested.

Retention impact (Business of Apps):

  • Gamers who watched a rewarded video in their first week had a 53% retention rate — more than 300% higher than the average.
  • Players who engage with rewarded video retain at rates 20–30% higher than non-engaged players (Layer.ai).

Revenue impact (AdMob case study — Avid.ly):

  • After implementing rewarded ads, users bought in-app items 18% more often.
  • Time in game increased 20%.
  • Total revenue grew 40%.

Mobile user-acquisition costs

The gaming industry spent $25 billion on UA in 2025 — CPI rising across every region

(Source: AppsFlyer State of Gaming for Marketers 2026 Edition via Mistplay and FoxData; Adjust Gaming App Insights Report 2026 Edition; Business of Apps; Mapendo 2024)

Total UA spend:

  • Global mobile gaming industry UA spend: $25 billion in 2025 (AppsFlyer State of Gaming for Marketers 2026 Edition — the definitive annual UA benchmarking report).
  • Mobile app UA costs have risen 60% over the past five years (AdAction).
  • 95%+ of installers churn within 30 days across iOS and Google Play — making retention the critical variable alongside CPI.

CPI by platform (Business of Apps; Mistplay 2026):

  • iOS average CPI: $4.70 per install.
  • Android average CPI: $3.40 per install.
  • The iOS/Android gap is narrowing as Android privacy restrictions tighten.

CPI by region (Mistplay citing Mapendo 2024; Adjust 2026):

RegionAverage CPIYoY Change
North America$5.28+31%
EMEA$1.03+47% (sharp increase)
APAC$0.93Moderate increase
Latin America$0.34+40%

CPI by mobile game genre (Adjust Gaming App Insights 2026; Business of Apps; FoxData):

GenreiOS CPIAndroid CPINotes
Hypercasual$1.50–2.50$0.40Volume model; ad-monetised
Casual / Hybrid-casual$1.41–3.00$0.14–0.95Fastest CPI growth (+38% iOS YoY)
Puzzle$3.00$2.00High download volume, decent LTV
Simulation$3.75$2.50Growing genre
Strategy / Midcore$5.50$4.00High LTV justifies cost
RPG / Hardcore$6.00$4.50Expensive; highest LTV users
Casino / SlotsHigh (CPM $12+)High11:1 paid-to-organic install ratio

The retention reality (AdAction):

  • Industry-wide D30 retention: 3–7% across categories.
  • D7 retention on iOS: approximately 6.9%; Android: 5.2%.
  • A $4.00 CPI with 5% D30 retention = $80 cost per retained user.
  • A $6.00 CPI with 15% D30 retention = $40 cost per retained user.

The implication: CPI as a standalone metric is often misleading. Cost per retained user — which most studios don’t track — is the operationally relevant number.

iOS ATT impact (AdAction; Business of Apps):

  • Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT, iOS 14.5+) reduced user-level targeting data.
  • iOS CPI has increased 20–30% since ATT launched.
  • Apple Search Ads now accounts for over 50% of iOS app advertising spend — the biggest beneficiary of ATT, since it operates within the App Store ecosystem.

Ad-supported gaming

65% of mobile gamers accept ads — hybrid monetisation is now standard

(Source: Business of Apps citing IronSource; Sensor Tower via Game World Observer; AdMob)

  • 65–75% of mobile gamers accept in-game ads (Business of Apps / IronSource).
  • 70%+ of mobile gamers are “happy to see ads show up in gameplay” (IronSource study).
  • 55.6% of mobile games now use ad monetisation (May 2026, Sensor Tower).

Hybrid monetisation (IAP + ads combined) is now the dominant model among successful mobile games:

  • Purely IAP-funded games are declining as a proportion of the market.
  • Purely ad-funded games (hypercasual) generate low revenue per download.
  • The fastest-growing monetisation segment is hybrid-casual — games combining casual download appeal with IAP depth, supplemented by rewarded video.

Ad-supported vs IAP revenue composition (Sensor Tower 2025):

  • Mobile game IAP revenue: $81.75 billion.
  • Mobile game ad revenue: $12 billion+.
  • Ad revenue is approximately 13–15% of total mobile game revenue — but growing faster than IAP.

Brand spending in gaming

Brands are increasing gaming ad investment — but measurement remains immature

(Source: Market.us; SkyQuest; Business of Apps; Anzu/Livewire partnership announcement)

Brand gaming ad spend is growing but difficult to isolate from total gaming ad spending because:

  • Most brand spending in games goes through programmatic channels where game inventory is mixed with non-game inventory.
  • Direct in-game brand placements (virtual billboards, character skins, sponsor integrations) are often handled via bespoke deals without public data disclosure.

What is known:

  • North America accounts for 38.3% of global in-game advertising revenue — concentrated in premium brand spending.
  • Dynamic in-game advertising (programmatically updated real-world brand placements inside game worlds) is growing fastest among brand spending categories.
  • Esports sponsorship — a related brand spend category — reached $874 million globally in 2024 (Newzoo), with brands like Red Bull, Mercedes-Benz, and Intel as major investors.
  • Google expanded AdMob’s “immersive in-game ads” in 2024 — ads blending into game environments during level transitions — adopted by developers including APPS and Supercent. This is specifically designed for brand-style placements rather than performance marketing.
  • TikTok gaming: TikTok users download 50% more games and play longer than non-TikTok users (GameBizConsulting citing TikTok data). Gaming advertisers on TikTok pay CPI of $1.75–$4.00 depending on campaign.

Measurement gap: The gaming advertising industry lacks the standardised measurement frameworks of TV or digital display. Viewability, brand recall, and incremental lift from in-game ads are measured inconsistently across platforms — a recognised industry challenge that limits brand investment.

Historical milestones

  • 2010 — Mobile advertising in gaming emerges as a meaningful revenue stream. First mobile banner ads.
  • 2012 — Rewarded video ad format emerges; rapidly becomes the dominant mobile gaming ad format.
  • 2019 — In-game advertising begins attracting AAA game publishers.
  • 2021 — Apple ATT (iOS 14.5) disrupts mobile UA; CPI volatility increases. Gaming UA spend: ~$15 billion.
  • 2021 — 45.1% of mobile games carry ad monetisation (Sensor Tower baseline).
  • 2022 — AppLovin’s acquisition of MoPub (Twitter’s ad exchange) expands its gaming ad dominance.
  • 2024 — AppLovin stock surges 730%; gaming ad duopoly (AppLovin + AdMob) solidifies at 61% combined share.
  • 2025 — UA spend: $25 billion. Ad revenue: $12B+. 55.6% of mobile games carry ads.
  • May 2026 — AppLovin + AdMob reach 65% combined mobile game ad revenue share.

Sources