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Snow Falls on Microsoft-Activision Blizzard Deal

Nearly one year ago, Microsoft stunned the tech and gaming world when it announced plans to acquire Activision Blizzard. The announcement came just a week after a similarly high-stakes deal was made between Take-Two Interactive and hyper casual gaming studio Zynga. However, only one of these acquisitions actually made it to the finish line.

As of yesterday, April 26, the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) blocked the Microsoft-Activision Blizzard deal, citing concerns that the takeo
InMobi •

Time to Get Serious About Apple’s SKAdNetwork 4.0

Apple released its much-awaited SKAdNetwork (SKAN) 4.0 in late October 2022, and at InMobi, we’ve spent many months ahead of the announcement educating performance marketers on everything they need to know to prepare – from the basics to the nitty-gritty.

From 2020 onward, we’ve been shepherding our partners and other stakeholders in the broader mobile advertising ecosystem into what we can now safely and confidently call the privacy-first world. Our team of privacy and identity experts stay ri
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iOS 16 Debuts With Focus on Lockscreen, ‘Rise of Surfaces,’ and Consumer Experience

Apple’s 2020 AppTrackingTransparency announcement helped advance the advertising world towards a privacy-first future, but for some, the waves of change that followed proved difficult to keep up with. So, when Apple announced iOS 16, nearly a year after the enforcement of ATT, it’s fair to say that many of us waited with great anticipation for any new privacy surprises Apple might introduce to the app and advertiser ecosystem.

But we can all take a collective sigh of relief. The iOS 16 update o
InMobi •

2022 Mobile Gaming Trends [Report]

Who will capture the future of gaming entertainment? This is the big question we’re all asking as multiple players across the industry compete for audience attention. Yes, the world is largely mobile-first; and yes, people spend an estimated 4.2 hours a day in-app. However, as stakeholders compete for valuable user time and trends come and go, the future of the mobile gaming industry demands continued innovation and practiced discernment to maintain stability and growth in a constantly changing environment.
InMobi •

What Consumers Really Think About Rewarded Video Ads

Rewarded video ads are the latest advertising format on mobile that anyone concerned with enhancing in-app experiences and monetization should care about. They are a great way for brands to engage with consumers and effectively drive higher conversion rates more than traditional mobile display ads like static banner ads, interstitials or even regular video ads.

And as we have come to know, rewarded video effectiveness can be attributed to their incorporation of reward and incentive to the in-ap

THE METAVERSE: A New Epic [eBook]

By now, we’ve all been able to wrap our minds around the Metaverse. Well — sort of. If the Metaverse sounds like the stuff of science fiction, that’s because it is. By several accounts, the ambiguous term first appeared in the 1992 science-fiction novel “Snow Crash.” In the novel, author Neal Stephenson writes about a world in which people interact with online virtual worlds as digital avatars.

Perhaps it is this pre-Roblox, pre-NFT context that offers the best starting point in our understanding of the Metaverse of today. So, what are the rules of the Metaverse? The anatomy? Who are some early key players? How do brands and advertising fit in all this? And lastly, where does this leave mobile? Let’s find out.
InMobi •

It Takes A Village: Tips for the Solo Game Developer

Developing a game is no small feat — especially for a team of one. When thinking of single developer games, many successful projects come to mind. These titles include Axiom Verge, Braid, Undertale, Thomas Was Alone and Dust: An Elysian Tale. Even Minecraft was born from a single developer back in its alpha stage.

With tools, platforms and digital sandboxes such as Minecraft, Steam, Roblox and now the Metaverse, it is now more than ever possible to ideate, design and publish a game as a solo ac
InMobi •

Nine Lives and Counting: A Short History of Cat-Themed Apps

When Grumpy Cat was first introduced to the internet via a subreddit group almost 10 years ago, no one could have predicted how defining a moment it would be. Memes were arguably still new and suddenly the internet is collectively fixating on a photo of a cat that more or less seemed not too pleased to be here. What started as thousands of upvotes on a small-ish now archived subreddit thread turned into millions of memes and gifs across the internet, article write-ups and later, an in-memoriam t
InMobi •

Rewarded Video Ads: What All Gaming App Publishers Should Know

Rewarded video is a highly effective ad format that more publishers should take advantage of. Why? Well, the answer comes down to science and basic human nature. This ad format also takes advantage of the documented success of video ads in general — but more on that later.

Rewarded video operates on value systems established between a user and a game. You want to go to the next level? Acquire more in-game currency? Get a new accessory? Rewarded video ads are the ticket for users to get what they want in a game.

It’s a value exchange. Spend time watching an ad and tangibly reap the benefits in-game.
InMobi •

Clone Wars: Wordle

From Words with Friends and Scrabble to Sunday paper crossword puzzles, everyone loves a word game.

This was proved yet again with Wordle, an ad-free browser-only game created by Josh Wardle that’s going viral on social media. The untrademarked game saw a lot of copycats hit the App and Google Play Stores, and featured an automated way to post your wins, spoiler-free.

Developers clone games all the time. We know this. Everything is either something old, something new or borrowed on App Stores.
InMobi •

It Takes Two: What the Acquisition Deal Between Take-Two and Zynga Means for Mobile Gaming

Take-Two Interactive announced its acquisition of mobile gaming heavyweight Zynga this past Monday. The developer sold for just shy of $11 billion, although the companies allege the deal is worth an estimate of $12.7 billion in enterprise value.

Now, this is an obvious change of pace for Zynga which had only just wrapped up its nearly decade-long shopping spree across the casual and hypercasual, mobile gaming industry. It was only a couple of months ago that us at InMobi directed your attention
InMobi •

2021 Esports Awards and The Future of Mobile Gaming

While many may have their attention on December’s Game Awards, which saw wins by big video game and film franchises, studios and publishers, we would like to direct attention to another industry-relevant event.

Last month celebrated the sixth annual Esports Awards. The globally recognized ceremony, originally based in London, streamed live on Twitch and was hosted at Arlington’s Esports Stadium in Texas. The show highlighted industry favorites and contributions from publishers, developers, comp
InMobi •

How Hypercasual Gaming Can Use Social Media to Fuel Growth

With nearly 50 million downloads on the Google Play Store and upwards of 500,000 downloads on the Apple Store as of September 2021, High Heels! remains a noticeable success for Zynga, who acquired the hypercasual game developer and publisher originally behind the free-to-play mobile app back in 2020. With more people spending more time on their phone in the past two years, many apps, in general, have seen an increase in usage.

However, one can really attribute the success behind the game to one
InMobi •

The Squid Game Effect: How Popular Media is Influencing Hypercasual Game Development

Netflix has seen huge success from the Korean drama "Squid Game." Premiering worldwide in late September, Netflix reports an estimate of 142 million global viewers tuned into the dystopian show within its first month. Upon initial release, the bingeworthy offering quickly reached the number one position on Netflix’s Top 10 list in more than 90 countries. In the U.S. alone, "Squid Game" became one of only six shows to surpass 3 billion minutes of streaming across video-on-demand platforms—and thi