Advertising Week Briefing: An inflection point for gaming, even if the hype has subsided

By Alexander Lee • October 11, 2024 •

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Gaming’s presence at Advertising Week 2024 was less all-encompassing than in past years — but the presence of key industry players at this year’s conference shows that gaming companies still view advertising as a key potential growth area for 2025.

After bonanza years fueled by the COVID-19 lockdown, ad industry excitement around gaming has subsided somewhat in 2024. At Advertising Week 2021, there were 15 dedicated gaming or metaverse sessions; in 2022, the number of gaming sessions peaked at 18. At this year’s event — as with last year — the number of gaming-specific panels stood at 10. Gaming is still making its voice heard at Advertising Week, but artificial intelligence is undeniably the belle of the ball.

The reduction in the quantity of Advertising Week’s gaming sessions was arguably counterbalanced by an increase in the quality of the gaming advertising inventory on display. This year’s conference featured talks by two of the largest gaming platforms currently making a push into advertising: Roblox and Discord.

In past years, neither Discord nor Roblox sent speakers to Advertising Week, though both platforms boast hundreds of millions of active users. By now, however, Discord and Roblox have launched dedicated advertising products, and they showed up at Advertising Week to tout them. Advertising Week attendees flocked to their sessions, lining up to enter and filling most of the seats in the room.

“We made our AWNY debut to plant the flag and introduce Discord as a new player in the advertising community,” Discord vp of sales Adam Bauer told Digiday. “The launch of Quests has created a generational opportunity for marketers to engage with gamers in new and authentic ways. With the introduction of Video Quests, our latest format, we’re now expanding the ways advertisers can reach gamers on Discord with content that resonates within gaming culture.”

The reduced, but still-popular presence of gaming at Advertising Week 2024 shows that while the “year of gaming” might be over, gaming itself has become firmly established as a marketing and advertising channel. Gaming is no longer the hot new buzzword; instead, it’s just another part of the marketing mix, and one that all brands should be paying attention to.

“Gaming has become a cornerstone of modern marketing strategies, driving the most innovative and immersive media experiences today,” said Indy Khabra, the co-founder of the gaming technology firm Livewire. “Attending Advertising Week New York is important for us as we continue to lead in this space, showing how gaming is not just a channel but a key driver of creative innovation and media effectiveness.”

Adjacent opportunities

Given the reduction in gaming content at this year’s Advertising Week, some industry members found that the best way to take advantage of the conference was to schedule meetings and schmooze opportunities with the ad executives who flew into New York for it, without ever setting foot inside the actual venue.

“For us at Thece, AWNY isn’t about the content or the big activations, but about creating connection with the clients and brands that are all in and around NY this week,” said Jody Rones, the chief revenue officer of Gamurs Group and a member of the advisory board for the ad network Thece.