1/ Thread: In Game Advertising

Yesterday @riotgames announced that it was adding in game ad banners to @lolesports - which received a fairly positive reaction.

It also started some commentary about IGA - some thoughts on the history and the current players in the space.

2/ 15 years ago, I worked for the company that pioneered dynamic in game advertising - Massive Inc.

https://money.cnn.com/2005/02/17/commentary/game_over/column_gaming/index.htm

1 year later we were acquired by @Microsoft for $280M

https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB114601180751335960

Only to be shut down 4 years later https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-shutting-down-280-million-acquisition-2010-10

3/ The reasons for that failure? 5 years ago, I wrote about the challenges that in game advertising has had with gaming in all its forms. https://medium.com/tnlmedia/in-game-advertising-failure-or-future-1c1a7e9de8b6

4/ Fast forward to today and a few things have come together in the gaming space that makes in game advertising much more workable:

-Broadband Infrastructure
-Programmatic Advertising
-Larger % of key demographic
-Esports

5/ Here are the current players in the space:

@admixplay
@adverty
@bidstack
@Anzu_io (Disclaimer: I'm an advisor)

So who's going to win?

6/ The space is much bigger today and the overall pie is growing (I'm not including mobile only in game ad companies here but there are a ton)

The key? Access to exclusive premium gaming and esports inventory.

7/ It will be interesting to see which company pulls ahead in the next year - I've also seen some pitch decks for additional companies as well.

Including mobile, IGA is currently a $3B market.

Will In Game Advertising be a $10B industry by 2025?

Additional thoughts?

8/ Left out Frameplay as well (no Twitter)