In-game - Happydemics' Blog https://happydemics.com/blog Capture, optimize and secure the brand lift of any ad campaign Tue, 05 May 2026 15:00:20 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://happydemics.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/cropped-favicon-32x32.png In-game - Happydemics' Blog https://happydemics.com/blog 32 32 210920038 In-Game vs. Around-the-Game: the new rules of immersive advertising https://happydemics.com/blog/en/in-game-vs-around-the-game-the-new-rules-of-immersive-advertising/ Wed, 29 Apr 2026 08:03:01 +0000 https://happydemics.com/blog/?p=9557 Gaming has become a full cultural ecosystem, and a key opportunity for brands. Here's what immersive advertising actually looks like now, and how to measure whether it works.

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Gaming has evolved into one of the most sophisticated advertising environments in modern media. What began as simple banner placements or experimental brand integrations has expanded into a rich ecosystem spanning console and mobile games, esports arenas, livestreaming platforms, creator communities, and cultural hubs shaped by gaming culture.

For marketers, this transformation has sparked renewed interest in immersive advertising—formats designed to place brands within meaningful, high-attention contexts rather than interruptive ad breaks. Alongside familiar in-game placements, a newer concept is gaining traction: around-the-game advertising.

What exactly does that mean? How does it differ from traditional in-game advertising? And how can advertisers evaluate gaming media effectiveness when clicks and impressions often feel disconnected from real brand impact?

This article explores the emerging rules of immersive advertising, comparing in-game advertising vs around-the-game, unpacking key gaming advertising formats, and explaining why brand lift measurement and ad recall in gaming are becoming central to proving success.

What is Around-the-Game advertising?

Around-the-Game advertising refers to brand placements that appear around gaming experiences rather than directly inside gameplay.

Instead of existing on virtual billboards or playable objects, these ads surround gaming content in adjacent environments such as:

  • Livestreams and video content 
  • Esports broadcasts and tournaments
  • Gaming hubs or community platforms
  • Creator-led programming
  • Event spaces tied to specific titles or genres

The defining feature is contextual immersion. Around-the-Game formats capture audiences while they are emotionally engaged with gaming culture—watching a match, following a streamer, or discussing strategies—without interrupting the moment of play itself.

This approach reflects a broader shift in advertising in gaming environments: from isolated placements to ecosystem thinking. Brands are no longer just buying space inside a game; they are participating in the surrounding culture and attention economy.

Examples of Around-the-Game advertising formats

Around-the-Game advertising spans multiple environments, often blurring the line between media, entertainment, and sponsorship.

In-stream ads and overlays

Video ads, branded frames, or dynamic graphic overlays during livestreams and esports broadcasts. These typically appear between rounds or during breaks, when attention remains high but gameplay pauses.

Sponsorships within gaming platforms and hubs

Brand integrations tied to tournament pages, event hubs, or curated gaming sections—such as naming rights, branded challenges, or dedicated content spaces.

E-sports broadcasts and live events

From digital stage branding to commentator mentions and jersey sponsorships, esports provides premium environments where brands can align with competition, skill, and fandom.

Gaming content, creators and communities

Collaborations with streamers, YouTubers, or community leaders whose audiences value authenticity. These partnerships often feel more like cultural participation than traditional advertising.

Across all these formats, the common thread is adjacency rather than interruption—brands embedding themselves in moments that already matter to gamers.

How Around-the-Game differs from In-Game advertising

While both belong to immersive media, In-Game advertising and Around-the-Game advertising operate in distinct ways.

In-game placements appear directly within the virtual world: branded stadium hoardings, vehicles, character outfits, or interactive items encountered during play.

Around-the-Game formats exist in the orbit of gameplay—within viewing, streaming, or community spaces.

Key differences include:

Location and context

  • In-Game: embedded inside the playable environment.
  • Around-the-Game: delivered in surrounding content ecosystems.

Level of interruption

  • In-Game: can feel seamless when well integrated, but disruptive if poorly executed.
  • Around-the-Game: typically avoids interrupting play, appearing during natural viewing moments.

Creative flexibility

  • In-Game: constrained by game design and publisher rules.
  • Around-the-Game: often allows longer storytelling and clearer brand messaging.

Brand safety

  • In-Game: tightly controlled but dependent on game themes and user behaviour.
  • Around-the-Game: offers curation through creator choice, event selection, and sponsorship environments.
Most brands will explore both approaches. The question is less about choosing one over the other, and more about understanding where each fits in a holistic immersive strategy.

Why immersive context matters for brands

Gaming environments are defined by deep attention and emotional investment. Players and fans commit hours to titles, teams, and creators—making relevance and authenticity crucial for advertisers.

When brands align with gaming culture—through tone, design, or partnership choice—ads can feel additive rather than intrusive. Poorly placed messages, by contrast, risk breaking immersion.

Both In-Game and Around-the-Game formats succeed on the same principle: context determines impact. Where and how a brand appears often matters as much as the creative itself.

Choosing between In-Game and Around-the-Game advertising

Different business objectives call for different immersive formats.

When  In-Game formats make sense

In-game advertising is particularly effective when brands want to be seen quickly and remembered. Recent cross-media analysis highlights several strengths:

  • Best-in-class attribution performance: in-game delivers results nine points above the average of all media.
  • Exceptional clarity: scoring four points above average, thanks to minimalist, straight-to-the-point creative environments.
  • Strong purchase efficiency: especially powerful at moving consumers closer to buying.

These characteristics make in-game advertising particularly relevant for FMCG brands that need high visibility, rapid recognition, and a clear route to improving purchase intent.

When  Around-the-Game formats are more appropriate

Around-the-Game formats shine when brands want to:

  • build cultural associations
  • tell richer stories
  • partner with esports or creators
  • operate in premium, non-disruptive environments
  • reach spectators as well as players

How both can coexist

The most advanced strategies blend the two. In-Game placements can drive clarity and conversion signals, while Around-the-Game environments reinforce brand meaning and long-term equity across the wider gaming ecosystem.

The measurement challenge in immersive advertising

Traditional digital metrics—impressions, clicks, completion rates—were not designed for immersive media. In gaming environments, they often fail to answer the real questions marketers care about:

  • Did people remember the brand?
  • Did perception change?
  • Was there incremental impact compared to other media?

Platform dashboards can be useful for optimisation, but they tend to focus on engagement proxies rather than long-term brand outcomes. This creates uncertainty for teams trying to justify budgets or scale experimentation.

To move immersive media from test-and-learn to strategic pillar, advertisers need stronger proof points.

Why Brand lift is critical for immersive advertising success

This is where Brand lift measurement becomes central.

In immersive contexts, effectiveness is best captured through shifts in consumer perception rather than immediate actions. Brand lift studies typically examine:

  • ad recall in gaming
  • brand awareness lift
  • favourability and consideration
  • purchase intent

These signals reveal whether immersion translated into memory and meaning—whether a placement inside a game or around a livestream genuinely worked.

Crucially, brand lift acts as a unifying currency across formats. It allows marketers to compare in-game placements with around-the-game sponsorships, creator integrations, or esports broadcasts on equal footing.

In fragmented gaming ecosystems, that consistency is what enables confident investment decisions.

Measuring immersive advertising with a third trusted partner

As gaming media grows more complex, many brands are turning to independent, consumer-based measurement rather than relying solely on platform-reported metrics.

Happydemics positions itself as a partner for emerging and immersive formats—focused on real brand impact, not surface-level engagement. Through independent studies, it helps advertisers assess:

  • ad recall in gaming and streaming environments
  • brand awareness and perception shifts
  • performance across different immersive contexts

By applying consistent methodologies across in-game and around-the-game campaigns, independent measurement makes gaming media easier to benchmark against other channels and to scale with confidence.

Conclusion: building the next immersive playbook

Around-the-Game advertising has emerged as a powerful but still under-explained approach, surrounding players and fans across streams, esports, and communities. At the same time, strong performance signals from in-game formats—particularly their clarity, attribution strength, and FMCG effectiveness—highlight the continued importance of gameplay integration.

The future of immersive advertising lies in orchestrating both approaches, guided by robust measurement.

Impressions alone are no longer enough. Brand lift and ad recall have become the proof points that matter—demonstrating whether immersive environments truly delivered incremental impact.

Discover how Happydemics helps brands measure the real impact of immersive advertising through brand lift studies.

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]]> 9557 How in-game ads unlock the marketing funnel https://happydemics.com/blog/en/in-game-advertising-marketing-funnel/ Thu, 18 Apr 2024 12:47:15 +0000 https://happydemics.com/blog/?p=3761 As digital channels become saturated, traditional advertising formats lose effectiveness. With consumers exposed to more ads than ever, fatigue grows—making intrinsic in-game advertising a powerful alternative to capture attention.

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Why in-game advertising is gaining ground

Unlike intrusive formats, it integrates brand messages seamlessly into the gaming environment, creating immersive, non-disruptive experiences that resonate with highly engaged audiences.

Research conducted with Anzu, supported by data from Happydemics, demonstrates that in-game advertising is not just an engagement tool—it is a performance driver across the entire marketing funnel.

What makes intrinsic in-game ads so effective?

Intrinsic in-game ads succeed because they become part of the entertainment itself. The secret behind their success lies in their non-disruptive nature: by becoming part of the gaming experience, these ads achieve high levels of engagement and recall without interrupting gameplay.


Key benefits include:

  • Seamless integration: Blends naturally into gameplay, preserving the player experience.

  • High ad recall: Delivers an uplift of +13 points compared to the digital media average.

  • Strong brand identification: In-game ads are more accurately attributed to the brand, driving a +11-point uplift vs the digital media average, helping brands stay top of mind.

  • Deep engagement: Immersion strengthens memory encoding, ensuring brands are recalled long after gameplay ends.


This unique combination allows advertisers to engage players meaningfully, without breaking immersion or creating resistance.

How in-game advertising drives funnel results: awareness, consideration, conversion

In-game advertising drives measurable outcomes at every stage of the marketing funnel:


  • Awareness: Intrinsic ads deliver an ad recall uplift of +13 points above the digital media average. Being better memorised and more strongly linked to the brand, in-game ads excel at raising awareness.

  • Consideration: With a +5-point increase in purchase intent, they influence consumer decision-making more effectively than digital benchmarks.

  • Conversion: Emotional and contextual alignment within gameplay boosts readiness to act, making in-game ads a strong catalyst for sales.


This positions in-game formats as more than awareness tools—they deliver tangible results across the full consumer journey.

Industry use cases: auto, FMCG, telecom, luxury

The versatility of intrinsic in-game advertising is reflected in its cross-industry performance:

  • Auto: +5 pts in ad recall versus the digital media average, helping brands remain front of mind during high-consideration purchases.

  • FMCG: +4 pts in purchase consideration, supporting frequent, lower-cost buying decisions in a highly competitive environment.

  • Telecom: +9 pts in brand identification, building strong brand connections in a crowded market.

  • Luxury: +4 pts in purchase intent, proving effective even in high-value, aspirational categories.


From everyday goods to premium products, in-game advertising adapts to different consumer behaviours and purchase cycles.

Mobile in-game advertising: a high-growth opportunity

With mobile gaming reaching billions of players worldwide, the opportunity for in-game advertising on mobile platforms is accelerating. Formats such as in-race billboards, branded environments, and rewarded placements allow brands to appear in highly visible yet non-disruptive ways.


Mobile in-game ads are particularly effective for performance-driven goals such as app installs, product awareness, and trial, making them a critical lever for marketers targeting scale and measurable impact.

Strategic takeaways for omnichannel marketers

For marketers looking to maximise omnichannel strategies, in-game advertising offers a set of practical advantages:

  • Blend formats: Combine in-game with CTV, display, and social to reinforce messages across channels.

  • Respect the experience: Tailor creative to the gaming environment to maintain immersion.

  • Measure rigorously: Use brand lift studies and campaign tracking to demonstrate true impact.

Success lies not just in “being in games,” but in being strategic, relevant, and respectful of the player experience.

The future of in-game advertising

As cookies decline and ad-blockers rise, the demand for engaging, future-proof formats is growing. Intrinsic in-game advertising challenges the traditional advertising paradigm by becoming part of the entertainment itself, not an interruption.


With increasing adoption across industries and strong evidence of performance, in-game advertising is set to become a cornerstone of modern omnichannel strategies, bridging the gap between engagement and effectiveness.

Conclusion: from player experience to purchase

In-game advertising is proving itself as a powerful driver of full-funnel impact—from awareness to purchase. By blending seamlessly into gameplay, it creates memorable, non-disruptive brand moments that lift ad recall, brand identification, and purchase intent.


For marketers seeking to cut through digital saturation, the opportunity is clear: in-game advertising delivers measurable results without compromising the player experience. Now is the time to integrate this format into omnichannel strategies and unlock new pathways to consumer engagement.

Methodology of the report

The research is based on over 50 comprehensive analyses conducted between 2022 and 2024 by Happydemics, leveraging a database that spans 600 ad players, 60 industries, and 30 different formats. These analyses are not isolated metrics but part of a broader database normalised to establish industry benchmarks.


Combined with Anzu’s data from over 60 brand lift studies across regions and industries, this collaborative work brings together extensive cross-industry data with rigorous analysis to paint a comprehensive picture of how intrinsic in-game advertising stands out among digital formats. It features both qualitative and quantitative methods, ensuring findings are not only statistically significant but also strategically applicable.

👉 Access the report

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