Story-driven games may hold the key to effective in-game advertising

The news: Gaming levels in the US are at an all-time high, and how much of an impact in-game advertising has on gamers depends on the types of games being played, per a new CivicScience survey.

All age groups are playing, but not the same way: There’s a generational divide among gamers.

• Gen Z plays the largest variety of games, with preferences divided among casual/mobile (18%), open-world exploration (20%), story-driven single player (30%), and online multiplayer (26%). They rarely (4%) play sports games.
• Baby boomers (69%) and Gen X (56%) spend most of their gaming time on casual or mobile games. Millennials also prefer that format but play sports games more than any other generation.

Platforms have an impact: 39% of respondents said their purchase decisions are at least “somewhat influenced by advertising seen in video games or by video game-related brand promotions.”

However, the type of games they’re playing makes a difference.

• 69% of casual/mobile gamers say in-game ads have no impact on their purchase decisions.
• Conversely, 53% of story-driven single-player gamers and 49% of open-world gamers say advertising has somewhat of an impact on their purchase decisions.

Playing it smart: Where brands advertise and how ads are presented will affect how well they hit the mark.

• Casual gamers tend to skip over interstitial ads quickly to get back to their games. If the ad is 30 seconds, they might even close the app and restart because it’s faster. And they may be desensitized to the constant interruptions.
• Opt-in video ads that offer an incentive to click, like an in-game reward, can succeed, but it depends on how valuable the reward is.
• Open-world and story-driven games present a unique opportunity to place ads on in-game billboards where they don’t interrupt game-play.

Our take: Video and mobile games present a unique opportunity for advertising, but marketers may have the best ROI with open-world and story-driven games since that audience is most influenced by ads. Partnerships with those games would be a helpful path forward.

Dive deeper: Read our Worldwide Digital Gamers Forecast 2025.