Andre Sevigny

Pundits predicted Microsoft would use Xandr to create an ad-supported video game content fortress, with the ad tech business getting exclusive access to Microsoft’s gaming IP. Any ambitions in that direction may now be on hold.

Video games can support intrinsic or native in-game ads, as well as ads that are delivered alongside gameplay but exist outside the game itself, like pause-menu display ads and rewarded video. Marketers can also sponsor and advertise on channels related to gaming, such as at esports events and across online streaming platforms, particularly Twitch and YouTube. And we can’t forget about the metaverse.

Solitaire remains a popular mainstay in app-based gaming – and it’s the next frontier for cookieless advertising. Pubfinity, an SSP that places ads in Windows-based desktop game apps like Simple Solitaire, is hitching itself to Epsilon’s cookieless identity solution, Core ID.