Pocket Gamer Connects London is just around the corner. Taking place on January 22nd to 23rd, 2024, next year’s event will also see the event series celebrate its 10th anniversary.

The conference will feature a lineup of insightful sessions from star speakers and thought-provoking panels, as well as a series of side-events like The Very Big Indie Pitch, Publisher SpeedMatch, Investor Connector and a host of other networking opportunities all aimed at helping you level up your skills and business.

As we build up to the conference, we’re offering a sneak preview of what you can expect by spotlighting some of the authorities in the games industry that will be sharing their wisdom at the show.

Today, we’re spotlighting Nefta CEO Geeshan Willink, who will be hosting a talk entitled “Monetising First-Party Data through Behavioural Analytics”.

The session will looking into the impact of privacy frameworks like GDPR and ATT on in-app advertising and the mobile games market at large, and why first-party data is a solution to advertising personalisation.

We caught up with Willink to discuss more about his upcoming talk, as well as get his opinions on industry trends.

To see Willink's talk and hundreds of other speakers live at the show, you can register for Pocket Gamer Connects London 2024 right here.

Please give us a summary of what you’re speaking about and why it’s important.

Privacy frameworks like GDPR and ATT have severely damaged the efficiency of in-app advertising and while companies must prioritise data privacy and security, they also need to maximise revenue-generating opportunities.

First-party data has suddenly arisen as the solution to advertising personalisation. A simple solution with a complex and costly execution. Nefta has created a privacy-compliant solution to monetise behavioral analytics from first-party data which involves leveraging insights derived from in-game events of users to generate better revenue.

By collecting, analysing and capitalising on this valuable data, publishers can improve eCPMs on users that opt-out, and advertisers can place their campaigns in front of audiences more likely to click.

Where are the next big opportunities in the mobile games market?

I really believe that the next big opportunity in the mobile game market will be first-party data as a tool for not only monetisation, but also player insight and game performance analysis.

First-party data is discussed as a solution to the challenges that privacy frameworks have caused the industry, but currently there is very little being done to effectively use it.

Nefta developed our solution to address this specific issue, providing improved advert personalisation and campaign performance via behavioural analysis of first-perty data, which 100% compliant with existing privacy frameworks, including ATT.

Coincidentally we discovered that our solution provided not only improved revenue on users that opt-out, but also valuable insights into in-game events and performance for publishers.

First-party data is the solution, if you have a strategy to effectively use it.

What is the single biggest challenge facing the mobile games industry today?

In a word, survival. The mobile games industry is facing it’s most challenging era.

Studios are experiencing massive layoffs or closures, revenues are increasingly under pressure from the expansion of privacy frameworks, more and more games are not making it out of production to launch, and audiences have become more demanding and less willing to accept lower quality content.

New entrants to the industry are facing a landscape that is unforgiving. It really is the toughest atmosphere that the mobile games industry has faced in years.

Is hypercasual gaming here to stay?

I think hypercasual games are definitely here to stay for a few reasons.

First, with the advancements in mobile phone technology and the increased adoption of 5G networks, delivering high-quality graphics and more complex games ceases to be a issue.

Second, the expectations of the audience. Mobile gamers are becoming accustomed to higher quality content and their expectations have increased.

Graphics, gameplay and ad quality are all areas where players expect more and are increasingly viewing quality as a non-negotiable.

Can people get in touch with you at the event? What sort of people would you like to connect with?

Absolutely, the Nefta team will be at booth G14 on the first floor by the lounges. We are looking forward to connecting with decision makers on both the game publishing and advertiser side.

What is one way attendees can prepare for your discussion?

Attendees can prepare for our presentation by thinking about what their first-party data strategy is or find out if they even have one. Then they can think about how that strategy can be used to improve their ad monetisation, retention and UA campaigns.

Find out more about Pocket Gamer Connects London 2024 and get your tickets right here!