It's day one of Europe’s leading B2B conference for the global mobile games industry, Pocket Gamer Connects London, and our fantastic speakers have been gracing us with their knowledge and expertise. The entire speaker line-up is available here, and some of our speakers have given us a glimpse of what you can expect.
We are spotlighting some of the most highly anticipated speakers to showcase the incredible talent and top-tier businesses that will be sharing their insights with us, and we hope you will join us for our 2022 suite of Pocket Gamer Connects, including Seattle and Helsinki.
Shalom Michaeli, Managing Director, EMEA, of Fyber, will discuss the future of mobile advertising, such as the effects of consolidation, changes in user privacy, advancing tech, and how advertisers are innovating and rethinking their strategies in 2022 and beyond.
Fyber is part of Digital Turbine’s independent Mobile Growth Platform, developing innovative ad monetisation solutions trusted by top mobile game and app publishers - offering them a trusted, unconflicted alternative that drives superior results.
PocketGamer.biz: If you could give other mobile games companies one piece of advice, what would it be?
Shalom Michaeli: Transparency is key. If there’s one thing I hear from monetisation managers I work with is that getting more insight into the auction process allows them to make the best, and most informed decisions - and ultimately deliver better results. Full transparency allows you to compare every placement and instance, understand who the buyers behind them are - and get visibility into the value of their transactions. Knowing more about the effectiveness of the auction gives you the power to tweak, optimise - and win.
What do you think the next big disruptor in mobile games will be?
Play-to-earn games have the potential of becoming big disruptors in the business models of mobile games as we know them today. Currently dominated by paid games and free-to-play (with IAP and IAA options) - a play-to-earn model could harness crypto currencies to create new ways of creating value. Publishers could create models enabling mining and creating value from the very time and energy invested in users playing, mining the coins - and converting them to actual currency. The users, in turn, will receive a share of the value - everybody wins.
What is the single biggest challenge facing the mobile games industry today?
The industry’s consolidation trend in recent years marks a challenge as well as opportunity for the entire mobile space - app publishers and mobile advertisers alike. While some short term slow down might occur, the opportunity of becoming a mature and more centralised market can signal health, stability and opportunity for many players. One challenge that is evident is the consolidation of ad tech companies with gaming companies. When an advertising player also owns a mobile gaming publisher, how can we guarantee other publishers working with the same providers get the same service? It’s a complicated situation that we will see evolve in the near future.
What game has been on your phone the longest?
Hill Climb Racing- I had it installed 9 years ago!
What key trend should we be paying attention to in the next 12 months?
Brands joining the mobile gaming arena. The programmatic space was less available for brand advertisers in the last decade, even if they showed interest. Now, with increased availability of measurability via OMSDKs out there, more and more brands are feeling confident to increase spending via in-app channels - and the opportunity is big. Changing agencies' perception, alongside measurability capabilities, give brands the confidence to start spending with gaming users.
Is hypercasual gaming here to stay?
We see more and more hypercasual publishers expanding into casual and other generes. This change has many reasons and we shouldn’t be surprised to see in the future companies specialising in multiple genres, including hypercasuals. With companies consolidating, diversifying and de-risking your business by expanding into other genres is a smart move.
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Our Pocket Gamer Connects events are now live, and are the pefect opportunity for you and other industry leaders to catch up. Make sure you secure your spot today for our host of international events, including Seattle and Helsinki!
