Unity has announced that Unity Ads will be available for in-app bidding through LevelPlay in open beta.

The new process is aimed at solving the problem of managing multiple SDK’s and price targets during ad meditation. “In-app bidding solves this problem with a real-time auction that connects those ad networks, without requiring the management of multiple price targets,” writes Unity in a blog post announcing the changes. LevelPlay is also a part of ironSource, which merged with Unity back in November 2022 after a drama-filled saga where rivals Applovin, made a last-second bid.

Unity also shared some praise for the Unity Ad Network, specifically from developer KamaGames who said, "Since accessing the Unity Ads Network for in-app bidding in Unity LevelPlay we have saved time spent on the waterfall setup process. This enables us to focus on optimizing our games and providing the best player experience."

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The announcement comes shortly after Google announced their rollout of Google Ads Bidding, meaning that for LevelPlay users can have their pick of bidding platforms to choose from. According to Unity themselves, around 70% of the top 1000 grossing mobile games utilise their engine, so making advertising easier to manage can only potentially attract more developers to utilise the engine.

Since Unity’s main selling point has always been ease of use it makes sense that advertising is increasingly under the microscope to deliver alongside the platform's game engine skills. The availability is also a key indicator of how the two companies, now merged, want to synergise in the near future. And with mobile games looking at differing sources of revenue in light of changing privacy on platforms such as Apple's iOS, traditional advertisers and platforms will likely opt in for any streamlining and improvements to ease of use.