Pocket Gamer Connects London 2022 saw over 1,600 delegates representing more than 900 companies return to central London to celebrate the global mobile games industry, share in our experience and expertise, and finally get back to networking in person in a rousing return to live events.
Moloco's vice president of sales in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) William Melzer spoke in a session exploring the value of demand-side platforms (DSP) in advertising and how developers can utilise them to more effectively to achieve their 'ultimate KPIs'. As the size and value of the mobile games market continues to grow, with regard to advertising, it's an issue that more developers need to understand - and take seriously.
PocketGamer.biz caught up with Melzer after his presentation and asked him for his views of the challenges and opportunities facing the global games market in 2022 and beyond.
What is the single biggest challenge facing the mobile games industry today?
William Melzer: IDFA and finding new channels to scale: IDFA continues to have a great impact on the entire landscape of the mobile games industry. Targeted advertising has become more challenging, which has a direct impact on user acquisition and monetisation. Despite the changes rolled out in mid-2021, mobile game advertisers are still to overcome IDFA challenges.
The key for mobile game developers will be to adjust and expand their user acquisition strategies, and having a Machine Learning partner that can help you scale efficiently will therefore be vital.
Is hypercasual gaming here to stay?
Absolutely. The hypercasual genre continued its momentum on an upward trajectory, making it the number one genre in terms of global downloads last year. However the number of new successful games decreased in 2021 compared to 2020 while older games continued to scale and acquire new users, making it more difficult for new games to get traction.
I would definitely say it is here to stay but I think it will definitely become more challenging to navigate for developers as the market has matured significantly, ultimately making it a more competitive landscape.
What sessions/speakers did you attend at PocketGamer Connects?
I tried to attend as many sessions as possible but the Games Subscriptions: Publisher & Platform strategies (Louise Shorthouse), State of Gaming M&A:2021 in Review (Micha Katz) and Why Aren’t More Brand Advertising $$$’s Being Spent in Gaming? (Simon Spaull) are some sessions I particularly loved!
What would you like to see more of from events in the future?
Events offer a great opportunity to get out of the office and network and meet with new potential clients, so I think providing a platform where you can set meetings up ahead of the event and organise sufficient meeting spaces for exhibitors will be key.
I also think of events as an opportunity to meet and reconnect with industry peers, so happy hours and other more informal network sessions are useful, especially since we have not been able to attend many events in the last couple of years due to COVID-19. We definitely have some catching up to do this year!
What is one key takeaway for delegates who attended your discussion?
Have a good understanding of their users and their behaviour, as well as the user acquisition challenges they are facing or are looking to solve. That way they will gain a better understanding of how a DSP partnership is crucial for success and get more out of the discussion.
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