If you ask a room of 100 people whether they’re “gamers,” you’ll get maybe six hesitant hands in the air. Ask that same room if they play games like Candy Crush, Wordle, Zip on LinkedIn, Baldur’s Gate 3, Fortnite, Episodes or Lily’s Garden, and you’ll get 80–90 people in that same room to raise their hand.
That was the energy at the 4As Gaming Day 2025—gaming is more mainstream than many believe, and some may not realize they are even a part of it. Today, gaming is mass media. Gamers are a powerful (and influential) audience with money to spend, and advertisers would do well to recognize the industry as the deeply human ecosystem that it is.
For the third consecutive year, the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4As) and Activision Blizzard Media hosted the 4As Gaming Day on November 19, 2025. This event brings together marketers, platform leaders and innovators in the advertising and gaming industries to explore the role of gaming in media, culture and commerce. I had the privilege of moderating two sessions, Press Start: How Brands Win When They Play for Real (a panel discussion focused on how brands should integrate into the gaming ecosystem as they do for digital, OOH, and traditional media), and Proving It Works: The Metrics That Matter in Gaming (an open discussion forum on different measuring processes, what we’d like to see in the future, and how to capture metrics that seem just out of reach). I also sat in during all the other sessions throughout the day. What stood out the most? That’s an easy question:
- Gaming isn’t a channel. It’s a participation ecosystem.
- Brands don’t know how to talk to gamers, because they still don’t understand who gamers really are.
- When done right, gaming solves business problems other channels don’t.
1. Gaming IS Culture, Not a Carve-Out
One of the strongest and most repeated messages of the day was simple but transformative: “Gamers” are not an audience. Gamers are everyone.
The gaming ecosphere competes with Hollywood, sports, and streaming—and sometimes it wins. The idea that gaming is “youth culture” or “tech culture” is outdated (and, quite frankly, has been for some time). People across demographics and lifestyles play games at scale, and the data proves it.
But here’s the issue: when you say “gamer,” what most brands picture is a 17-year-old boy in a headset sitting in the dark with the glow of a computer screen or TV lighting his face. But this isn’t the reality. The gap between who gamers really are and who brands think gamers are is where most opportunity for brands is lost.
So, how do we fix that? By leading with a more holistic view of the audience in mind—first thinking of their behaviors, communities, rituals and motivations—the things we already focus on when media planning for other channels.
In the agency world, specifically in gaming activations, we need to be the subject-matter experts on gaming-as-part-of-the-media-ecosystem conversation. We need to be authentic, transparent, and guide our brand partners. All brand marketers know what Albert Thompson so eloquently stated at the event: “Brands don’t want to go into the future with people they don’t know.”
As an agency, our job is to get to know our brands, and help them get to know the advertising landscape. This includes the gaming ecosystem and the audiences that are present there.
2. If Your Gaming Activation Interrupts the Player, You’ve Already Lost
A universal consensus was clear across every panel and discussion: The fastest way to make gamers hate your brand is to break the gameplay.
Gaming is an interactive medium. Unlike in more traditional mediums such as TV or display advertising, players aren’t passive. They’re participating. Your creative has to participate in the environment, too.
What works in this context? This is where many brands make missteps—treating games as just another display opportunity is not how the best advertising performs in situ. Because the medium itself is so creative, the creative should enhance the experience, not detract from it. Here are some ideas:
- Interactive minigame ads are great, because even though the player has to sit through the ad, it gives them something to do, and makes brands more memorable.
- Branded worlds and experiences are a step up from that, but have been well executed by brands like Chipotle, and Walmart on platforms like Roblox.
- Creator integrations can tap into existing fandoms, borrowing from the clout of the creator. They are influencers in a slightly different medium, but their fandoms and communities run deep.
- Esports sponsorships can enhance the moment without overshadowing it, and depending on the event don’t have to be the most expensive, but can lead to massive amounts of visibility.
- Full-blown brand-built games, especially from indie studios who are more agile.
Any of these things can work, from small buys to large investments.
So, what doesn’t work?
- Anything that disrupts the player.
- Anything that feels bolted or slapped on.
- Anything that treats the player like another impression instead of a human.
People who play games absolutely watch ads if it benefits them in-game or makes sense as part of the experience.
3. Fandom Is a Strategy and a Culture, Not a Bonus
The most useful reframing of the day: Every brand wants loyalty. What they really need is a fandom.
Gaming is where fandoms live, breathe, and multiply. This isn’t just a nice-to-have side effect. It’s a business engine. Plain and simple.
People follow gaming creators like they follow sports teams, fashion icons, or celebrities. They form parasocial bonds. They emotionally invest. And, they reward brands that show up authentically within those communities. A great example of how this proves out is the launch of Iron Lung, a movie by online creator Mark Fishbach (aka Markiplier). Initially, Iron Lung launched in about 60 theaters and as of today, the movie will be available to see in 2,353 theaters nationwide in the U.S., as well as in Canada, Australia and the UK. All due to his fans asking for it.
That’s the power of fandom. Fandom is where loyalty, advocacy, and long-term revenue are built.
4. Measurement Is Still Hard, But It’s Getting Smarter
In the breakout session I moderated, Proving It Works: The Metrics That Matter in Gaming, we had some great discussion surrounding just how difficult it is to prove advertising worth in the gaming ecosphere. Gaming and advertising are both notorious for diffused direct measurement and attribution—but not because measurement is broken per se. Rather, with gaming, we’re often measuring it from the wrong direction.
The famous “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don’t know which half,” largely attributed to former department store magnate John Wanamaker, is applicable. Rather than forcing gaming into legacy measurement frameworks, we should take an outside-in approach—start with the business objective, then work backward to determine which signals, behaviors, and moments actually indicate progress toward the goal.
Why? Because gaming isn’t one platform, it’s dozens. Players move between mobile, console, PC, CTV, and streaming environments seamlessly, but the measurement metrics we use don’t always have the same smooth flow. This is true in trying to use multi-touch attribution in traditional advertising as well. Traditional measurement models struggle here because they expect linear paths and clean attribution, while consumer behavior is becoming less and less linear.
What does work is a shift in thinking. The gaming industry, for its part, is moving toward:
- Multi-platform attribution
- Multi-touch attribution
- Outcome-based measurement
- Deeper attention and context scoring
The key point is that you don’t measure gaming like display advertising. You measure gaming like gaming. Brands that align with this way of thinking and attach gaming metrics to business objectives rather than media vanity metrics will be the true winners.
5. My Panel Session – Press Start: How Brands Win When They Play for Real
Moderating this session was a true highlight, especially because the conversation was equal parts honest, tactical, and aspirational. A great way to close out an awesome gaming day.
The biggest takeaway for me was that: Brands must understand the gaming world before they try to operate in it. Gaming, being incredibly interactive, is a different universe from that of cinema, TV, or other consumable media. As such, the expectations of gaming consumers are also different within the environment.
Some key thought-starters:
- Don’t start with the “gamer” or the specific game. Start with the business problem to solve.
- Gaming activations should solve business challenges, not create distractions.
- The evolution of big-screen gaming (CTV, consoles) is unlocking inventory we’ve never had before.
- Participation beats placement, every time.
- Gaming may feel risky (similar to how social media felt risky not that long ago), but the bigger risk is staying out of it.
And one bonus note (heard during my session, and nearly everyone else’s):
- The #1 activation people would love to do if risk or money wasn’t an issue, was to appear in GTA 6.
The panel’s energy was positive, with an air of collaboration, curiosity, and honesty about the gaps brands still have to cross, but with a willingness to help them cross over.
The TL;DR – Real Takeaways for Brands and Agencies
- Gaming isn’t niche, but it does have to be treated differently. Build for interactivity.
- Gamers aren’t a demographic, they’re a behavior.
- Gaming activations are participation systems. Invite them in, don’t interrupt.
- Measurement must evolve. Attention, context, and business outcomes are the future.
- Start with the business problem, then get creative with the solutions.
- Show brands what’s possible. Walk with our clients, don’t just talk about it, whether that’s as far as branded gaming or just an interactive ad within a mobile game.
- Invest in education. Gaming still feels new, so help others to understand the landscape.
Gaming isn’t the future, it’s the present. Brands that hesitate will fall behind, but those that participate thoughtfully will win loyalty, attention, and cultural relevance.
And for us agencies? This is the moment to lead our clients into a space where audiences are already thriving. Gaming is where people live, connect, create and belong. It’s our responsibility to be there, too.
.jpg)
