sim·plic·i·ty
1. the state, quality or an instance of being easy to understand
2. freedom from complexity
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37.7 million UK gamers — more than half the population. Advertising across PlayStation, Xbox, Twitch, IGN and in-game environments, reaching audiences where social media simply cannot follow.
Gaming is no longer a niche medium. It is the UK's largest entertainment sector — bigger than film and music combined — and it reaches audiences across every demographic that social media increasingly struggles to access cost-effectively.
37.7 million people in the UK play video games — more than half the entire population. UK internet users spend an average of one full hour every day on games consoles. 59.5% play games on smartphones, up 21.4% year-on-year. The UK is the largest gaming market in Europe, valued at £7.82 billion in 2023.
For advertisers, gaming represents access to a genuinely captive, highly engaged audience in environments that most media plans completely ignore. UK in-game advertising is forecast to reach £1.6 billion by 2030 — growing at 7% annually — and 52% of UK advertisers have expressed interest in the channel, higher than in the US market.
Gaming advertising is not one channel — it is an ecosystem. PlayStation Network, Xbox, Twitch, IGN, in-game placements and gaming publisher display each reach different audience segments in fundamentally different mindsets and contexts.
We plan gaming campaigns the same way we plan every other channel — starting with the audience, understanding where they are in the gaming ecosystem, and identifying the formats and environments that will reach them most effectively. A console dashboard ad during the pre-game lobby reaches a different person in a different state of mind than a Twitch mid-roll during a live esports stream.
We have direct relationships across the gaming advertising landscape and hands-on experience running campaigns for gaming publishers and non-endemic brands. The C-Smash VRS and Global Gaming Title work in our portfolio demonstrates what effective gaming media planning looks like in practice.
PlayStation Network is one of the most premium advertising environments in gaming — reaching PS4 and PS5 owners at every touchpoint of the console experience. Dashboard advertising appears at the moment players power on, before they enter any game. In-game display formats reach players within specific titles. The PS Store reaches audiences at the point of active purchase intent.
Xbox advertising reaches players across Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and via Game Pass — Microsoft's subscription gaming platform with tens of millions of active subscribers. The Xbox ecosystem also connects to PC gaming through Microsoft's unified platform, extending gaming ad reach beyond console to Windows PC. Dashboard placements reach players at session start; in-game formats reach them mid-engagement.
Twitch is the world's dominant gaming live-stream platform — 13.4 million active UK users, with 70% of the global audience aged 18–34. UK users are among the world's most engaged. Users spend an average of 95 minutes per day on the platform — longer than most digital channels. Advertising reaches an audience that is actively choosing to watch gaming content, creating a high-attention, community-anchored environment that is uniquely receptive to brand messaging aligned with their interests.
IGN is the UK's most visited gaming media destination — reaching millions of readers and viewers actively researching game purchases, following esports and consuming gaming news and reviews. Gaming publisher display advertising places brands alongside content that audiences are actively seeking out, in a high-trust editorial environment. Also covers GamesRadar, Eurogamer, Rock Paper Shotgun and other specialist gaming titles.
In-game advertising places brand creatives within the game environment itself — on virtual billboards, stadium hoardings, loading screens and native in-game surfaces. Research from Anzu and Lumen shows that in-game ads generate more attention than Facebook and Instagram in-feed formats, with 6 in 10 players reporting they are likely to make a purchase after seeing a relevant in-game ad. Available across mobile, console and PC titles.
59.5% of UK internet users play games on their smartphones — the largest single gaming audience by device. Mobile gaming advertising spans interstitial video, rewarded video (where players opt in to watch an ad in exchange for in-game rewards), playable ads and display placements. Rewarded video achieves the highest completion rates in mobile advertising — audiences actively choose to engage.
People in the UK play video games — representing more than 55% of the total population. The UK is the largest gaming market in Europe, valued at £7.82 billion in 2023.
Average time UK internet users spend on games consoles every single day — equivalent to the time spent on social media, representing a significant and largely untapped advertising opportunity.
Of UK advertisers have expressed interest in gaming advertising — higher than the US market (33%) — indicating strong commercial appetite for this channel among UK brands.
Forecast UK gaming ad spend by 2030, growing at 7% annually — double the current level. Brands investing now build capability before the market reaches full competitive maturity.
We managed the pan-European media launch for a major global gaming title across five markets — planning and buying digital and OOH across the UK, France, Germany, Spain and beyond. The campaign reached 44 million gamers and delivered 154 million impressions across a coordinated multi-market plan. The work required deep knowledge of gaming audiences across different European markets and the ability to plan across channels that most agencies treat separately.