Beyond the Niche: Unity Exec Urges Marketers to Rethink Gaming

Why It Matters

Marketers can unlock a $123 billion consumer spend pool by integrating gaming into media plans, leveling it with streaming and CTV for measurable ROI.

Key Takeaways

• Unity reports 160M US monthly active users.
• Gaming now rivals streaming in audience size.
• Measurement parity achieved with first‑party data.
• Unity platform powers automotive and casino experiences.
• Mobile games generate $123B in‑app revenue.

Pulse Analysis

Gaming’s evolution from a niche hobby to a mainstream advertising medium reflects broader shifts in digital consumption. Brands have poured billions into streaming and social platforms, yet Unity’s data shows that gamers spend comparable time and exhibit high engagement. By offering first‑party data, overlay capabilities and closed‑loop measurement, Unity bridges the gap that once made gaming unattractive to performance‑driven marketers. This parity enables advertisers to target, measure, and attribute campaigns with the same precision they enjoy on connected TV, turning the "state of play" into a measurable touchpoint.

Beyond traditional video games, Unity’s engine underpins a diverse ecosystem—from Mercedes‑Benz in‑car experiences to 80% of slot‑machine interfaces showcased at CES. This cross‑industry reach generates proprietary data across verticals, enriching audience insights and fueling AI‑driven commerce tools launched in late 2025. The platform’s versatility positions Unity as a software and data powerhouse rather than a pure gaming company, allowing marketers to tap into unified consumer journeys across automotive, entertainment and retail environments.

The market opportunity is substantial. Sensor Tower’s 2025 report indicates mobile gaming accounts for 54% of global in‑app purchase spending, roughly $123 billion, yet brand investment remains modest. As Unity closes the measurement gap, advertisers can now align gaming spend with the rigor of streaming and social campaigns, capturing high‑value consumers during on‑the‑go, at‑home, and second‑screen moments. Embracing this shift promises not only expanded reach but also more accurate ROI, reshaping media planning strategies for the next decade.

Original Description

Marketers have poured billions into streaming and social, yet gaming, a medium commanding comparable scale and engagement, remains oddly underfunded. The disconnect, according to one industry veteran, lies in outdated perceptions rather than genuine limitations.

“We’ve created a medium and an opportunity that continues to expand in terms of the number of monthly active users, continues to grow in the amount of time spent,” said Chris Feo, SVP of sales and partnerships, programmatic, at Unity in this video interview with Beet.TV.

Feo wants to change advertisers’ mindset of gaming, from a place to reach “the stereotypical Midwestern mom or a teenager in their basement” to one with the same targeting, measurement, and data capabilities that propelled connected TV into media plans.

A software and data company in disguise

Unity is best known as the engine behind countless mobile games, but Feo emphasized the company’s reach extends far beyond video games. Mercedes-Benz and other automakers build in-car experiences on Unity’s platform. Walk the floor at CES, and roughly 80% of slot machine interfaces were constructed using its tools.

“People think of us as a gaming company, but in reality, we’re a software and a data company,” Feo said. “We have a platform that developers of all sorts can build their experience.”

That diversification helps unlocks proprietary data across verticals. Unity claims 160 million monthly active users in the United States alone, with average engagement of 28 minutes per day – figures Feo noted rival the largest digital publishers.

The company has also been expanding its commerce and AI capabilities, including a cross-platform commerce management feature launched in October 2025 and an AI Council formed in September 2025 to accelerate product innovation.

Closing the measurement gap

For years, gaming lacked the targeting and attribution infrastructure that made connected TV and social attractive to performance-minded buyers. Feo argued that gap has closed dramatically over the past 12 to 24 months.

“If you want to bring your own first-party data as a brand, if you want to utilize Unity’s first-party data that’s now unlocked and available, overlay third-party data, run closed-loop measurement online or offline, digital conversions to web – any of the things that historically weren’t possible inside of mobile app and gaming, that upfront investment was made to really make it at parity, at scale to well-invested channels like connected TV,” he said.

The stakes are considerable. Mobile gaming now rivals streaming and social in scale, and according to Sensor Tower’s “State of Mobile Gaming 2025” report, mobile games account for approximately 54% of global in-app purchase spending – roughly $123 billion. Yet brand investment continues to lag behind the audience opportunity.

Reframing the conversation

Feo’s pitch is about reaching high-value consumers during a particular mode of content consumption.

“When you buy streaming, you’re not saying ‘I’m buying streamers’,” Feo said.

“We have consumers while they’re in the state of play, which I think is a very interesting opportunity because that state of play is when you’re on the go, when you’re at home, when you’re second-screening watching TV and playing a game.”