Let the games begin
October 9-11, ironSource HQ Tel Aviv
ironSource invited 120 of mobile gaming’s best and brightest – from 68 top companies and 21 countries – to our HQ for our second annual Gamefest. Gamefest 2018 was packed with engaging sessions, including the truth about hyper-casual, ad creatives, fraud and transparency, and more. But what’s work with no play? There was also plenty of time for participants to get to know each other and exchange ideas, while seeing the best Israel has to offer – a trip to Jerusalem’s historic old city and bustling markets, the Western Wall, and Tel Aviv’s hottest places to eat, drink, and party. Gamefest was a nonstop, unforgettable experience.
Who was there?
Hot topics and trends
2019 Gaming Trends and Predictions
Mishka ran through his top picks for next year’s industry trends: RPG games is where most of the potential revenue will lie. Hyper-casual games will become more mature, with added progression mechanics. And eSports will fail to become a growth driver, whereas influencers will become a bigger part of the marketing mix. View the slides
Mishka Katkoff, Founder, Deconstructor of Fun
Gaming Growth in China
Jeff advised foreign developers to keep calm and not to panic over the current censorship mess in China. It’ll pass. He said that when it comes to hyper-casual games, international developers have an edge over Chinese developers. That said, their bargaining power will only worsen, so find a local publishing partner ASAP. View the slides
Jeff Lyndon, Founder and President, iDreamSky
The Truth About Hyper-Casual
Omer told us that the hyper-casual genre brought in over 100 million new gamers to the mobile gaming market – and it’s their creative capabilities and killer IPMs that are making this possible. But hyper-casual games can’t exist in a vacuum. They only exist if there are enough IAP-based games or brand advertisers funding the process. View the slides
Omer Kaplan, CRO, ironSource
Product Overview: ironSource Vision and Roadmap
Tal presented ironSource’s product roadmap. ironSource is rolling out six mobile products this year, including: User Ad Revenue, the ROAS Optimizer, our User Acquisition Platform, programmatic mediation, new ad units, and A/B testing tools. How does the ironSource product team work? We prioritize features based on client needs, challenges and problems, market trends, our capabilities, and our vision.
Tal Shoham, COO Mobile, ironSource
“ My favourite event so far - best people, best talks, best parties! ”
Ryan Davies, Digital Marketing Manager, Kwalee
“ The best gaming event of the year.”
Kenjy Vanitou, UA and Monetization Manager, Voodoo
“ Two days of no bullshit sessions. Great networking and amazing atmosphere.”
Max Petrov, CRO, ZeptoLab
“ The most relevant and on-point event that gaming developers can attend, covering UA and ad monetization.”
Tadej Prijatelj, Senior Director of Advertising Operations, Outfit7
“ One of the highest quality events in the industry. You should attend if you get a chance.”
Saikala Sultanova, UA Director, Ubisoft
“ Pro event in a casual style. One of the most qualitative events for the gaming industry.”
Paulo Esteves, UA Director, Gameloft
“ Gamefest is one of the most relevant and useful industry events for anyone in the ad business - UA or ad monetization. Relevant speakers on important topics, great attendees open for sharing. Must attend!”
Bozo Jankovic, Business Development Manager, Nordeus
“ An outstanding event. I've never been at such a useful conference before. A lot of insights and pretty good networking. There wasn't a salesperson in sight, so no one tried pitching you about their product.”
Artem Bulochkin, CMO, Belka Games
“ A fantastic experience with some great hosts and brilliant networking opportunities. ”
Paul Woodbridge, Design Director, MAG Interactive
“ Gaming’s bright minds brainstorming, learning, and moving the industry forward. ”
Tatyana Bogatyreva, Head of UA, Gram Games
Let’s talk ad monetization
Monetization Best Practices
Nadav warned us to ignore our gut, and always A/B test ad monetization strategies. Base your monetization decisions on LTV. Get to know your players. And segment them by revenue generators and by country.
Nadav Ashkenazy, VP Global Partnerships, ironSource
The Impact of In-Game Advertising
Jarrko said it’s a myth that showing competitive ads to paying users causes churn and hurts retention and IAPs – in fact, in most cases, it helps. That’s because players who install many games belong to their own segment, and players who invest money in your game won’t leave so readily.
Jarkko Rajamaki, VP Advertising, Rovio
It's all about good UA
Creative Innovation and the Science of In-Ad Data
Dan said creatives today need to be a part of every developer’s onboarding funnel. But wait to launch your campaign until you’ve really cracked creative performance. The best way to see that is with a creative soft launch, so you can learn which creatives will generate the highest IPMs in the worldwide launch.
Dan Greenberg, Chief Design Officer, ironSource
Attribution Manipulation
Yevgeny gave us a lesson in ad fraud. He emphasized the importance of knowing everything about your marketing channels. Identify non-incremental channels and shut them down. Monitor incremental channels to stop manipulating attribution. And make sure your team’s goals and compensation aren’t based on ROAS or paid installs. View the slides
Yevgeny Peres, VP Growth, ironSource
User Acquisition Best Practices
Amir said that the key to great user acquisition is to bid granularly. In fact, 8% of titles generate 28% of the network installs. Why? Because they bid granularly. Luckily, you can automate this with ironSource’s ROAS Optimizer tool. You also want to stay on top of waterfall changes in your top quality sources.
Amir Shaked, VP Business Operations, ironSource
Case Study: ironSource ROAS Optimizer
Ryan shared Kwalee’s experience with ironSource’s ROAS Optimizer tool, which lets them dynamically bid on real user quality, rather than just one bid based on average LTV. Thanks to automation, Kwalee is able to react quickly to meet ROAS goals. View the slides
Ryan Davies, Digital Marketing Manager, Kwalee
Panel: Game Industry Trends
Craig, Jeff, Sally, Alexandre, and Brian discussed the gaming industry’s hottest trends, including: publishing, brands coming in game, and industry M&A.
Craig Chapple, Senior Editor, PocketGamer
Jeff Gurian, VP Marketing and Monetization, Kongregate
Sally Lu, Senior Director Ad Monetization, Jam City
Alexandre Tan, VP Advertising and Brand Partnerships, Gameloft
Brian Truman, Executive Director Ad Revenue and Operations, GSN Games