AI in Gaming Predictions for 2024: Featuring Industry Experts from AppLovin, Adjust and Wurl
The use of AI in gaming is not a new development. For a few years now, the global gaming industry has been using AI tools to create exhilarating interactive experiences for users. In 2023, truly speaking, AI in gaming made a massive transformation with ChatGPT and other LLM-powered generative AI tools. As we head into the New Year 2024, we are expecting another mammoth year for AI-driven gaming software makers. We spoke to industry experts from AppLovin, Adust, and Wurl to understand the growing appetite among gamers for AI-based personalization. The panel of speakers includes:
- Daniel Tchernahovsky, VP of Global Business Development at AppLovin
- Andrey Kazakov, VP of Demand at AppLovin
- Simon Dussart, CEO of Adjust
- Simon Baptist, Director of Commerce Business at AppLovin
- Katie Madding, Chief Product Officer at Adjust
- Gijsbert Pols, Ph.D., Director of Connected TV and New Channels at Adjust
- Ron Gutman, CEO at Wurl
- Keith Bedford, GM, EMEA at Wurl
- Dave Bernath, Vice President of Sales & Partnerships, Americas at Wurl
Emerging technologies like AI will significantly influence game creation and growth in 2024
Daniel Tchernahovsky, VP of Global Business Development at AppLovin
“Recent advancements in AI are helping app developers create games much faster and at a lower cost than ever before. The lower cost of creation allows developers to experiment more early on, create easier content, market test that content, and incorporate feedback quicker into their production. For example, if you build a runner game, you can use AI to generate different running environments like a sports stadium, a field, or a wooded trail. This is an easy, cost-effective way to create more levels and add longevity to a game that I suspect we’ll see implemented more widely in the year ahead.”
AI-driven personalization will help gaming developers create more engaging player experiences
“The best way for gaming developers to increase long-term retention is to make their game or app feel like it’s designed especially for their players. AI helps by enabling the developer to segment users and customize game progression so it feels as if the game’s level of difficulty has been uniquely calibrated to a user. Segmentation can create custom experiences that feel unique to each user, which leads to more engagement – and that leads to more retention. We’re likely to see more of this application of AI – in gaming and beyond – to personalize app experiences and successfully retain users.”
Advertisers get more creative with the way they acquire mobile users in 2024
Andrey Kazakov, VP of Demand at AppLovin
Trends we see include advertisers going outside of mobile inventory like CTV to acquire users. We also see advertisers experimenting with web flows. Moreover, next year is going to further embrace advertisers’ ability to work with new partners and drive their growth by differentiating in a way that they get new users.
Looking at a longer time horizon, in general, it is about building a foundation within companies that enables the advertiser to act rapidly to any changes. This means advertisers need to have a growth stack that empowers them to measure what they buy, so they know the exact performance across a variety of channels that are out there. They also need a process to expand their user acquisition channel portfolio so they can act and new additions to it and scale. A focus on foundation sets up businesses to succeed in any environment.
AI will optimize mobile app user onboarding flows and improve retention
For mobile app businesses, fostering long-term user retention is essential. AI-driven personalization plays a pivotal role. It helps customize features or content to suit specific user cohort’s preferences, making the app more appealing and “stickier. AI can also help improve the onboarding experience, which is the first critical step for user retention.
We anticipate that more companies, particularly those outside of retail, will use AI to analyze and optimize their app onboarding. This is a make-or-break moment in the user’s relationship with an app: If there’s any friction at all, the user may never open the app again. Therefore, creating a delightful onboarding experience is a top priority for any app developer – and AI will become a standard tool to support this pivotal step.
Modern marketers are ready to fully embrace the term ‘affiliate marketing’
Simon Baptist, Director of Commerce Business at AppLovin
“As the world awakens to the paramount importance of privacy and consent, affiliate marketers have and will continue to be torchbearers of trust. Among marketers, they possess an unparalleled connection with their audiences.
With the spotlight on first-party data strategy, data collaboration, and audience insights, it is affiliate marketers who wield the deepest understanding and historical collaboration with the brands they champion. We don’t need to hide affiliate marketing under the guise of partner marketing. Rather than rename it, I predict that in 2024 more people will be stepping forward to claim it.
We continue to see mobile increasingly dominate online shopping (54% of sales this Black Friday came from mobile, up 10% from just one year ago). This trendline will continue up and to the right. As marketers grapple with the convergence of paid advertising and owned media, it’s imperative that affiliate marketing continues to take center stage as its role in influencing the entire buyer’s journey cannot be understated. M-commerce will soar in 2024, and a large part of that will be thanks to the power of affiliate marketing.”
Predictive analytics bringing stability and consistency to the developing landscape of cross-channel measurement
Simon Dussart, CEO of Adjust
“Mobile to CTV, PC & console and back to web… Regardless of what new channels might become popular over the next few years or new privacy regulations that might be introduced, marketers need to get the best return on investment, so the question advertisers are asking is, ‘How do we know where we should spend’?
In the past, most of the focus on measurement was aggregating data from a few sources and comparing the results to see how they performed and where you should invest in the future. But machine learning and AI are giving us the ability to predict, with 90% accuracy, a user’s lifetime value at days 3, 7, 14, and 30. Within the first 24 hours, marketers will be able to identify if a campaign is attracting high-value users so they can invest more or stop the campaign in favor of other channels. And that’s where we see budgets being spent better and having better ROAS.
Predictive analytics and automated workflows, combined with incrementality and media mix modeling, or MMM, will give marketers a 360-degree understanding of how they should be spending their marketing dollars – and on what platforms or channels. This is the future of modern growth marketing and measurement.”
As investment in AI is set to soar in 2024, embracing its potential for mobile marketing will be crucial for staying competitive
Katie Madding, Chief Product Officer at Adjust
“The mobile marketing industry has made significant strides in AI this year, giving marketers access to more meaningful data than ever before, and helping them to make even smarter, more informed decisions. As we look to the year ahead, mobile app marketers will be searching for their measurement partners to take the next step and address another crucial question: How can AI take all of this data and use it to make the smartest possible decisions for marketers?
Using ongoing analysis of data, advanced learning models have the potential to provide informed predictions and make strong recommendations to marketers. In less time, and with more accuracy, this will help marketers to figure out how to best optimize budget spend to reach their audience and drive results. This is something that we’re going to see growth marketers really interested in exploring.”
Embracing sophisticated approaches to measurability will be crucial for standing out as a streaming service
Gijsbert Pols, Ph.D., Director of Connected TV and New Channels at Adjust
“FAST channels that want to be taken seriously by advertisers need to stand out with measurability. A move toward more advanced measurability will likely drive standardization within the industry to ensure that metrics are comparable across different platforms and campaigns.
Brands and companies will increasingly move beyond simplistic attribution models, and adopt multi-touch/cross-platform models to consider the full customer journey and understand how different interactions contribute to conversions and LTV.”
The fusion of content and commerce will redefine the TV-watching experience
“Retail media will become a pivotal part of the future of advertising as consumers can make purchases directly off their TV screens. Perhaps one of the most obvious examples, cooking programs could seamlessly integrate with grocery delivery apps, allowing viewers to purchase ingredients straight off their screen to their doorstep. The fusion of CTV and commerce creates an interactive platform where every click has real-world implications.”
CTV will become the household’s central digital hub
“In 2024 we’ll see CTV offering a transformative user experience that transcends traditional boundaries. Just as the smartphone revolutionized what can be done using a phone, the digitization of TV will do the same for television. In fact, CTV can transform the TV from a device for watching content to the central digital hub in every household. The convergence of stationary and social will not only elevate user engagement but also create more robust opportunities for advertisers to connect to consumers with many different interests.”
In the next five years, the transition from cable to streaming will be complete
Ron Gutman, CEO at Wurl (an AppLovin company)
“I predict that within the next five years, the transition from cable television to streaming will be complete. Despite enormous shifts in the Connected TV space, we’re still currently only halfway through this migration. In the beginning, the focus was on moving content to streaming. The next phase as we head into 2024 will be about moving viewership, where the growth is still ahead of us.”
CTV will become a true performance channel
“Advertisers will finally leverage Connected TV as a true performance channel. Advancements in AI-driven technologies and performance marketing solutions will give rise to more targeted and personalized CTV experiences. This, in turn, will give streamers and publishers the ability to accurately measure and attribute a viewer’s actions to a specific campaign, enabling advertisers to turn marketing efforts from a cost center to a revenue driver.”
Marketing will be imperative to grow audiences
Dave Bernath, Vice President of Sales & Partnerships, Americas at Wurl
“In the US, we’re in a plateauing – or reset – moment in the streaming market, most obviously with studios and their SVOD services. I also see this happening in the free space, specifically with FAST channels. More premium content is coming to FAST, which is a good thing. But, the growth in overall viewership is still relatively modest and the programmatic ad market continues to disappoint. As a result, platforms, publishers, and OEMs face the difficult reality of needing to spend more on marketing during an uncertain market. I think the choice is obvious: Organic growth is not going to cut it. In 2024, we’ll see who steps up to spend the marketing dollars required to grow their audiences, and who stands pat and starts getting left behind.”
2024 will be the year of the bundle
“2024 will see the rise of streaming services joining the legacy bundle, as evidenced by the recent Charter Disney deal. I predict we’ll see more SVODs partner with MVPDs to bundle offerings. While this represents a retreat to the wholesale model, it is likely to add some stability to subscriber counts. Bundles work and consumers are less likely to drop any particular service when it’s part of a broader package that includes broadband, cable, or satellite and phone. I don’t know that it will slow the rate of cord cutting, but there does still appear to be tens of millions of households where this model could work and help both parties.”
The integration of EPGs into smart TVs will drive discovery
Keith Bedford, GM, EMEA at Wurl
“The integration of EPGs (electronic program guides) directly into smart TVs will grow the streaming market, giving manufacturers more control and consumers easier access to discover content. This will, in turn, create a more personalized viewing experience, and, ultimately, significant potential for ad revenue generation.”
FAST adoption will speed up in EMEA
“While the US is witnessing the transition from traditional TV to FAST (free ad-supported streaming TV), cord-cutting is less prevalent in EMEA due to the abundance of free TV content, which may lead to a different approach to ad-supported streaming in this market in 2024. Still, with top-tier broadcasters like ITV, the BBC, and Germany’s DWR/ARD making their mark in Europe’s CTV market, we’re likely to see the adoption of FAST and CTV more broadly speed up this year.”
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