The Future of Mobile Game Marketing: Q+A with Rovio's Eric Seufert

2015 has been another busy year for mobile game marketing: the growth of video advertising, the impact of rewarded advertising (and its successful integration within games) and the overall shift in favor of lifetime value marketing approaches have all played a significant role in shaping an increasingly mature sector.[caption id="attachment_14082" align="alignright" width="218"]

Eric Seufert[/caption]What, then, does the future hold for mobile game marketers? We caught up with Eric Seufert, author of Freemium Economics and VP of user acquisition and network engagement at Rovio to find out his take on what to expect in 2016 and beyond.On the biggest story in mobile game marketing in 2015: The biggest story?at least as far as "big" is measured by revenues and advertising spend?is the shift to video [advertisements]. Mobile video advertising grew from less than $1 billion in total spend in the US in 2013 to a projected $2.6 billion in 2015. Beyond that, mobile video is estimated to represent half of all digital video advertising in the US by 2019?that's huge growth!On new technologies (like VR and smartwatches): I haven't seen any evidence that the smartwatch category will support a large, robust gaming ecosystem in and of itself (which isn't to say that smartwatch apps can't complement a mobile gaming experience). VR is interesting, but it also seems more niche, as a hardware form factor, than the mobile gaming design paradigm can support.On China's mobile gaming growth: I think domestic Chinese developers will obviously benefit from the growth of the Chinese market for mobile games, but I'm skeptical as to how capably non-Chinese developers can capitalize on that (outside of taking funding from massive Chinese games publishers such as Tencent, but that's a wholly different proposition).On innovation with mobile game monetization: Ads seem to be becoming more integral to many gameplay experiences. I'd expect innovation to continue to take place there.On a 2016 focus for marketers: Focus maniacally on ROI, try to consolidate your portfolio, and build out a training program that allows you to quickly on-board analytical new hires with no experience in mobile marketing.