Crafting Effective Game Ads for Mid-Core and Hardcore Games

Mid-core and hardcore games engage players with intricately designed mechanics and richly detailed audiovisual experiences. However, translating these complex and visually stunning experiences into captivating ad creatives presents a significant challenge for developers.

Understanding this challenge, Mindworks, the in-house creative studio of Mintegral, has taken a data deep dive into ad creatives specifically tailored for mid-core and hardcore games. Analyzing how these game genres perform within Mintegral's ad platform has uncovered useful insights you can leverage into crafting attention-grabbing ads that deliver real results.

We showcase real-world performance data to illustrate the effectiveness of both playable and video creatives in various contexts. Additionally, we also delve into a "universal creative solution" that you can adapt across different game subcategories and regions.

These insights are designed to empower you to devise more effective creative strategies that showcase your mid-core and hardcore games in the best possible light, leading to increased downloads and player engagement.

Playable Ad Spotlight: Taking Center Stage In Southeast Asia

The rise of playable ads as a key driver of user acquisition stands out as a strategy in Southeast Asian markets. Data from Q1 2024 shows a significant improvement in the performance of playable ads in the region, demanding a deeper look.

Among Southeast Asia's top five advertising campaigns (in terms of cost), playable ads accounted for a staggering 99.5% of installations. This figure represents a significant increase of over 30 percentage points compared to playable's 60% share in 2023. Playable ads also wield significant influence in Japan and South Korea, accounting for 80.7% of advertising campaigns and maintaining parity with the overall performance in 2023.

Mid-core and hardcore game developers targeting the Southeast Asian market may consider expanding the distribution of playable ads in this region to achieve optimal user acquisition results.

Playable Ads: Capture Core Gameplay And Help Your Users Out

Here's some tips on how developers can capture user attention for mid-core and hardcore games with playable ads:

1. Less Is More

Playable ads should showcase core gameplay highlights within seconds. Supplement with clear in-game guidance and genre-specific audio cues. This will allow users to grasp the experience quickly.

2. Simplify Mechanics

Mid-core and hardcore games often have complex mechanics. To simplify these elements, you might want to turn to such tactics as offering a pre-configured character build, highlighting strategic moments in battles, or lowering difficulty.

·  Core gameplay allows players to combine characters freely

·  Highlight strategic moments in battles

·  Simplified game mechanics and reduced difficulty

3. Guide Users Through

Top playable ads don't just showcase gameplay; they show off progress. Display clear objectives, provide updates on remaining challenges, and empower users to gauge their progress to motivate them to complete the ad to the end.

·  Displays clear objectives

·  Provides updates on remaining challenges

·  Allows users to gauge their progress accurately

4. Fuel Player Engagement

Some high-quality creatives incorporate prompts to unlock new levels, guiding users to victory. This portrayal of game progression fuels players' appetite for challenges. Consider gradual upgrade guidance or prompting challenges during gameplay to capitalize on players' desire for excitement.

·  Offers gradual upgrade advice

·  Prompts challenges during gameplay to capitalize on players' desire for excitement

Leveraging Rewarded Video Slots For Optimal Exposure

It's time to take on video advertising. Data from Q1 2024 suggests that rewarded video slots deliver exceptional performance for mid-core and hardcore game ads across regions and gameplay styles. Compared to interstitial video slots, rewarded video ads see significantly higher completion rates.

Players of certain genres, such as simulation management and idle games, are often deeply invested in their virtual experiences and are more receptive to longer in-app advertisements offering valuable in-game rewards.

This success can be attributed to two key factors:

·  High viewing freedom: Users choose to watch rewarded video ads in exchange for in-game rewards, leading to a more engaged audience.

·  Value exchange: The incentive of in-game rewards motivates players to watch the ad to its completion.

While captivating ad creatives are essential, strategic ad placement plays a crucial role in attracting players. By understanding these attributes and analyzing user behavior data, mid-core game developers can leverage rewarded video slots. This allows them to showcase core gameplay and thematic highlights to a receptive audience, ultimately driving downloads and installations.

Video Creatives: Spotlight Your Themes And Core Elements

How can you engage players? High-quality video creatives for mid-core and hardcore games often revolve around captivating narratives, visuals tailored to target regions, and highlighting key game elements. Let's look at these in more detail.

1. Engaging Users With A Story

Unlike playable ads, video creatives leverage the power of narrative and visual storytelling. Compelling scripts and visually pleasing content are crucial to captivate users and spark their interest in the game. Consider crafting attention-grabbing storylines with unique themes and high-quality visuals that highlight your game's most appealing features.

·  High-quality visuals that accentuate the game's advantages

2. Core Elements To Spark Curiosity

Mid-core games often feature intricate and detailed world-building, incorporating complex gameplay elements. For example, in simulation management games, players can immerse themselves in different scenarios, such as running a restaurant or managing a hospital. Incorporating open-ended endings can leave viewers wanting more, sparking their curiosity and driving them to download the game to discover the resolution.

·  Highlight core gameplay

·  Reinforces game themes through compelling endings

Mindworks Makes The Difference For Our Customers

Now that you've seen just a handful of ways to make your game more competitive versus your competitor's ad creatives, discover the benefits of Mindworks.

Mindworks provides creative solutions that combine creativity and technology to empower advertisers’ digital marketing capabilities and drive business growth. We produce a variety of video and interactive ad creatives that match emerging media technologies and different marketing scenarios to power your marketing campaigns. If you want to learn more, click here to get in touch.

We have more content on mid-core and hardcore games. Click here to unlock new revenue streams, and learn more creative tricks too. Finally, discover what our customers are saying on how Mintegral supports their growth.