As the year comes to a close, we look ahead to what 2025 might hold for mobile gaming. From LiveOps strategies to direct-to-consumer models and emerging genres, industry leaders share their insights on the future. Their predictions reveal a dynamic year driven by innovation, fierce competition, and a deepening connection between players and developers.
In 2025, mobile game success hinges on AI-fueled optimization across all touchpoints
The mobile gaming industry in 2025 and beyond presents a highly competitive landscape for new game launches. With a growing number of games flooding app stores, standing out is increasingly difficult. Developers need to perfect every aspect of a game to succeed. Hybrid-casual games serve as valuable testing grounds, allowing teams to experiment with mechanics, user engagement, and monetization models before scaling up. For teams launching larger games, success depends on flawless execution across multiple domains: high-quality art, innovative gameplay, effective marketing, live operations to maintain engagement, and a data-driven approach to optimize retention and in-game economy.
The bar for success is rising, and only teams that integrate all these elements seamlessly can thrive. One key strategy for newcomers to overcome the crowded market is harnessing AI. Using AI in all gaming domains to achieve 50%+ efficiency over the current state will likely be a tipping point for successfully launching new games in 2025.
One-size-fits-all strategies no longer work, diversified UA or monetization strategies are key
I think in 2025 and beyond mobile games would have to become much smarter about how they acquire, retain and monetize their players. Developers would need to increase focus on culturalization and personalization to serve a diverse and global player base that plays differently and monetizes differently. One-size-fits-all strategies would no longer work, and the true winners would be the developers and publishers that leverage data-driven decision making and deploy diversified UA or monetization strategies. Mobile game developers will increasingly use artificial intelligence to serve their players in unique and personalized ways.
Additionally, Generative AI will accelerate game development and crank-up LiveOps content generation. Mobile game developers will start seeing real returns from their Gen AI investments as the technology becomes more democratized and is able to produce higher quality output at lower cost. Gen AI powered content treadmills would also make UGC and play-to-earn business models more ubiquitous in mobile games.
Tech advancements, cross-platform play and community-driven content will dominate in 2025
It seems to me that we will continue to see changes driven by technological advancements in the gaming industry.
I think that games with viral mechanics will continue to dominate, leveraging social sharing features and community-driven content to rapidly increase their player base. These games will use innovative gameplay loops and reward systems that encourage players to invite friends and share their achievements, thus expanding their reach organically.
The use of AI in game development will also grow, allowing for the creation of dynamic and procedurally generated content. AI will enable developers to create vast, ever-evolving game worlds and personalized experiences that adapt to individual player behaviors and preferences, providing a unique experience for each user.
The demand for seamless cross-platform play will increase, enabling players to enjoy games across mobile, PC, AR, TV, and other digital platforms without losing progress or functionality. This trend will enhance player engagement by providing flexibility and accessibility, allowing games to reach a broader audience.
In conclusion, in the future, games will become more complex to evoke and develop feelings and emotions in players. Developers will create more thoughtful content that touches on important themes and elicits an emotional response.
In 2025, LiveOps will transcend its support role and become a cornerstone of game development strategy. By elevating LiveOps to a strategic equal of core game development, unprecedented player engagement will be achieved. This integrated approach will enable the delivery of consistent, impactful updates that drive both short-term excitement and long-term player loyalty, ensuring games remain vibrant and competitive in the ever-evolving mobile landscape.
Driving growth in mobile gaming: AI, 5G and innovation lead the charge
The mobile gaming industry is set to grow steadily, driven by advancements in AI, 5G, and strong games. AI will enable personalization, tailoring experiences to individual players and enhancing engagement. Growth will also be driven by the ability of established, top-performing titles to maintain their leadership through consistent innovation and fresh content, keeping them competitive in a dynamic market. At the same time, advancements in technology and player expectations create opportunities for new games to enter the market, offering fresh experiences to engage players and expand the industry further.
Data collection measuring growth will progress due to AI advancements
I predict 2025 will continue to bring more users to mobile games, and I feel more games will be taking advantage of AI in their core production. How we collect this data to measure growth will change on an exponential scale due to advancements in AI.
Monetization strategies are set to evolve, with hybrid models taking the lion's share
The mobile gaming industry in 2025 and beyond will likely continue its rapid growth, driven by advancements in technology and shifting user behaviors. Cloud gaming will play a pivotal role, enabling console-quality games on mobile devices without the need for high-end hardware. 5G adoption will enhance connectivity, reducing latency and improving multiplayer experiences. AR and VR integration will expand, with games leveraging augmented reality to blend real-world and virtual experiences seamlessly.
Monetization strategies will evolve, with a focus on hybrid models combining in-app purchases, subscriptions, and ad-based revenues. AI will enhance player engagement through personalized content, adaptive difficulty, and realistic NPC interactions. Additionally, blockchain and NFTs could reshape in-game economies, allowing players to own and trade virtual assets securely.
Emerging markets like India, Southeast Asia, and Africa will dominate user growth, while environmental concerns may push for more sustainable practices in game development and server management.
Three trends will define mobile advertising in 2025: AI tools, evolved privacy, and A/B testing
In 2025, mobile advertising will be driven by three key trends. First, AI tools will amplify creative saturation, making strong IPs essential to capture attention in an increasingly crowded market. Second, evolving privacy regulations, including Google’s Privacy Sandbox, will continue to limit traditional tracking methods, forcing advertisers to adapt. Third, marketers will turn to future-proof solutions like creative-level frameworks that provide universal attribution and analytics in a privacy-friendly way.
A/B testing will also advance significantly. Predictive models are becoming more efficient, reducing the cost and frequency of testing while maintaining accuracy. At the same time, AI tools are making creative production faster and cheaper, enabling advertisers to test and optimize campaigns at scale. These advancements will allow marketers to iterate faster, adapt to trends, and drive more effective, privacy-compliant advertising across platforms and networks.
Rising UA acquisition will demand proactive ad monetization strategies
The rising challenges with user acquisition will create even more pressure for improved ad performance on the advertiser side, which will result in further deterioration of ad quality, including ad length and general user experience on the monetization side. Ad Monetization Managers will have to manage ad quality more proactively, filtering out inappropriate ads and determining which ad template fits their game the best. At the same time, Ad Monetization Managers will be challenged to balance the need for even greater impressions/DAU and acceptable user experience, potentially relying more on user segmentation to achieve this. Immersive ads may provide a much needed help on this front. Further consolidation among ad networks seems likely.
I’m optimistic about gaming in 2025 after seeing signs of renewed life in the second half of this year for the mobile gaming industry. I think there will be a few trends really driving the direction of mobile for the foreseeable future:
Hybrid is the way forward. A lot of us on the monetization side have seen the synergies between IAP and IAA for years, but hybrid monetization is the real unlock for the majority of developers.
D2C is going to dominate, and the next wave of ad mon innovation will connect IAA opportunities to the increase in revenue coming from web stores. That extra margin coming from the shift to web stores also provides developers more cushion to experiment and reinvest in themselves.
We’re not done seeing consolidation in the industry, and the pace of M&A is going to continue through at least the first half of 2025
AI-fueled UA dominance, hybrid-casual's demise, and the rise of social casino RPGs
UA will be still more important than product in 2025 and this dynamic will get even more skewed towards UA in order to achieve any critical scale. The fake ads epidemic will gear up a new level with the onset of AI creatives. We have already seen multiple games using completely AI generated creatives, which, thanks to its ease of creation, will proliferate like wildfire now as multiple AI video generation models are entering the market currently (Sora, Hunyuan, etc).
The hybrid-casual genre continues to evolve and moves directly towards casual, nearing the final stage of its evolution. On the other side of the spectrum midcore is rapidly adapting hyper casual mechanics in its onboarding in order to drive down CPI costs.
Some hot genres to watch in 2025 that will be entering into a disruption - Sort, Hidden Object, Solitaire, Interactive narrative and new genres emerging - social casino RPG and Palworld-like (combat-based, creature collector).
UA networks will push into social messaging channels for higher engagement and reach
2025 looks to be an interesting year for gaming with publishers fighting back and taking control of their player base from the duopolies of Apple and Google, via direct-to-consumer application. More games are to be published on the web through HTML5, on alternate app stores and via APK.
While we see the rise of rewarded ad networks, that have their own app rewarding users based on events completed in various games, we will also start to see UA networks push into social messaging channels, i.e. Telegram, Whatsapp, etc, due to higher reach and engagement from users.
We will see much better application of AI in game & marketing art, and also for game analytics, which will greatly increase efficiencies in the gaming industry.
Finally we will likely see the first mega hit of Web3 and/or VR in gaming, due to the continued focus there from developers.
Players will increasingly bypass traditional intermediaries in 2025 and beyond
Direct-to-consumer models are poised to thrive in 2025 as app stores allow third-party payment systems and alternative storefronts gain traction. Players will have the option to purchase directly from developers, bypassing traditional intermediaries and fostering a more direct relationship.
LiveOps will be the natural solution to rising CPIs and crowded app stores
I think in 2025 we will see CPIs continue to rise, app stores get more crowded and further consolidation. Cutting through the noise in a cost-effective way will be the top priority.
In response to this, I believe we will see more investment in LiveOps and continued emphasis on retention. New and fresh content to keep players engaged with personalisation and data segmentation to maximise both ads and IAP monetisation potential.
Also, continue to keep an eye on the Vietnamese gaming industry, there is great innovation and performance coming out of a new hub for mobile gaming.
AI-driven data analytics will be used to create personalized games, driving higher LTV
AI has the potential to revolutionize gaming. Imagine dynamic experiences, personalized to individual preferences, which feel custom-made. This is already happening and will continue to strengthen the connection between games and players, boosting retention, and driving higher lifetime value (LTV). It will also have a huge impact on how we market games. AI can serve as a powerful tool, analyzing vast amounts of data to help advertisers identify and target the most relevant audiences with greater precision.But rewarded user acquisition is where AI’s potential really shines. By analyzing player behavior, it can be used to craft tailored reward systems that keep users engaged and excited to play again. A seamless blend of creativity and technology
