Over 200 attendees, 100 companies, and 50 speakers, Gamesforum Cyprus 2025 brought together mobile gaming leaders who got real about what’s actually driving growth this year, and what’s quietly bleeding money. From MY.GAMES’ full-stack UA automation to Outfit7’s 2.5 billion-download franchise testing native ads, the message was clear: scale looks different now, and you better adapt.

Here’s what a lot of the teams are doing to stay profitable when CPIs spike, creatives fatigue, and players churn.

1. If you’re not automating UA, you’re burning time and budget

Alina Ismailova from MY.GAMES broke it down: real UA scale today means automating every link in the chain - from bid logic to fraud detection. Their internal UA tools slashed optimization time from 14 minutes to 4, cut creative upload from 1 hour to 2 minutes, and scaled affiliate campaigns from 10 partners in 2024 to 30 in 2025.

They even built custom product page automation into AppLovin, boosting both upper funnel (IPM, CTR) and monetization behavior (ARPPU, purchase %). Creative analysis, bid updates, and fraud filters? All happening via API and internal dashboards.

RTB Houses' Jakub Gajewski and Easybrain's Alexander Kuzmenko on the User Acquisition panel emphasised how UA managers now operate beyond media buying, taking on roles in analytics and creative ops.

Automation isn’t a lever - it’s the infrastructure.

2. Rewarded ads without a funnel are just expensive bribes

MY.GAMES highlighted how rewarded campaigns only work when paired with funnel design. Linear reward paths like “complete Arena 6” or “subscribe to battle pass” keep users engaged longer, while also reducing fraud risk.

Their advice:

• Use 4–5 events over 60 days for sustained engagement
• Shorter event gaps = better CR and offer ranking
• Always report median completion times to block fraud

On stage, Itay Milstein (SciPlay) and Cevdet Ustun (KashKick) called out the disconnect between short-term reward behaviour and long-term ROI. Funnel-based designs, they argued, are key to turning one-time task completion into deeper re-engagement.

3. Brands love in-game ads - as long as they don’t feel like ads

On the Innovation in Ad Monetization panel, Outfit7 and Google dropped data on immersive, intrinsic ad formats inside Talking Tom Gold Run (2.5B downloads, 80M MAUs).

They placed branded content in pause menus and level previews, resulting in:

• +22% reach vs rewarded video
• 65+ min daily playtime with no drop in satisfaction
• 3.5 sessions per DAU, sustained even with ads

Players don’t skip them, brands don’t need new assets, and monetization doesn’t undercut gameplay.

Intrinsic ads are the format to watch, and test, this year.

4. Hybrid monetization is the new normal, but sync or sink

NOXGAMES Producer, David Vykopal, shared how their 50/50 IAP-to-IAA revenue model works across hybrid-casual and midcore titles. It’s not just about format diversity, it's also about execution:

• Branded items and banners that fit the world
• Offerwalls built into natural game progression
• AdInMo placements that boost IAP conversion by 5–10% and ad revenue by 10–20%

But panelists warned: if product and monetization teams don’t coordinate, you’ll cannibalise revenue, misread player intent, and weaken long-term value.

5. CPI is broken - so studios are diversifying or dying

Playducky Marketing Manager, Alena Filomonova, shared how they test every project using a three-stage pipeline (retention, monetization, ROAS) with 60+ UA sources. Their big win? Turning Melon Sandbox from 0% to 30% IAP revenue share, and driving 2.9M downloads on Merge Away! via rewarded integrations.

Meanwhile, NOXGAMES pushed lean pipelines:

• 2–3 week MVPs
• Targeting 40%+ D1 retention
• Staying under $2 CPI

Whether through alternative stores, cross-platform play, or web shops, everyone’s looking for growth beyond the App Store duopoly.

On the State of the Industry panel, Andrey Korotkov, CEO & Partner Zillion Whales, and Kosmos' CMO, Alex Lubchenko acknowledged that traditional UA is nearing collapse under cost pressure. The future lies in lean pipelines, alternative distribution, and building for lifetime value, not day-one metrics.

Final word: fast beats fancy, and structure beats luck

Some of the overarching messages from Gamesforum Cyprus include: automating what you can, align your teams, and don’t chase installs - chase value. And test like it’s 2025 already.