Why Your Next Customer is Playing a Game, Not Scrolling a Feed

Hey everyone,

Welcome back for another bite to chew on.

The social media squeeze is reaching its breaking point. 

Ad inventory on Meta and Google is more crowded than ever, CAC is volatile, and the arbitrage opportunities are disappearing faster than you can launch a creative test.

Yet, most operators are still fighting tooth and nail for the same 35% of mobile time people spend on social platforms.

They are ignoring a massive, growing block of active attention that is currently wide open for brands that know how to play in the mobile games advertising world.

Today, we’re breaking down why the next frontier for DTC growth isn't another social feed - it's the high-score.

Let's get into it.

On the menu:

If 100% of your acquisition lives on Meta or Google, you own a lease that is getting more expensive every month as the duopoly hits a new efficiency ceiling.

Forward-looking operators are already moving into the active attention of mobile gaming. 

But shifting channels is an experiment a lot of brands aren’t willing to do.

That’s why we’re looking for the ones who aren’t afraid to challenge their assumptions. 

We’re partnering with Axon by AppLovin to stop talking about the next frontier and start building it in public.

The mission: We are selecting 4 high-impact DTC brands to onboard with the Axon Ads Manager from AppLovin to test the efficacy of this new channel.

And we’re putting skin in the game to make sure you win:

We want to show the industry exactly how to build a profitable, high-scale acquisition engine outside of the social media feed. No fluff, just execution.

Ready to move to the high-score?

👉 Apply for a chance to be on the pod and scale with Axon by AppLovin here.

Let’s look at the numbers.

Social media is still where the time goes. About 35.8% of all mobile usage lives there, so for every three minutes someone spends online, one of them is on a social platform.

If you only look at the layer one metrics of total minutes, you’d think the battle is still exclusively won on the feed. But that’s a surface-level trap. 

Because while social has the duration, gaming has the momentum. 

In 2024/2025, mobile gaming downloads hit approximately 47 billion. It is no longer a niche subculture; it is the dominant form of active entertainment on the planet. 

While social media is often used for background noise or passive consumption, gaming requires 100% of the user’s cognitive load. 

The insider stat: The real shift is happening with Gen Z. For this cohort, the traditional media hierarchy has flipped. 

Gaming has officially surpassed TV and Streaming in weekly hours:

So while most operators are drowning in the social squeeze, competing for a sliver of time where users are passive and guarded, they’re ignoring a massive and growing pool of active attention in gaming, where users are already engaged.

Where the eyes are matters, but the mindset behind them matters even more.

If you want to understand why ROAS is tanking on social, you have to look at the psychology behind it.

Most people use social media to kill time. They are in a state of passive consumption, often referred to as doomscrolling.

Contrast that with a user in a mobile game. They are investing time rather than killing it.

They are in what psychologists call a flow state.

This is where the massive shift happens for operators. 

Because the gamer is focused on a goal, you can use this to your advantage by turning what would be considered an interruption into an enabler by using rewarded videos.

On social, an unskippable 15-second ad is a tax. In gaming, that same 15-second ad can be turned into a transaction.

For example: The user watches the ad → The user gets an extra life or a boost.

People buy more when they feel like they’re winning. On social, they’re just scrolling. In games, they’re achieving.

Additionally, mobile gaming offers a rare arbitrage opportunity. While everyone else is fighting for expensive, oversaturated real estate on social feeds, gaming provides access to one of the largest inventory pools in the world that most DTC brands haven't even touched yet. 

This means buying undivided attention in a market where the supply is massive, and the competition is still surprisingly thin.

To win here, you have to treat your ad like a power-up. 

Here are 5 tips to make sure you’re off to a winning start on your mobile game ad strategy: 

1. The Dopamine-linked CTA

Align your product benefit with the game's reward.

Something like: "Need a boost? Here’s a 20% discount code to fuel your real-life recovery while you wait for your next life."

2. Longer Ads Are King

On social, you have seconds to survive. In gaming, you have the floor. Data shows that 81% of spend on top gaming platforms goes toward ads that are 31 seconds or longer. Because the user is in a "flow state," they aren't just scrolling past you; they are settled in.

3. The 5-second Hook Rule

Many game ads are unskippable for the first 7 seconds.

Your branding and problem statement must happen in the first 120 frames. If you haven't made your point by then, you've already lost them.

4. Frequency Capping Strategy

Ad blindness happens faster in gaming. Rotate 3-5 creative hooks weekly to keep that winning feeling fresh.

5. Leverage Playable Elements

You don't need to be a game dev to use interactive ads. Using a simple "Swipe to Reveal" or a "Choose Your Bundle" mini-interaction can hold a user’s attention longer than a standard video.