Short-form entertainment reshaped the UA creatives landscape
Short-form entertainment has reshaped the UA creatives landscape, influencing everything from interactive novels to 4X games. 👇
This shift began to take hold in July 2022 when Rise of Kingdoms (Lilith Games) released video ads that left many viewers scratching their heads, feeling cringy, and wondering, “Is this really working?” That was also when Reelshort soft-launched—though hardly anyone noticed at the time.
It wasn’t until mid-2023 that Reelshort (Crazy Maple Studio) made waves, scaling rapidly with a unique approach: short-episode content in ads. With engaging, one-minute episodes, it brought drama content directly into advertising—allowing viewers to indulge in endless mini-stories anytime, anywhere. The ads tapped into a library filled with gripping tales of romantic entanglements with billionaires, heart-wrenching tragedies, epic comebacks, passionate love stories, revenge plots, and more. And that’s exactly what they showcased in their creatives.
By 2024, the trend caught the eye of other 4X games. Titles like State of Survival (FunPlus) and Hero Wars (Nexters ($GDEV) began leaning into boss battles and revenge stories, inspired by the successful narrative-driven ads pioneered by Reelshort.
Suddenly, the ads that once seemed confusing now make perfect sense—they were paving the way for a new era of immersive, story-driven UA creatives. Or does it?
