Brutally Honest #147

Hey, FAM! What’s up?

🥃 Drink talk

So much stuff happened in the last few days. We started the year strong! A few days ago, we hosted our first Play Global event of the year in Seoul in collaboration with Airbridge, Moloco, and Sensor Tower. Over 150 attendees joined us for a half day with valuable insights and networking opportunities. Sign up to our Korean Channel now!

two & a half gamers MERCH is live. Go and grab it here! Yes, that’s it! 🦩 🦄 🕺

Have you signed up to Gamesforum already? SIGN UP WITH MY OWN PROMOCODE – Unicorn20. Register now!

🦩Tip of the week

In 2025, UA is set to undergo a transformative shift with a pronounced emphasis on creative excellence. The convergence of storytelling and motion design will become pivotal in crafting compelling narratives that captivate audiences and drive engagement. And ROAS! DUH!

Key Competencies for UA Managers:

• Creative Brief Development: Articulating clear, concise, and inspiring creative briefs will be essential. These briefs serve as the foundation for campaigns, guiding the creative process to ensure alignment with strategic objectives.
• Storytelling Mastery: Crafting authentic and relatable narratives will be paramount. Story-first ads, which prioritize compelling stories over direct selling, are anticipated to dominate, fostering deeper emotional connections with audiences. This doesn’t mean you must have high production value AKA expensive videos.
• Motion Design: The ability to produce dynamic and engaging visual content will set professionals apart. You need to be able to build those creatives by yourself. Jesus Christ, AI is everywhere.
  • Nice to have: Advanced animations and visual storytelling can significantly elevate user experience, making motion design skills increasingly valuable.

As you know already, creative diversity and volume are pivotal in the evolving digital advertising landscape. Implementing a strategy that distributes many creative assets across multiple ad groups—ideally 5 to 8 creatives per group—facilitates effective experimentation and optimization. This approach enables advertising platforms to identify and prioritize the most effective creatives, enhancing campaign performance.

Regularly refreshing creative content is crucial, directly influencing an ad group’s longevity. Introducing new assets consistently—transitioning from a weekly update to 2 or 3 times per week on platforms like Facebook and TikTok—has proven beneficial. This practice prevents audience fatigue and maintains engagement, ensuring that campaigns remain dynamic and effective.

We are shifting towards creative quantity. Producing a higher volume of diverse creatives will likely become a key strategy, leveraging the power of variety to capture audience attention and drive campaign success.

To sum it up. The UA skill for 2025? Everything is around creatives. Right? Writing a creative brief, telling a story, and producing the creative by yourself is gonna be necessary. Storytelling + Motion design FTW!

PS: Storytelling is only one step away from … Prompt Engineering! and you know what that means for 2025.

🐊​ Cornelius: The Suspicious Investi-gator

True detective-like exploration of creative trends and historical influences. Delving deep into the world of creatives to uncover hidden patterns and inspirations:

𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭? Today, we’re diving into a particularly intriguing case: two 4X games with almost identical creatives—𝗟𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗪𝗮𝗿 𝘃𝘀 𝗔𝗴𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗢𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻𝘀 👇

Getting inspired by other games is a key part of creative production. Yet, there’s often a fine line between drawing inspiration and outright copying. Why reinvent the wheel, right?

I found these creatives while researching 4X games. Last War (Rivergame) and Age of Origins (Camel Games 壳木游戏) are very similar in concept and execution. One game was here before the other, and I got inspired heavily. These days, both games have vastly different creatives. So, what’s really happening here?

Yours truly, Cornelius.

💀 Dr. Doom is not amused

One of my industry friends amused me with his direct and honest TL;DRs, so we agreed to share it here, too! My friend remains anonymous as Dr.Doom!

“In another week of Elon’s adventures, we learned that he is a champion in Diablo 4 and at 12th place in Hardcore Path of Exile 2 Ladder. Or is he? If we take a closer look at his stream, we see him running around like a headless chicken, trying desperately to pretend that he knows what he is doing. To put this into perspective, streamers are not having sleep, being this high on the ladder. So this seems all “legit,” + running 2 CEO positions and poking governments around the world on top of all this, yeah, sure 🧐” Sincerely, Doom (https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/path-of-exile-2-players-are-calling-foul-on-elon-musks-high-level-hardcore-character-after-he-streams-his-struggles-with-core-game-mechanics/)

🎉  “Ha-ha” moment

Because life is too short to be serious.

🎮 two & a half gamers – MAGIC SORT!

𝗠𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗦𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 $𝟴𝟬-𝟭𝟬𝟬𝗸 𝗱𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝟯𝟬 𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗔 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵! That is a pretty good outlook, but 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗨𝗔 𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗽 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴. 𝗬𝗘𝗧!. In this episode, we dive into the latest industry trends, focusing on Magic Sort, a game gaining significant attention in Türkiye because of the great numbers and the big check for Grand Games.

𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝘄𝗼 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹𝘀, 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻, 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝘀𝗼𝗳𝘁 𝗹𝗮𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗵 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗱 rather than a global one. Similar to what we saw with Triple Match City a couple of months ago. Applovin setup is solid, with eight different playables in place; this is good to go. But where is the rest? No Google, no Mintegral, no Moloco? Tiktok, etc? Magic Sort allegedly has great numbers, so we can expect great things. It’s Türkiye, after all! I said it doesn’t matter if you have a background as a marketing director, but I might have been too harsh on the founding team.

Again, we explore its gameplay mechanics, monetization strategies, and user acquisition insights, highlighting the importance of production quality and effective ad strategies. Our discussion also touches on the game’s prospects and the overall landscape of puzzle games in the market. 𝗜𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗦𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗯𝗶𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴? 𝗠𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗲!

📺 Watch on Youtube

🎧 Listen on Spotify

🦄​ Diary of a Dancing Unicorn

Today was a good day.

Hey! We want to work with you because we heard great things about you.

Sure, no problem, let’s try and see.

How long do we need to work to see if it’s a good fit? Any minimum contract length?

No, not really. Let’s go month by month.

It’s great to hear that! Let’s start ASAP. We have this game, and we want to be the top game in the world. We have done it a few times before.

Is that so? Never heard about those two games, but looking forward to getting to the top 🙂

Nice, so we are testing in one GEO and on iOS. We want to get the CPI below $2.

well, with iOS and that GEO in that category. Let’s see how it goes.

…

…

…

…

The CPIs are really high. What’s happening? we are disappointed. We should end here.

No problem let’s end it right away. I tried four different creative concepts: high quality and high CPI. I would test one more channel to get the benchmarks. If it’s a creative problem, channel problem, or this is the CPI for PAID UA in this category.

We are very disappointed, we were expecting something else. But that could have been a wrong expectation.

That might be on both sides.

Alright, we are expecting a proposal for a discount..

?!

Today was a good day.

🤺​ Quote of the week

“They are soooo behind us” – Jakub, 2.5g DM

Magic Sort – Game Review!

🧞 Level up yourself

I launched a YouTube Channel. I’m putting a ton of energy into creating valuable content that I think you’ll like. Check out the latest stuff, and give me a like and subscribe.

👾  THE AI (R)EVOLUTION

The AI revolution is here, and it’s transforming the way we approach mobile games marketing.

🔍 Search & Research

• OpenAI o1 — The most advanced reasoning model.

• Gemini Live — Engage with AI as it watches your screen.

• Perplexity — Combines AI with powerful web search.

⚡ Productivity

• Superhuman — Turbocharge your email writing.

• Wispr Flow — Achieve 99% accuracy in speech-to-text dictation.

• Lindy — Simplify your life with seamless task automations.

• Delphi — Create a digital version of yourself.

• Granola — Your go-to AI meeting notes assistant.

🎨 Creative Tools

• Midjourney — Generate stunning AI-crafted images.

• Krea — Your AI-powered visual design companion.

• Freepik — Gathering many AI models in one place.

🎥 Video Generation

• Kling — Create professional video content with ease.

• Runway — An advanced AI tool for video generation and editing.

• Poolday — Craft lifelike AI avatars for your projects.

• Heygen — Generate AI-driven avatars with dynamic features.

• CapCut — Simplify video editing and subtitles with intuitive tools.

• Canva — All-in-one platform for editing, designing, and video production.

🔊 Sound Tools

• Eleven Labs — Generate ultra-realistic AI voices for your projects.

• MMaudio — Explore cutting-edge sound design options.

From creating scroll-stopping ad creatives to optimizing user acquisition strategies, AI is the game-changer we can’t ignore.

🥦​ Before you go

Ask Matej AI a question. It’s actually quite good!

We produced one more episode at 2.5gamers. Check it out now:

We are also starting a new segment, give it a go:

🍿 Fun starts in two & a half gamers Slack! Join now

We are opening up a Slack channel for everybody. It is the most inclusive slack for the gaming industry. Female, male, non-binary, juniors, mid-level, seniors, vendors, developers = EVERYBODY! We are waiting for you ♥️

Feel free to join here!

🧙 Thanks for reading this week’s newsletter!

Please do me a favor and share this with someone in your network who you think would benefit from the insights and brutal honesty. It would mean a lot to me!

Take care, everyone! See you next Monday!

👇 Reach out for feedback or questions, or say hi!

Give me some love (or hate) & Subscribe everywhere! ♥️

💡 The latest UA & Marketing jobs for you prepared by Gamigion

Senior Performance Product Manager – Monetization Scopely
Social Media Manager Scopely
Performance Manager Scopely
VP, Marketing Scopely
Director of Product Marketing- Scopely
Performance Marketing Manager II Scopely
Regional Marketing, Korea Supercell
Product Manager, Monetization Zynga
Growth Analyst, Product Zynga
User Acquisition Manager – Bingo Blitz Playtika
Marketing Analytics Manager Dream Games
Senior Marketing Analyst Dream Games
Marketing Data Analyst PLAYSTUDIOS ISRAEL
User Acquisition manager SciPlay
Senior User Acquisition Manager SciPlay
Marketing Specialist (New Grad) Peak
User Acquisition Manager – Apps Voodoo
Lead Marketing Data Analyst Gameloft
Product Marketing Manager Gameloft Brisbane
Head of User Acquisition TapNation
Marketing Director Tangelo Games Corp.
Growth Specialist SKIDOS
Growth Specialist (Monetization) Fugo Games
Marketing Data Analyst Plummy Games
User Acquisition Manager Nordcurrent
Senior User Acquisition Manager Nordcurrent
Sr. Analyst, Growth AppLovin
Product Marketing Manager AppsFlyer
Solution Marketing Manager AppsFlyer
Manager, Digital Lifecycle Marketing Sensor Tower
Campaign Analyst Smadex
Social Media Manager Almedia
Growth Partnership Manager Unity
Growth Performance Manager Unity
Campaign Manager Ogury
Manager, Business Marketing Liftoff Mobile
Senior Performance Strategist Liftoff Mobile
Monetization Manager Appodeal
Marketing Admin, International PubMatic
Campaign Manager (AdTech) Adikteev
Senior Campaign Manager Adikteev
Head of Growth and Digital Marketing Amplitude
Field Marketing Manager Amplitude
Field Marketing Manager, EMEA Branch
Industry Marketing Lead Braze
Senior Lifecycle Marketing Manager Braze
Product Marketing Manager MoEngage
Senior Growth Consultant – Phiture
User Acquisition Manager North America Stillfront
Senior User Acquisition Manager Stillfront
Account Manager (Digital Marketing) Fluent, Inc
Senior User Acquisition Manager JustPlay
Senior ASO Manager JustPlay
Growth Manager Moloco
New Business Growth Manager Moloco
Senior Data Scientist – Growth Analytics Moloco
UA Marketing Producer Playrix
Lead User Acquisition Manager Playrix
Senior User Acquisition Manager Playrix

Find out more here!