Video games have taken an outsized place in the global media landscape, but many advertisers still struggle with successful paths to connect with players.

• There are currently 3.4 billion game players worldwide and time spent in games is up 6% YoY, however games receive less than 5% of media investment, according to Dentsu's 2025 Gaming Trends Report.

During Advertising Week New York's first-ever Gaming Summit last week, a panel of gaming industry leaders shared insights on how brands can better navigate the gaming ecosystem.

Gaming's reach vs. investment gap

"Gaming is honestly kind of like the industry's worst kept secret," said Paul Mascali, marketing director and head of entertainment, gaming, and creators at PepsiCo. "Everyone in the industry knows how big and how important gaming is. Everyone's seen the flashy numbers. The problem is just a lack of education and the industry being as fragmented as it is."

This fragmentation creates confusion for brands about where to invest their marketing dollars effectively, with Mascali noting there's "a fair amount of snake oil out there" from vendors who may not provide genuine value.

Beyond education gaps, operational challenges contribute significantly to gaming's underinvestment problem. Brent Koning, head of gaming at Dentsu, explained that gaming initiatives are often first on the chopping block when budgets tighten.

"You've got CMOs who at the start of the year in the budgeting process are like, 'What are we going to do? It's gaming.' And then when budget issues hit, everyone goes, 'Quick, what are we going to cut? It's gaming,'" he said.

The solution, according to Koning, is integrating gaming strategies directly into the marketing mix rather than treating them as separate innovation initiatives. This approach makes gaming investments harder to cut and more likely to receive consistent support.

Gaming as Gen Z's social ecosystem

For Gen Z specifically, gaming serves as a unique social experience, with the younger generation 32% more likely than average players to play in order to hang out with friends, as noted in Dentsu's report.

Meena Mutha, director of sales at Discord, said that marketers need to recognize that "gamers don't just game," they engage in broader social activities and community building.

"At our core, Discord is a voice, video, and chat platform, but 90% of our users actually game," said Mutha. "They're coming to Discord to game, but they're really coming there also to form communities, to communicate with their friends and form connections."

This social dimension creates opportunities for brands to engage with gaming audiences beyond just the gaming content itself.

While gaming is often perceived as a closed ecosystem difficult for advertisers to penetrate, the panel challenged this notion.

"Discord was not [built as an advertising platform first]," said Koning. "This is a platform that is gamers by gamers for gamers, and there is no wall and there's no guard."

Mutha added that gamers are "hungry for discovery" and constantly looking for new content to discuss with their communities. This openness creates opportunities for brands that can provide value to these communities.

Non-endemic brands finding in-game success

Rather than having a standalone "gaming strategy," Mascali explained that PepsiCo develops brand strategies that leverage gaming to deliver on broader objectives.

"We have certain tools and approaches of how we integrate within the gaming space to make sure we're offering and delivering on those brand objectives: Authenticity, adding value to the experience, and testing and learning," said Mascali.

He shared a successful case study where Mountain Dew partnered with Discord and World of Warcraft, becoming the first non-endemic brand to use Discord's "Quests" feature. World of Warcraft players who took part received free in-game skins via Discord as rewards.

"The results were awesome," said Mascali. "We saw a 16% lift in brand favorability, tons of engagement. We saw massive spikes in people playing World of Warcraft on Discord."

Gaming's diversity presents scaling challenges for advertisers, requiring multiple buys across platforms, games, and publishers. Mutha said Discord has addressed this by developing products that help brands reach gamers at scale across its 200 million monthly global active users.

"As a brand, you can sponsor a user playing a game," she said. "What better way to get a user to feel really good about your brand, have positive brand affinity, and also get a reward?"