Smartphone is by far the most popular device for gaming, allowing advertisers to reach casual gamers who may not be inclined to pay for ad-free platforms. Last year, overall mobile gaming revenues saw a 34% increase, which shows gaming apps performed well despite Apple's Identifiers for Advertisers (IDFA) changes, as platforms leveraged their own in-app data tools to target ads effectively.

On today's episode, we discuss whether the metaverse is even a good idea, what comes after primetime advertising, how powerful gaming influencers are, what everyone is doing on their second screens while watching TV, dislike buttons getting the thumbs down, the best "working from somewhere" tips, a little-known secret about the Statue of Liberty, and more. Tune in to the discussion with eMarketer senior forecasting analyst Peter Vahle and principal analysts at Insider Intelligence Suzy Davidkhanian and Paul Verna.

Activision Blizzard faces calls from fans, shareholders, and industry figures for its CEO to resign: Widespread backlash against the gaming company suggests that consumers are paying more attention to corporate social responsibility and ethics.

On today's episode, we discuss Spotify's Q3 earnings, the company's growing ad business, and the viability of video podcasts. We then talk about Amazon building a new music-centric live audio app and who is winning the gaming platform war. Tune in to the discussion with eMarketer senior forecasting analyst at Insider Intelligence Peter Vahle.

Digital gaming and viewership of gaming video content (GVC) has become more popular amid the pandemic. In 2021, some of this activity will see modest growth, while interest in other forms of gaming will taper off.

Riot Games’ launch of its animated series “Arcane” shows the importance of meeting fans where they are: The developer’s Netflix-exclusive show will be promoted across all of its video games and will premiere live on Twitch.

The pandemic led to many upward revisions of our UK digital user forecasts. Some changes (podcast listeners) will be permanent, while others will be temporary (digital gamers). Our social network user numbers, meanwhile, didn’t change much at all.

This year, a resounding 2.96 billion people worldwide will play digital games, whether via console, computer, or mobile device.