How Anzu helps advertisers reach gamers via intrinsic in-game ads that complement their experience while respecting gameplay

By James Loftus with Kevin Gao

From my earliest memories I have been a gamer. King's Quest and NBA Live 95 took up my high school years and I may have spent more time playing FIFA 99 than I did in class my senior year of college. I can still remember the mind-blowing scale of Liberty City in Grand Theft Auto III. I've always loved escaping to a different world for a while. It turns out I am not alone; as of May 2023, there are 3.2 billion gamers in the world, and they are equally likely to be women as men.

Another passion of mine is also advertising, particularly how technology can make it better, both for the advertiser and the consumer. I helped both Google and Yahoo! build platforms that brought better, more relevant ads to the digital and mobile platforms where most consumers were spending their time. When my teammate Kevin Gao introduced me to Itamar and the Anzu team, it was a perfect mix of these two passions.

Anzu combines DNA from the gaming and advertising industries to create a lightweight, easy to integrate, and effective platform to bring the best, most relevant ads to gamer's digital worlds. While some ads interrupt gameplay and ruin the player experience, Anzu works with advertisers, developers, and gamers to produce in-game ad experiences that complement the gameplay making it more realistic, allowing developers to monetize their games while respecting gameplay. According to Anzu’s US In-Game Advertising 2022 report, 68% of gamers welcome brand advertising in principle, and 50% say it’s important for them to see their favorite brands in games. The best part is that it works! Gamers are 22% more likely to buy brands they’ve seen ads for compared to the average consumer.

This new way of integrating ads seamlessly creates massive new revenue opportunities for game studios, allowing for better and more immersive content for consumers. Kevin and I are extraordinarily excited to join the rest of PayPal Ventures in welcoming Anzu to the portfolio!

If you are interested in exploring careers at, or want to know more about, Anzu – visit https://www.anzu.io/.

Sources: Anzu, Statista, GWI