Big screen, gamer audience: how to turn high attention into premium CTV revenue

CTV isn’t slowing down. It’s now the fastest-growing digital ad channel, with US spend jumping 22.4% year-over-year to hit $30 billion in 2024. It’s outpaced the growth of search, social media, and retail media.

That growth means buyers are actively shifting budget into connected environments, and publishers are in a prime position to benefit. The real opportunity comes when you pair gaming’s built-in attention with the biggest screen in the home - the living room TV - and connect gamer-focused brand demand through the same CTV pipes you already use.

Connecting gaming and CTV: one audience, two screens

Buyers are increasingly looking at user behaviour across channels, because the same person who sits down to play on mobile also leans forward to watch live sport or a favourite show on the big screen. Attention spikes in both contexts, compared with doom-scrolling or casual browsing. That’s the joint ingredient we target: the high-engagement moments of gaming, and the high-engagement moments of CTV, connected by data that understands gaming affinity.
From a publisher perspective, we act as a gaming-first CTV hub. We package and curate premium gaming inventory, layer on our DMP audiences, and bring that to agencies. Then we extend the same gamer-affinity targeting into your CTV supply, so you can capture value when that same user moves to the living room.

The result? More high-quality demand, and larger brand budgets flowing into your CTV inventory, all aimed at reaching gamers. Operationally, it’s plug-and-play, because everything runs on the rails you already use - VAST tag, OpenRTB, and major DSP deals - fully aligned with our immersiion buying platform for brands, and fusiion marketplace for publishers.

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What buyers want: big screens, gamer precision

In our experience, buyers are leaning into the big-screen experience: more pixels to play with, a premium environment, and a clearer story for brand awareness. Quite rightly, they’re tired of the perception of gaming being “just mobile”. CTV reframes that by elevating context and creative quality on the largest screen, while our data keeps the focus on the gamer audiences brands care about most.

That’s exactly why agencies are leaning in - because this approach connects two high-attention moments under one smart audience strategy.

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Winning creative and attention that converts

Buyers are increasingly adapting their creative strategies for the CTV format - opting for short, high-impact videos and companion experiences that invite interaction. Many campaigns now include gamified elements or QR-based calls to action that drive second-screen engagement. For publishers, that translates into higher-quality ad experiences, longer time spent on screen, and stronger demand from brands chasing measurable interaction.

Gaming environments deliver unmatched attention - high viewability and deep interaction - which buyers increasingly value. When combined with CTV’s premium setting, those attention-rich audiences become a powerful proposition for brands. Our role is to connect those moments for publishers: uniting reach, attention, and creative impact through measurable, brand-safe, and transparent activations.

Expanding reach and redefining the gamer audience

As research increasingly tells us, the modern gamer is everyone - across all ages, backgrounds, and interests. In fact, 83% of internet users worldwide are gamers. What’s more, 80% of gamers are over 18, with adults spanning all ages. And when buyer assumptions give way to audience reality, this opens new demand lines, and stronger ad experiences. To meet that demand, we’re continually onboarding more CTV publishers to expand where gamer-affinity audiences can be reached. 

It’s an exciting time as some partnerships are live - with promising in-flight results - and some are just launching as we speak. But across the board, the strategy remains the same: connect curated supply with the buyer segments most interested in reaching gamers, and scale iteratively as results prove out.

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Measurement that proves value, fast

Through our immersiion and fusiion platforms, we help CTV publishers demonstrate performance in the metrics buyers care about most - attention, brand lift, and engagement. That proof accelerates buyer confidence and spend. By adding gamer-affinity deals, you open your CTV inventory to new demand sources through the same standard workflows - no new tech, no heavy lift, just incremental revenue and better advertiser fit.
If you already transact via standard CTV workflows, you’re ready to go. We align on audience definitions, enable deals in your preferred DSPs, supply recommended creative guardrails - short video, clear single message, QR-to-play - and match your inventory with premium gamer-seeking demand. It’s a straightforward way to turn gamer attention into revenue - all through the same pipes you already use. 

As gaming and CTV come together, publishers are stepping into one of the most dynamic growth opportunities in digital media, where attention, audience, and premium demand all align - and we’re proud to be a part of it.

To learn more about how to turn gamer attention into revenue, without rebuilding your stack, contact iion today.