To reach mobile gamers during the holidays, plan around shopping timing, match seasonal creative and ad formats to your audience, and test each combination against a clearly chosen campaign goal. Unity’s 2024 U.S. survey points to rewarded video and playable ads as formats respondents were likely to engage with, while its Q5 guidance recommends reviewing holiday results and testing new-year campaigns after Christmas. Those findings are useful starting points—not evidence that any format or tactic will deliver a particular sales lift or return on ad spend.
What Unity’s holiday survey says—and what it does not
Unity’s 2024 holiday advertiser playbook reports a survey of 4,094 U.S. adults aged 18 and older. The findings describe respondents’ self-reported views and plans; they are not a causal measurement of advertising effectiveness, and they should not be treated as 2026 benchmarks.
| 2024 U.S. survey finding | How to interpret it |
|---|---|
| 45% of Gen Z respondents said mobile-game ads influence their holiday gift purchases, compared with 32% of Millennials, 27% of Gen X, and 16% of Baby Boomers+. | Reported influence differed by generation. It does not show that ads caused purchases. |
| 38% said they were most likely to engage with rewarded video and playable ads; 33% selected offerwall ads. | These are stated format preferences, not install, purchase, or ROI results. |
| Among Gen Z respondents, 42% favored playable ads and 40% favored offerwalls. | This is a subgroup preference and does not establish that either format will work best for every campaign. |
| 24% planned to buy most holiday gifts during Black Friday and Cyber Monday; 21% planned to shop throughout the year; 12% planned to shop in December. | The responses support testing before and during peak shopping, but are not a universal or current shopping calendar. |
Source: Unity, Advertiser’s Playbook to Win the 2024 Holiday Season.
How to plan a holiday campaign for mobile gamers
1. Set the outcome before choosing an ad format
Decide what success means for the campaign: app installs, completion of a specific in-game event, purchases, or return on ad spend (ROAS). The outcome determines which audiences and placements to compare and which campaign optimization approach to consider. Unity’s Q5 article discusses ROAS and event optimization as options, but neither is a universally superior choice.
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2. Segment the audience and test the message
Use the generational differences in Unity’s survey as a reason to test, not as a rule for assigning budgets. Try seasonal messages and creative variations with the audience cohorts that matter to your campaign. Check that the ad’s promise matches the destination: Unity’s shopping-season guidance recommends aligning advertising with the app-store page and planning across channels.
3. Compare interactive formats with a clear measurement plan
Rewarded video and playable ads are sensible candidates for testing because they ranked highly in Unity’s 2024 respondent preferences. Offerwalls also merit consideration, particularly if reaching Gen Z is a campaign priority. Compare these with other placements using the same chosen outcome and comparable audience cohorts; preference figures alone cannot tell you which format will produce the most valuable users.
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4. Schedule tests across the shopping period
Run tests early enough to learn before peak shopping activity, then assess whether results change during the period your audience is most likely to shop. Unity’s 2024 survey reported varied shopping plans, including Black Friday and Cyber Monday, year-round shopping, and December shopping. Treat those as historical U.S. survey responses rather than a current forecast for every market.
Use Q5 as a separate campaign window
Unity defines Q5 as the period from the day after Christmas through mid-January. Its Q5 guidance recommends reviewing Q4 performance, adapting creative for the new year, and testing campaign optimizers, playable formats, and offerwalls. Treat Q5 as a distinct opportunity to learn and adjust rather than assuming holiday results will carry over unchanged.
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- Review which creative and audience combinations met the campaign’s chosen goal in Q4.
- Test new-year themes instead of relying only on holiday-specific messaging.
- Compare suitable optimization approaches, including ROAS or event-focused optimization where they fit the objective.
- Evaluate offerwall and playable campaigns against other relevant placements using the same measurement criteria.
Unity’s Q5 article also reports figures from other named sources: Meta data cited there puts post-holiday CPM averages 15% below October 1 levels, average CPA down 4%, and average CVR down 8%; the article does not establish these differences as causal effects. Separately, Aura from Unity attributes to Android data from June 2023 through June 2024 the finding that 95% of users installed over 60% of their apps within the first 48 hours after unboxing a new device. These figures have different sources and contexts; they are not Unity survey results or guarantees for an individual campaign. See Unity’s Q5 strategies for mobile user acquisition.
How to read Unity’s platform-specific shopping-season figures
Unity’s September 2024 shopping-season article reports historical platform data and an offerwall result. Keep the source, period, and scope attached when using these numbers in planning.
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- Unity Playworks platform data from 2021–2022, as reported by Unity, showed game installs surging 3x during Christmas week in the U.S. on Facebook. This is not a current, all-channel benchmark.
- The same Unity article says advertisers tested twice as many creatives during the holidays, based on Unity Playworks platform data from 2021–2022. It does not establish that every advertiser or channel should use that volume.
- Unity reports around a 35% lift in conversions during special offerwall promotions. The cited passage does not specify a broader population or causal design, so do not treat the figure as a forecast for another campaign.
The article also discusses offerwalls, device-setup placements, and multichannel planning. Read the figures in their stated context in Unity’s four strategies for app growth during the shopping season.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.A practical comparison framework
Rather than selecting a format from a preference statistic alone, compare campaign variations across the dimensions below. Keep the measurement consistent enough that differences can inform the next test.
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| Dimension | What to compare |
|---|---|
| Audience | Relevant cohorts, including generational segments where appropriate. |
| Timing | Early holiday activity, peak shopping periods, and the post-Christmas-to-mid-January Q5 window. |
| Interaction | Rewarded video, playable ads, offerwalls, and other placements available to the campaign. |
| Outcome | The specific target selected in advance, such as installs, event completion, purchases, or ROAS. |
| Creative and destination | Seasonal message variations and whether the app-store page or other destination supports the ad’s promise. |
Unity’s recommendations are platform guidance, not independent proof that its advertising or user-acquisition services will outperform alternatives. The sources cited here do not establish current affiliate or referral terms for those services.
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