The Ledger #17: Mobvista's Numbers, Gamescom's Wrap

Mintegral's Smart Bidding tops 80% of Mobvista revenue

Mobvista's H1 2025 interim results, published August 29, show Mintegral's Smart Bidding product now generating more than 80% of Mintegral's revenue, with gaming advertisers contributing roughly 75% of that total. It is the clearest numbers-backed confirmation yet that a mid-tier network has substantially completed its shift to automated bidding. What it means for buyers: if a meaningful share of your Mintegral spend still runs manual placements, ask the account team directly which bucket it sits in, since optimisation effort is better spent on creative and signal quality than on manual bid tweaks against an algorithm that already carries most of the volume.

Gamescom 2025 wraps in Cologne

Gamescom ran August 20 to 24 with Opening Night Live and Nintendo's return to the show floor with Switch 2 titles. Mobile publishers used the week for franchise-adjacent crossover marketing rather than mobile-specific announcements. What it means for buyers: if a portfolio title has any franchise adjacency, treat major platform shows as fixed dates on the creative production calendar, with assets ready before the reveal rather than commissioned after.

Sonic Rumble launches globally

Sega's Sonic Rumble reportedly used the franchise's Gamescom-week visibility to support a global launch push, though exact scale figures are not yet confirmed. What it means for buyers: a well-timed franchise launch during a major show is a live example of borrowed attention working as intended, worth watching for how its early UA mix compares with genre peers once more data surfaces.

devcom's vendor floor previewed the week's themes

devcom opened in Cologne on August 18 and 19, a day ahead of Gamescom, with its usual concentration of ad-tech and vendor pitches. Multiple attendees reported a cluster of pitches around automated bidding maturity and AI-assisted creative production, echoing themes visible across this year's network earnings reports. What it means for buyers: when several unrelated vendors independently lead with the same pitch, treat the clustering as a stronger signal of genuine market movement than any single vendor's claim, and weigh it into Q4 planning assumptions rather than this quarter's tactical spend.

Mobvista's numbers and Gamescom's wrap, read together

Between Mobvista's disclosure and devcom's floor chatter, automated bidding's shift from differentiator to default kept showing up in different forms this fortnight. Buyers reviewing network relationships heading into Q4 have more reason than ever to ask each vendor for numbers, not just a roadmap.