Anzu’s intrinsic in-game advertising solution has quickly become a hit with indie game developers, offering them a way to monetize their games without taking anything away from the player experience. In this blog series, we sit down with a number of indie studios that are using Anzu’s solution to understand what impact it has had.

We were delighted to speak with Axis Games, the team behind the sports sensation Axis Football. The American Football simulation, which is loved by sports fans globally, runs across PC and mobile platforms and features the industry’s best franchise mode, massive customization, and realistic gameplay. Axis Games kicked off its partnership with Anzu back in 2020. 18 months on, we caught up with Danny Jugan, President of Axis Games, to understand the impact in-game has had on their studio.

You started working with in-game ads in the summer of 2020. What impact have they had?

They have been fantastic. In all honesty, it’s a match made in heaven. We were looking for a way to liven up our stadiums and add a better sense of immersion, so dynamic ads that provide additional revenue were a perfect fit. The revenue we’ve seen from them is roughly equivalent to our revenue from game sales on a single platform, and it continues to grow significantly. Compared to the previous year, revenue for December from in-game advertising increased by 775%!

Knowing that we have a consistent and reliable revenue stream coming in has not only helped us spend more time and resources on our games, but it has also allowed us to better plan for the future.

How have players reacted to the ads?

We have received no negative feedback at all from players. In fact, we received several messages saying how much life they add to the stadiums! Here is a message we received from one of our players;

“The ads in the stadium add a lot of life and realism to the game. Just like in an actual stadium, the billboards and banner ads reflect real-life products, and they change from season to season and sometimes from game to game. Having this feature in Axis Football really elevates the immersion in the stadiums.”

Have any notable ad campaigns stood out to you?

We have done a mix of banner and video ads that have appeared across all our stadiums. Some big campaigns that stood out for me were from Samsung, Paco Rabanne, American Eagle, Microsoft, and McDonald's.

How have you found working with Anzu?

Working with Anzu has been great. Everyone is responsive and helpful, and the integration process for the game was very seamless.

After the initial implementation and having monitored where and how players were interacting with the ads via Anzu’s dashboard, we worked together to make some adjustments to which ads play in different areas to maximize the number of impressions. This was very easy to do, and Anzu’s support team was always on hand when we needed help.

What does the future hold for the Axis Football franchise? Any big plans?

Yes, we are extremely focused on improving the on-field gameplay experience. Thanks to some of the revenue we’ve generated from the in-game ads, we’ve been able to purchase hundreds of motion-captured animations that will elevate the quality and smoothness of gameplay.

Find out more about how in-game ads have impacted Axis Games in this case study.