Adverty’s Alex Ginn outlines why the mobile marketing industry should celebrate an increased focus on Gaming from the major holding groups. The news that Publicis Groupe has launched a specialist gaming division – Publicis Play – provides further proof, if it were needed, that the media industry is finally waking up to the power of gaming. The new proposition aims to offer advertisers the right creative, media and production opportunities for marketing within games and eSports, with key Publicis executives taking central roles, thanks to their experience on gaming initiatives for brands such as EE, KFC, Heineken and Samsung. The holding group will, of course, be aware that the gaming sector outperformed music, video and film last year, with UK gaming industry revenues rising by almost 10 per cent in 2020, and projected to continue to rise by 7.3 per cent annually over the next five years. What’s more – with 5G and cloud-based gaming services closing the gap between mobile and traditional console gaming experiences – a raft of new, creative opportunities are set to emerge.