two & a half gamers 🚨📢 BREAKING NEWS: 2026 State of Gaming Marketing, Turkish studio raises big, Meta shuts studios
Creative output hits record highs, Turkey and India attract massive funding, Meta shuts down VR studios, Rockstar launches a paid mod marketplace, and Arc Raiders sells 12M copies in just 2.5 months.
The State of Gaming Marketing 2026 Report:
https://www.appsflyer.com/resources/reports/gaming-app-marketing/?utm_source=influencer&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=CO%3A+State+of+Gaming+01-2026&utm_term=matej&utm_content=Newsletter
This week shows how fast the industry is consolidating around execution, scale, and monetization efficiency.
What I cover
• Creative volume explosion
• $25B global UA spend
• Tale Monster & Liquid Nitro funding
• Meta VR studio shutdowns
• Rockstar’s paid mod marketplace
• Valve’s Steam Machine update
• Ubisoft layoffs
• Arc Raiders breakout success
2026 is not slowing down.
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This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let’s not forget this is a 4 a.m. conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously.
Panelists: Jakub Remiar, Felix Braberg, Matej Lancaric
Podcast:
Join our slack channel here: https://join.slack.com/t/two-and-half-gamers/shared_invite/zt-2um8eguhf-c~H9idcxM271mnPzdWbipg
Chapters
00:00 — Why this week matters
00:32 — Creative volume explodes (2,600 creatives per quarter)
01:40 — AI shifts from creation to reporting
02:45 — Tale Monster raises $30M (Turkey momentum)
03:40 — Liquid Nitro and AI live-service model
04:45 — Global UA spend hits $25B
05:35 — GDC becomes a premium festival
06:20 — Meta shuts down VR studios
07:10 — Rockstar launches paid mods
08:05 — Valve updates Steam Machine strategy
08:45 — Ubisoft layoffs & ARC Raiders breakout
09:25 — Final take for 2026
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Matej Lancaric
User Acquisition & Creatives Consultant
https://lancaric.me
Felix Braberg
Ad monetization consultant
https://www.felixbraberg.com
Jakub Remiar
Game design consultant
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakubremiar
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Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me
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