ATTENTION & EMOTION IN PLAY

As digital ecosystems become increasingly saturated, attention has become both rare and difficult to sustain. For brands, the challenge is no longer simply to generate visibility, but to create meaningful moments of connection.

The Attention & Emotion in Play study explores gaming as a distinctive media environment where attention, emotion and memory come together. It combines eye-tracking and emotional analysis to compare interactive in-game video advertising with YouTube pre-roll and embedded web video.

In-game video ads captured attention for 92.2% of their viewable duration, compared with 88.4% for YouTube pre-roll.

The study also distinguishes between attention focused on the creative content and attention directed towards elements such as skip buttons, countdowns or progress bars. In-game formats achieved 84.8% positive attention, compared with 71.8% for YouTube and 9.5% for embedded web video.

This represents 18.1% more sustained positive attention than YouTube. In gaming, attention remains anchored, stable and voluntarily maintained. The interactive nature of the experience transforms simple exposure into a more engaging moment.

Gaming also generates richer and more positive emotional responses. Players are not passive spectators. They make choices, respond to challenges and experience rewards. This active participation creates a powerful combination of immersion, enjoyment and concentration.

The study found:

• 24% more emotional engagement than YouTube
• 2.2 times more happiness-related emotion
• 17% more declared emotional connection

This combination of sustained attention and emotional intensity translates into measurable brand impact: +25% brand recall, +35% brand affinity, +12.8% purchase intent compared with YouTube pre-roll.

For brands, the opportunity is not simply to appear inside a game. It is to integrate the message at the right moment, respect the player experience and transform exposure into active engagement.

Gaming offers more than visibility. It creates an experience where audiences are attentive, emotionally engaged and more likely to remember and act.