AI has made producing mobile game ads faster and easier than ever. But there's a problem: when everyone can produce hundreds of creatives, simply making more ads isn't much of a competitive advantage. So what's happening with ad creatives in 2027?

When the real challenge is knowing which ideas are worth creating, testing and scaling.

We recently spoke to Martin Luther, CMO at Adspawn, on what he believes will shape mobile game advertising in 2027.

Adspawn specialises in performance-driven ad creatives for mobile games. In our conversation with Martin, we explored how AI is changing creative production, why traditional creative testing needs to evolve and how advertising concepts are beginning to influence game development itself.

His message? The future of mobile game advertising isn't about who can produce the most ads. It's about who can identify the best ideas.

Why Creative Quality Matters More Than Ad Volume in Mobile Gaming

For years, creative production was a major bottleneck in mobile game user acquisition (UA).

Producing a new video ad required designers, motion graphics specialists, editors and time. Studios had to be selective about which concepts they developed because every new creative required resources.

But AI is changing that and has changed that. 

Today, creative teams can generate multiple versions of an ad much faster, experimenting with different visuals, hooks, characters and messaging without starting from scratch.

But producing more ads doesn't necessarily mean better campaign performance.

Imagine two mobile game studios.

• Studio A uses AI to produce 100 variations of its existing ads. The team changes backgrounds, colours, music and opening scenes, but the underlying concept remains largely the same.

• Studio B produces 20 ads based on five carefully selected concepts, each designed to appeal to a specific player motivation.

Studio A has more creatives. But Studio B is testing a wider range of ideas about what might attract valuable players.

Neither approach guarantees better results, but Studio B may learn more about which concepts resonate with its audience.

This is where Martin believes creative taste becomes increasingly important.

Creative taste is the ability to recognise promising ideas, understand what makes them appealing and identify which concepts deserve investment.

AI can help execute an idea. The harder question is whether it's the right idea in the first place.

And that changes what mobile game studios need from their creative teams.

How AI Is Changing the Role of Mobile Game Creative Teams

Traditionally, UA teams and creative teams had fairly distinct responsibilities.

UA teams managed campaigns, analysed performance and requested new creatives. Creative teams produced the assets, and UA teams tested them.

As advertising platforms automate more of the targeting and campaign optimisation process, creative concepts play an increasingly important role in attracting the right users.

At the same time, AI is making repetitive production tasks easier to automate.

Martin believes these changes are putting creative teams under pressure to evolve.

The value of a creative professional is no longer just their ability to produce an excellent video ad. It's also their ability to develop original concepts, understand player motivations and interpret what campaign performance reveals about an audience.

For example, creating ten variations of an existing ad might become a relatively straightforward production task.

But identifying why the original concept worked, deciding which elements are worth changing and developing a completely new angle requires strategic thinking.

Creative teams are moving from being primarily content producers to becoming an important part of UA strategy.

And Martin believes that shift goes even further.

How Mobile Game Ad Creative Testing Can Influence Game Development

One of the most interesting developments in mobile game advertising is the growing connection between creative testing and game development.

Traditionally, studios built games and then created advertising campaigns to attract players.

But increasingly, the relationship can work in both directions.

Martin points to Gardenscapes as an example of how advertising concepts that initially differed from the actual gameplay can influence the product itself.

The idea is that a studio can test an advertising concept to explore whether a particular mechanic or experience attracts players.

If the concept performs well, the product team can investigate whether something similar deserves a place in the game.

From an Ad Concept to a Gameplay Feature

Imagine a mobile puzzle game running an ad featuring a character who needs to escape a room by solving a series of challenges.

The mechanic isn't currently part of the game, but the ad attracts considerable interest.

The studio could investigate whether players are responding to the puzzle mechanic, the character, the storyline or the challenge itself.

If the campaign also attracts players who remain engaged and generate revenue, the concept may offer useful insights for the product team.

But there's an important distinction.

A high CTR doesn't automatically mean you've discovered a winning gameplay mechanic.

An ad might attract attention because it's entertaining or surprising, even if the experience it promises doesn't match what players actually want.

That's why studios need to evaluate more than creative engagement.

CTR and CPI can indicate whether an advertising concept attracts users efficiently. Retention, monetization and ROAS help determine whether those users are valuable.

The strongest signals come when an advertising concept attracts users who continue playing and contribute to sustainable growth.

This creates an opportunity for closer collaboration between UA, creative and product teams.

Rather than treating advertising purely as a way to acquire players, studios can use creative testing to generate hypotheses about player interests and potential product improvements.

Of course, those hypotheses still need to be validated through actual gameplay testing.

Why Mobile Game Studios Should Iterate First and Test Second

If creative concepts are becoming more important, studios also need to rethink how they test them.

One of Martin's most practical recommendations for 2027 is simple:

Iterate first, test second.

In the past, creative production was expensive enough that studios often produced one version of an idea, launched it and judged the concept based on its performance.

If the ad failed, the idea was frequently abandoned.

But what if the concept wasn't the problem?

What if the first three seconds were too slow? Or the music didn't suit the audience? Or the most compelling part of the gameplay appeared too late?

A good concept can fail because of poor execution.

One Idea Doesn't Have to Mean One Creative

Imagine a mobile game studio develops an ad showing a player repeatedly failing to solve a puzzle.

The concept is designed to make viewers think they could do better.

The first version delivers a disappointing CPI.

Instead of abandoning the idea, the creative team develops several alternatives.

AI-assisted production makes it easier to explore these variations without rebuilding the entire creative.

The team can review the different executions and select the most promising versions for testing.

This doesn't mean studios should produce endless variations before launching a campaign. They still need to test their assumptions with real audiences.

The point is to avoid dismissing a potentially valuable concept because its first execution was weak.

And there's another benefit to this approach.

Studios can revisit ideas they previously couldn't afford to produce.

Your Next Winning Ad Creative Might Be an Old Idea

Most mobile game studios have a backlog of creative concepts that never made it into production.

And don't discount those old school creative ideas either! 

Some were too expensive. Others required complex animation, additional resources or more production time than the team could justify.

Martin believes studios should revisit those ideas.

Consider a creative concept that required two weeks of motion design work when it was originally proposed.

At the time, the production cost may have outweighed the potential benefit of testing it.

But AI-assisted tools may now make parts of that production process significantly faster.

That changes the economics of experimentation.

Instead of constantly searching for new ideas, creative teams can review their existing backlog and ask which concepts have become feasible.

This is particularly relevant for studios with limited creative budgets.

A concept that was too expensive to explore six months ago might now be worth testing.

The opportunity isn't just to produce more creatives. It's to explore ideas that were previously out of reach.

What AI Creative Tools Will Look Like in 2027

As creative production becomes easier, Martin believes the next generation of AI tools will need to do more than generate images and videos.

The bigger opportunity is helping studios identify promising concepts.

Adspawn is developing a tool called ChopChop9000, designed to automate more of the creative ideation process.

Rather than focusing exclusively on producing video assets, the ambition is to help teams generate ideas with stronger performance potential.

At the time of our conversation, the technology was still being developed internally, with a target release in Q1.

Whether tools like this can consistently identify winning creative concepts remains to be seen.

But the direction is interesting.

AI creative tools are evolving from helping teams execute ideas towards potentially helping them decide which ideas to pursue.

For UA teams, that could change how creative briefs are developed, how concepts are prioritised and how testing resources are allocated.

However, Martin also makes an important point about adopting AI.

Giving your creative team access to ChatGPT, Claude or an AI video generator doesn't automatically improve performance.

Someone needs to take responsibility for implementing the tools and measuring their impact.

Without clear objectives and ownership, AI risks becoming another collection of tools that teams use inconsistently.

What Should Mobile Game UA Teams Do Differently in 2027?

The changes Martin describes have practical implications for mobile game studios.

AI is making creative production more accessible, but studios still need to determine which concepts attract valuable players and how to test those ideas efficiently.

For UA teams preparing for 2027, that means focusing on four priorities:

1. Prioritise creative concepts over production volume. Producing hundreds of variations won't help if the underlying ideas don't appeal to your target audience.

2. Build iteration into your creative process. Don't abandon promising concepts after one unsuccessful execution. Explore whether different hooks, pacing or visual approaches could improve performance.

3. Connect creative insights to product decisions. Share learnings from advertising tests with product teams, particularly when concepts attract players who demonstrate strong retention and monetisation.

4. Give AI adoption clear ownership. Set measurable goals for AI-assisted workflows and evaluate whether they improve production efficiency, creative quality or campaign results.

Ultimately, the advantage won't necessarily go to the studios using the most AI tools or producing the highest number of ads.

It will go to those that combine creative judgement, efficient production and performance data to identify ideas worth scaling.

Final Thoughts: Better Ideas, Not Just More Ads

AI is changing mobile game advertising, but it's not eliminating the need for creativity.

If anything, it's making original thinking and strategic judgement more important.

When producing ads becomes easier, the ability to identify compelling concepts, execute them effectively and learn from performance data becomes a stronger competitive advantage.

Martin's advice for 2027 is to embrace the changes, experiment with AI and rethink how creative teams contribute to user acquisition.

Because knowing which ads to produce will be the most important consideration, not how many.

If you're looking for a mobile games consultancy that knows how to help you scale, lets talk.