Gaming became an increasingly popular marketing vehicle during the pandemic, and that momentum sustained itself in 2022. This year, integrations within Roblox, Twitch and Fortnite were part of many brands' marketing strategies, especially those looking to connect with a young, diverse audience that is often skeptical of ads. 

Brands and consumers threw out the old stereotype of a soda-chugging male teenager spending hours with their Xbox, with data showing that 35% of female players identify as a “gamer,” according to Newzoo. This has made it essential for brands to do more to promote an inclusive environment. 

And while gamers are usually picky about ads, Newzoo also found that gamers often have positive attitudes toward brands. Those that can thread the needle in a meaningful way will reach a target audience.

It has also helped that in-game ads measurement has improved in the last year, with a new intrinsic time-in-view metric showing marketers that in-game advertising can be a reliable channel to build their brands.

As a result, the ad and marketing industry has been investing in leadership to help shape its gaming partnerships. 

Here Ad Age looks back at some of the top gaming partnerships of the year.

Walmart and Roblox

Walmart entered Roblox in September with not one but two activations—Walmart Land and Walmart’s Universe of Play. Walmart Land features a "House of Style" virtual dressing room that includes a strike-a-pose challenge, an oversized cosmetics obstacle course and a roller-skating rink. It also includes music festival-inspired Electric Island, with an interactive piano walkway, a dance challenge, Netflix trivia experience and a DJ booth, where users can learn to mix different beats.

In the toy-focused Universe of Play, players can explore various toy worlds to earn coins for virtual goods, compete for trophies or unlock secret codes. It also includes licensed games with products and characters from L.O.L. Surprise!, Jurassic World, Paw Patrol, Magic Mixies and Razor Scooters. Both activations offer players a chance to buy real and virtual Walmart merchandise.

Tampax and esports

Tampax has been investing in gaming over the last few years, but its biggest sponsorship to date came in June, when Tampax and sibling brand Always partnered with Gen.G and Galorants, a community of female-identifying and non-binary Valorant players to sponsor the Astral Clash tournament series. 

The tournament featured Tampax and Always ambassador teams with gamers Krystalogy, Blisskai, Nicki Taylor, Jessica Kim, Raeyei and Shannon Williams all focused on empowering and mentoring players throughout the tournament with livestreams, giveaways and appearances at the live finals.

Tampax isn't the only female-focused brand that upped its interest in gaming in 2022: OPI, Benefit Cosmetics and Hally Hair all debuted gaming deals in an effort to connect with the younger women who the gaming industry has traditionally overlooked. 

PacSun and Roblox

In March, PacSun kicked off its Roblox activation Pac World, where players are the owner and operators of their own mall. The goal is to make the mall as profitable and popular as possible by creating and removing shops, upgrading the shops that do well and decorating the mall to try and attract more customers.

The brand's latest holiday campaign included new ways for players to dress their avatar, as well as a holiday gift shop. PacSun also debuted its first-ever video game, "PacSun the Game," timed to its spring/summer 2022 campaign via the PacSun app.

Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s with Twitch

Sometimes inspiration comes from new places. For the CKE brands, it came from Twitch fans. The two fast food chains used a series of Twitch streams and creators to help generate crowd-sourced menu items. The activation started with a collaboration between Chef Owen Klein, VP of global culinary innovation at CKE Restaurants, and streamer Briana Williams, known as Storymodebae, to come up with four menu items that were then put to a vote.

After the first livestream, fans were able to vote on the four items during weekly Twitch streams with six other streamers tapped by CKE: DaydreamDan, DataDave, Krissy, Damien Haas, Bree Bunn and Sancho West. All got to taste-test the new items and encouraged their viewers to vote.

American Eagle and Twitch

American Eagle bolstered its influencer marketing strategy in 2022. The apparel retailer expanded its influencer roster from celebrities Addison Rae, Olivia Dune and Coco Gauff to include streamers this year. 

The brand created a “Beyond the Stream” docuseries focusing on streamers TheSushiDragon, Arsenal and the chess-playing Botez sisters. Each talked about how they got into gaming, and what they wear from American Eagle.

“When we look at the numbers, the time spent and the engagement Gen Z has around gaming and related digital activities can’t be ignored,” American Eagle Chief Marketing Officer Craig Brommers previously told Ad Age.