97 Million Impressions and 237% ROAS: A Case Study of a PC Game Advertising Campaign

If you are running a PC game advertising campaign and watching reach climb while ROAS stalls, the usual fix — tighter device targeting and pure performance optimization — is often what holds you back. This case study shows how we hit 97 million impressions and 237% ROAS for a battle royale title by pairing conversion-focused buys with programmatic reach, the same way our performance marketing team structures growth for studios. For more proof across genres, browse our case studies.

Objective

Our client is a multiplayer online battle royale game. It is available for PC (Steam, Epic Games), consoles (Xbox, PlayStation), and through the official website.

Challenges

The key objectives of the campaign were: to bring back old players for the update and attract new ones with fresh maps and missions. Additionally, it was important to ensure the profitability of the ad investments while maintaining business profitability.

The client worked with three specific audiences, and expanding beyond them was not allowed. Since the game is only available on PC and consoles, mobile traffic was tested selectively to determine if users launched the game on PC after seeing ads on their phones. Analytics were tracked through Gamesight.

Solution

To achieve both reach and profitability, we combined two approaches: traditional performance campaigns for conversions and programmatic campaigns for extending reach. We also monitored how the reach campaigns optimized over time, started driving players, and generated conversions. Additionally, the strength of the brand played a role on our side, positively affecting ROAS.

The creative side matters as much as the buy. Strong, native ad units built through dedicated UGC creative production kept CTR healthy across both performance and programmatic placements.

This short overview shows how the reach-plus-performance approach plays out in practice.

Why Programmatic?

Although the main goal of the campaign was conversions and ROAS, we decided to include programmatic sources as well. In our experience, combining reach campaigns with performance formats delivers the best results. The more often users see an ad, the more trust is built.

Programmatic offers sources that allow precise targeting, reaching the right audience, and, even with the CPM auction, ensuring good conversions. Moreover, programmatic works well with targeting on PC. The key is to choose the right sources with good segmentation and reach for the necessary geos.

Results

The campaign lasted a month as it was aimed at drawing attention to the game’s update. We also included mobile traffic to test the hypothesis of users switching from one device to another. Gamesight helped track this statistic if devices were on the same IP network.

Over the month, we achieved:

• Impressions: 97,764,134
• Performance CTR: 0.64%
• Programmatic CTR: 0.15%
• Client installs: 7,654
• Player returns: 16,337
• Programmatic CPA: 9.5 USD
• Performance CPA: 5.3 USD

Despite using a CPM auction and bidding for reach, the cost per conversion stayed within the benchmark. This confirms the effectiveness of the audience clustering strategy, which, despite the expected low CTR from programmatic sources, ensured the necessary reach for a successful update and conversion.

The ROAS over 30 days was 237%.

Mobile Traffic

For mobile devices, we created separate campaigns to test the hypothesis with Gamesight: can users transition from one device to another even if they saw ads not on their primary target device?

As a result, mobile campaigns showed a lower CPA since mobile traffic is cheaper and more abundant. At the same time, users were just as engaged, provided the creatives and targeting were set up correctly.

Frequently asked questions

What ROAS can a PC game advertising campaign realistically deliver?

Results depend on game, geos, and audience maturity, but a well-structured PC game advertising campaign can reach 237% ROAS over 30 days, as this case shows. Blending performance and programmatic sources is what keeps reach high without breaking the cost per conversion.

Should you combine programmatic with performance for PC games?

Yes. Programmatic extends reach with precise targeting and strong PC segmentation, while performance formats drive efficient conversions. Used together they build frequency and trust, which lifts overall ROAS even when programmatic CTR looks low in isolation.

Does mobile traffic make sense for a PC-only game?

It can. With cross-device tracking through tools like Gamesight, users who see ads on mobile often switch to PC to play. Mobile traffic is cheaper and more abundant, so targeted mobile campaigns can support a PC launch when creatives and audiences are set up correctly.

Conclusions

For advertising PC and console games focused on ROAS and conversions, it is not advisable to rely solely on narrow device targeting and performance optimization. As this case shows, properly set analytics, audience clustering, and creative work deliver better results than strictly adhering to technical limitations. Users can see ads on mobile devices; if they belong to the target audience, they can easily switch to a PC to play. Additionally, programmatic sources with deep audience segmentation can show good performance.

Want a campaign engineered for reach and ROAS at once? See how our influencer marketing programs plug into the same playbook.