Games Forum Barcelona: key takeaways and insights from the team
On February 5-6, a conference dedicated to Ad Monetization and User Acquisition took place in Barcelona. For our team, it was a valuable opportunity to dive deeper into current trends, exchange experiences, and discover new ideas for growth. Since marketing plays a crucial role in our company’s development, this event provided us with hands-on experience and useful connections.
Here are the impressions of the Smart Project team after two days at GamesForum:
“It was a highly specialized conference, and for Smart Project, it was a perfect fit. The event provided plenty of insights, both from the presentations and networking. For me, such conferences are all about live communication, sharing expertise, and discussing plans with colleagues and partners. Some key topics we covered included:
– The current state of the puzzle game market with ad monetization.
– The optimal team composition.
– The speed of prototype release and testing.
– The effectiveness of ad monetization.
– Strategies for attracting new players”, — Anton, CEO.
“For me, a major advantage of such events is the chance to see how other companies structure their internal processes. This kind of knowledge exchange allows us to learn from real-life examples and avoid mistakes. Additionally, conversations with top managers, who often serve as hiring decision-makers, gave me valuable insights into their recruitment perspectives: what truly influences their choice of candidates, what compromises they have to make, and which factors carry the most weight in evaluations. Real case studies and in-depth process analysis made this event especially useful for me”, — Kateryna, HR Director.
“First and foremost, I was able to compare our direction with that of industry peers. In most cases, our creative team is moving in line with the latest trends, for example, in terms of video length, creative structure, and playables. It was fascinating to see how marketing and creative tools have evolved with AI. One standout was BLKBOX, a tool for analyzing existing creatives and generating new ideas. I was also impressed by the BoomBit — a platform for creating playables, which includes additional analytics tools. Another highlight was Audiomob — an audio advertising solution for games. As someone with experience in radio advertising, I found this concept particularly exciting”, — Rostyslav, Creative Producer.
“Offline communication with colleagues is a rare opportunity these days. These in-person meetings help build deeper connections and long-term professional relationships with future collaboration potential. Additionally, offline events remain a key resource for hiring top management. One personal conversation here can be more productive than dozens of e-mails”,— Maria, Recruiter.
Two intensive days, dozens of expert talks, valuable new connections, and plenty of fresh ideas — this conference once again proved that knowledge exchange and live communication are irreplaceable for a company’s growth, especially when it comes to specialized events with a high concentration of target professionals.
