January 2026 Gaming and Adtech News Recap
2026 promises to be a transformative year for the gaming and adtech world. Last year saw the growth of generative AI and a shift toward monetization-first strategies. This year promises even more AI-powered innovations and new ways for apps to capture and retain users. Read all the January 2026 updates below.
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GAMING
Industry:
Savvy Games Group and NEOM sign MoU to boost Saudi gaming startups. The partnership aims to strengthen the nation’s gaming ecosystem and prepare studios for investment and development.
Coda has partnered with Unity to integrate the company’s in-app purchasing SDK into its global web store platforms. This collaboration offers developers a single place to manage and optimize their entire digital catalog across mobile, web, and PC – directly through Unity’s existing IAP workflow.
Bruno Mars’ Roblox performance has been described as the most-watched virtual concert on the platform. The performance was watched by 10 million livestream users in 14 countries and generated 53 million social video views.
Rovio announced a strategic partnership with Kingsoft Shiyou, paving the way for the full return of Angry Birds games to mainland China. The return will be published and operated by Kingsoft Shiyou with two new titles in development.
ADTECH
Sensor Tower released its State of Mobile report for 2026. Some of the key takeaways are that generative AI was the main growth driver in mobile in 2025, with AI apps reaching massive audiences and unlocking new monetization opportunities. The industry is shifting from scale to monetization, and for the first time, non-game apps surpassed games in consumer spending, driven by AI, social, and streaming.
Open AI announced that it will start testing ads in ChatGPT’s Free and Go tiers. Ads will appear at the bottom of ChatGPT answers when there’s a relevant sponsored product or service tied to the ongoing conversation.
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