Can you tell us a bit about your background and current role?

I am currently a User Acquisition Consultant with a career path defined by a unique blend of technical precision and creative strategy. With a background in Computer Science, I initially gravitated toward technical roles within the Visual Effects industry, where my technical skills complemented my artistic side and provided a distinct advantage in production. Eventually, I pivoted to the gaming industry, drawn by its consistent position at the forefront of disruptive technologies, and found my true niche in User Acquisition. I was captivated by how UA feels like a dynamic dialogue rather than a typical marketing monologue. I view the immediate feedback from the user base as a genuine conversation, utilising that interaction to drive effective growth strategies.

UA costs keep rising across the board. From your perspective, what’s fundamentally driving this, and where do you still see opportunities for smart teams to win?

UA costs are rising fundamentally because the 'gaming monopoly' on sophisticated performance marketing has ended. We hit a major turning point in Q2 2025, when consumer spending on non-gaming apps officially surpassed mobile games for the first time. As the gaming industry faced a period of contraction and layoffs, senior UA and analytics experts moved into the app and retail spaces, applying their sophisticated, gaming-grade optimization playbooks to these new categories. Now, we are competing against industries with massive spending power that are utilizing 'gaming-grade' strategies to outbid traditional players.

The way forward for smart teams is to become leaner and more strategic. As platforms continue to improve their targeting algorithms and automation services reduce the need for manual analytical work, the role of a UA team has shifted. Success belongs to teams that can move faster and think more strategically.

You actively combine data, creativity, and emerging technologies like AI. How do you see machine learning changing the way UA teams operate in the near future?

The shift is already here. Machine learning has become the core infrastructure of modern User Acquisition, moving far beyond basic bid optimization into an era where ML-driven forecasting guides strategic business decisions. By providing high-accuracy predictions for LTV and churn, these models enable more precise capital allocation and drive significant financial efficiency.

The most transformative impact in my opinion will be the rise of personalisation. Users expect 1-to-1 experiences tailored to their intent.

ML enables us to meet this demand by delivering personalization at scale, automatically adjusting creative assets, messaging, and user journeys in real-time based on individual context.

Consequently, the UA function is evolving from manual campaign execution to 'model management’. Our focus is now on fueling these automated systems with high-quality first-party data signals and strategic creative inputs. As the need for personalisation continues to accelerate, the ability to effectively manage these models will be the defining differentiator.

What’s one UA practice or belief that worked well in the past but is becoming obsolete today?

Post-ATT, we all went through a phase where "cracking the code" was the top priority. You essentially needed a team of data scientists just to estimate what opted-out users were worth, constantly juggling SKAN signals, incrementality tests, and MMP data just to get a halfway decent look at your total cohort revenue. It was a massive technical hurdle that required constant engineering maintenance.

Now all that heavy lifts are largely becoming a thing of the past. Major channels like AppLovin and Meta have probabilistic attribution. The competitive advantage has shifted: it's no longer about your ability to build a custom measurement model, but your ability to strategize based on the signals these platform models provide.

Hear more from Amin Bakht at Gamesforum Cyrpus (15-16 April): https://www.globalgamesforum.com/cyprus/register-now-cyprus-2026