Spotify Goes Gaming
The streamer's move to promote the new Happy Gilmore 2 movie highlights the power of video games in the relentless pursuit of deepened engagement with its users to become a multi-faceted platform.
We’re SO back!
Dear Readers,
Welcome back. After a 10-day vacation with my family, I’m recharged and ready to dive back in with you into all things that move the world of tech and entertainment - and there’s a lot of ground for us to cover. Fortunately, I didn’t go into full French vacation mode and decided to just disappear from the face of the Earth for the entire month of August. I know your inbox has been thirsty for hot takes from Technically Entertaining (maybe not, as your inbox is likely still overflowing with a ton of garbage you’re sifting through, but even I need some positive reinforcement because otherwise what’s the point of sending you this?!).
So, let’s not keep you waiting any longer and get straight into this week’s story: Spotify and its push into video gaming.
I was on a call last week with a CEO who works with a lot of big brands specifically on their marketing and advertising strategies when he shared his big thesis with me:
The future for brands is playable.
What he means is that brands have to be playable so consumers can experience them more deeply in interactive and immersive ways.
The power of games
What he is speaking to is what more and more brands - by no means all - are finally waking up to: the power of video games. Play is foundational to how we as human beings learn and engage, and video gaming is the most effective digital manifestation of play. The numbers paint a clear picture:
3.3 billion people play video games almost daily
84% of all internet users play video games
Video games are the only form of media that is widely adopted across all demographic consumer groups
Young audiences now spend twice as much time in games like Fortnite or Roblox than on all social media channels combined
Average time of engagement with a branded experience on Roblox is 11mins, whereas the average social media post sees about 1.3 seconds of engagement
Why are video games so powerful? First, they connect with our species’ natural predisposition to play. Second, the core loops (if designed well) send users on a journey that seamlessly takes them from action to action, thereby inducing flow states that keeps people immersed. Third, video games are a bi-directional activity. As opposed to social media, which is one-directional, meaning you as a user for the most part simply consume content, video games require you to actively participate (action - reaction).
More companies that traditionally don’t have a background in gaming and have their roots in other industries are looking to video games to adopt those exact principles for their own services to make them more engaging.
Spotify goes into gaming
The latest company to bring games into its own universe is no other than music streaming giant Spotify.
“People think of Spotify as just an audio platform, but it isn’t. It’s really immersive.” - Kay Hsu, global head of the creative lab at Spotify
To promote Netflix’s new movie Happy Gilmore 2 (as a former hockey player and avid fan, anything Happy Gilmore is a must-watch for me), Spotify teamed up with Netflix to bring the new movie closer to Spotify’s users. Users who encountered the ad for Happy Gilmore 2 didn’t just see an ad - they saw an ad that was a mini-game that they could play, instantly. Users could play a few rounds of Golf to unlock hidden messages from the Happy Gilmore universe - accompanied by sound bites from the movie itself and a personalized “happy” playlist.
Spotify is open for business to create more custom, immersive experiences for partners for its streaming platform via its internal ad unit called “the stage”. Games are sitting at the top of the wish list.
But why is that? We already spoke to the power of games above. What Spotify and almost all other companies like Netflix, Amazon, Disney, and the new Skydance-Paramount entity (there are rumors they want to acquire Warner Bros., including HBO Max, next and the rumblings about the Ellison family remaining in the hunt for TikTok aren’t going away either) are following is the platform strategy playbook.
The platform strategy playbook
In today’s attention driven economy, competition between different services for every minute of consumer attention is fierce. What’s also true is that it’s better to try and hold someone’s attention for longer once you have it rather than lose it too quickly and try to bring that person back into your environment. Think about it this way: if you naturally spend more time doing something, it’s because you found it valuable and enjoyable - which also results in you being far more likely to come back.
Here’s a simple breakdown of the platform strategy playbook:
Lead with a very focused content offering and dominate that specific vertical
Scale the user base along this offering
Expand the content offering to provide more value to the existing user base while offering more points of entry for new users
Introduce ads to offer additional and/or more nuanced monetization of the user base as well as open up advertising to partners
Enhance the user experience through engagement-driving features and mechanics that make the entire platform and content more immersive (read: gamification)
Spotify’s platform strategy to date
Now let’s break down this playbook against Spotify’s actions and journey:
Dominate music streaming - almost all other services like Deezer or Tidal are irrelevant today. 65% of global audio music streams happen on Spotify.
Scale the user base - Spotify’s audience today sits at 696 million monthly active users, 276 million of which are paying subscribers
Expand the content offering - aside from music, Spotify now offers audiobooks, podcasts, and short firm video. There are now over 430,000 video podcasts on the platform, and more than 350 million users have streamed a video podcast on Spotify.
Open up advertising - an advertising platform is being built and custom ads for partners are already available
Enhance the user experience - mini-game for Happy Gilmore 2 movie, plus a GenAI Spotify DJ to create personalized music lists in real-time
“User engagement also continues to strengthen. This clearly demonstrates that the enhancements we’ve made to both expand our content and improve our product are having the intended impact on our business.People come to Spotify and they stay on Spotify. By constantly evolving, we create more and more value for the almost 700 million people using our platform. This value not only benefits users but it’s attracting more people to streaming…and as a result, it’s also boosted the industries of music, podcasts, and audiobooks.”
- Daniel EK, CEO Spotify
Now, let’s look at a company that is active in a completely different industry to see if this playbook still applies.
Uber’s platform strategy to date
This is the breakdown of what Uber has been up to:
Dominate ride sharing - biggest rival Lyft is a distant second in the market. In the second quarter of 2025 alone, Uber drivers completed 3.3 billion trips. On average, Uber’s service facilitates 36 million trips and delivers per day.
Scale the user base - Uber has about 171 million monthly active users, compared to Lyft’s 26 million.
Expand the content offering - aside from ride-hailing, Uber famously offers food delivery via Uber Eats.
Open up advertising - a dedicated advertising platform is available to partners that offers ad placement in Uber cars as well as on Uber Eats at the exact moment of purchase
Enhance the user experience - Uber has leveraged gamification in its driver app. To influence driver behavior and ensure the marketplace runs smoothly, it has incorporated gaming elements such as scores, leaderboards, as well as dedicated rewards. More to come.
It’s the same story. And to give you the most recent example: consumer-app and language learning darling Duolingo has entirely shifted its app to look and feel like a mobile game. Now, it has taken steps even further. Just yesterday, the company announced that it will expand its offering beyond language learning to become a platform for learning in general. It now offers courses to learn math, chess, and music - and as a part of that strategy, it acquired mobile gaming studio NextBeat, the maker of the mobile music video game Beatstar.
Everything is a platform today. And more and more companies will look towards gaming to find solutions to deepen the levels of engagement with their users in services and places where we wouldn’t expect video games to show up - at least not until now.
Man, it’s good to be back!
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