Nintendo pipes up with 60% share of July videogame ad market

Nintendo has dominated videogame advertising spend through July with an impressive 60% share of expenditure, according to data provided by iSpot.tv. The Japanese entertainment giant loosened its purse strings to the tune of $3.7m for the month, comfortably outspending all other gaming brands who spent just $2.5m between them over the same period. The budget-busting figure has largely been attributed to a splurge in spending associated with a Super Mario Maker 2 commercial titled ‘Level of Your Dreams’ which has been promoted across Nick, Nicktoons and Teen Nick during hit shows such as SpongeBob SquarePants. In all this one commercial alone appeared over 2,200 times across the three channels, at a cost to Nintendo of $900k. Coming in a distant second was Rockstar Games which continued to promote its Red Dead Redemption 2 title to the tune of $2.2m over the month, with the remaining $0.3m spend split between THQ Games, EA Sports and Xbox. Summer is traditionally a quiet season for the games industry as firms hold back releases for the lucrative Christmas bonanza.