How to make an ad creative for a game from gameplay footage
2 min read
By Eduardo Orellana ·
The best game ad creatives are real gameplay: start inside the most interesting moment, make it readable with the sound off using short on-screen text, keep it 6 to 30 seconds, and end on the capsule and one call to action. Test hooks, not whole ads: the same footage with different first seconds, a question, a challenge ("can you beat this?"), a satisfying moment, a fail. Avoid footage that is not in the game; platforms and players punish it.
The creative is the targeting
Platforms show an ad to whoever engages with it. A clip of a cosy farm finds cosy players; a clip of a boss fight finds action players. So the creative decides the audience more than the settings do.
From gameplay footage
- Capture clean footage at 60 fps, staged with a debug camera.
- Start mid-action; no logo first.
- Add large text for what sound would say.
- End on the capsule art and "Wishlist on Steam".
- Export 9:16, 4:5 or 1:1, and 16:9.
Hooks to test
- A question: "Would you take this deal?"
- A challenge: "Only 2% beat this level." (only if true)
- The satisfying moment, looped.
- A fail, then the fix.
Where Flockbay fits
Flockbay's Video studio cuts ad versions from your real gameplay with different hooks, and Ads drafts them into campaigns on your own ad accounts. Free in beta until 1 December 2026.