Machine Zone spends $5M on Mobile Strike Super Bowl 50 commercial with Schwarzenegger

Arnold Schwarzenegger stars in the new ad for Mobile Strike from Machine Zone.

Above: Arnold Schwarzenegger stars in the new ad for Mobile Strike from Machine Zone.

Image Credit: Machine Zone

Developer Machine Zone has spent heavily to advertise its products during the Super Bowl for the second year in a row.

The studio brought back actor Arnold Schwarzenegger to help it promote Mobile Strike, its military strategy game for iOS and Android. The 30-second spot featured the actor battling it out in the game while sharing an elevator with other Mobile Strike players. The mobile gaming industry is a $30 billion business annually, and that is one of the reasons that Machine Zone is willing to spend the $5 million it costs to purchase 30 seconds of marketing time during the National Football League’s biggest game.

This ad comes just a few weeks after player-acquisition costs hit an all-time highin December. On average, mobile publishers need to spend about $4.23 to bring in one new player. That’s extremely expensive, but the price is on the rise primarily due to the type of marketing we see on mobile devices. This is why companies like Machine Zone are turning to television to help with acquisition. A big push with something along the lines of a Super Bowl ad can raise the awareness for a mobile title among consumers, which then makes all other forms of player acquisition more effective.

Check out the Super Bowl spot below:

This comes after Machine Zone spent $4.5 million last year to advertise its Game of War fantasy strategy game for iOS and Android during the previous Super Bowl. For that ad, the company turned to celebrity bathing-suit model Kate Upton.

Obviously, if Machine Zone is returning to the Super Bowl, it must have seen some sort of positive return on investment from its Game of War ad, which you can watch below:

Machine Zone spends $5M on Mobile Strike Super Bowl 50 commercial with Schwarzenegger