Following the success of its previous editions, the GamingonPhone Conference Online (GPC) returned for its 3rd Edition. The premier B2B gaming event from GamingonPhone took place on May 27, 2025, and saw multiple sessions from gaming industry experts delivering their insights to over 500-plus attendees.
The Rise Of Browser Games panel had five amazing speakers. Nikita Bokarev (CBDO, PlayHop), Ying Wei (Senior BD Manager, Xiaomi Technology), Rafael Morgan (VP Marketing, CrazyGames), and Balaji Vijayan (VP Publishing, FRVR) joined moderator Anand Jha (Founder & CEO, Nilee Games) to share their insights.
Web Games are no Longer Just for Casual Play
Nikita from PlayHop highlighted a major shift: browser games are no longer just casual distractions. They’re welcoming midcore titles with deep engagement loops and in-game purchases.
“So basically, the industry landscape is changing. Traffic is becoming more and more expensive, and of course, a lot of mobile developers are searching for additional revenue; the web is returning to the big industry,” Nikita said. He added, “We see a lot of midcore titles on the web with in-game purchases and basically another monetization that is not very traditional for the web.”
He emphasized the importance of keeping players engaged, where he noted that the main challenge for them is to keep the player on the platform to make him interested in the game or in the games he is planning to play.
Mobile meets Browser in Xiaomi’s Global Ecosystem
Ying Wei explained how Xiaomi has built a robust ecosystem to support browser games via pre-installed apps and browser integrations.
“You’ll find a tab at the bottom to enter our browser game center,” she said. “We also create this kind of ecosystem for the developers and for the players to actually have easy access to the games that they want to play with one click.”
She also pointed out the opportunity in emerging markets where Xiaomi is expanding fast and offering developers access to global audiences.
Finding the Right Players
When asked about user acquisition and retention, Raf from CrazyGames emphasized experience over channel. He believed that the best users are the ones who know that they come through word of mouth. That’s the reason why they’re thinking a lot about multiplayer games.
On monetization, Raf added, “Now these days we’re starting to see like the rise of in-app purchase, the rise of subscriptions, nothing is preventing the web from getting in parity with what the mobile landscape has.”
He highlighted CrazyGames’ cross-platform experience: “You can start it on your mobile and then, after, you can play the same game on your desktop. Even though the experience might feel a bit different, the game itself stays the same. I think that’s something we’re really seeing now with the rise of new technologies and the development of modern browsers.”
HTML5, Monetization, and Smart Ad use
Balaji from FRVR laid out the technical edge of HTML5: “You can access from anywhere from any device. That’s like the holy grail of HTML5.”
He explained that while browser games are cheaper to acquire users now, the future may hold increased competition and cost. Balaji also added that it also comes with its own challenges. He believed that you always have a lower retention on the web because you can’t compete with the app store.
Nikita shared two pillars: ads and in-game purchases. Every developer is searching for the best possible middle ground where the monetization level does not affect the user experience heavily. This is the goal, and for the platform, the goal is to provide all possible tools for ads.
He stressed smart ad use: “Rewarded videos are working great, interstitials are working great when the placements are correct.” Nikita also warned developers: “It is very important also to change the rate for the ads in case a user is making payments.”
Looking Ahead: Cloud Gaming and Web3
The panel closed with a look at the next few years. Raf noted the rise of high-quality games thanks to WebGPU and better browsers: “Two to three years from now, we will be seeing some stunning games.”
He was sceptical of cloud gaming: “Cloud gaming has a lot of problems because it’s expensive. I’m way strongly believe that things will happen on the client side.”
As for Web3, the panel was clear: most of them are watching it from the sidelines. “There’s so much to do on web2 still,” Raf said. Nikita added, “You’ve built a great game, but the blocker for you basically is the crypto aspect that you believe in so much.”
GPC Online 3rd Edition Unpacked – Further Reading:
