Reddit Ads for Games: 6 Mistakes Game Advertisers Make (2026)
Updated: Oct 7
Most game advertisers on Reddit buy clicks instead of players. In 431 gaming ads pulled through the Reddit Ads API, 66% used the traffic objective, 45% combined traffic with conversation placements, and 61% turned comments off. That setup brings cheap clicks, many of them accidental or from bots, and creative that doesn't fit the placement. Here are the 6 most common mistakes and how to fix them.
About the data: 431 gaming ads from our dataset of 5,824 Reddit ads pulled through the Reddit Ads API, which shows each ad's objective, placement, budget tier and comment settings. It shows how game advertisers set up ads, not how each ad performed. The fixes come from our own work with game studios.
Setting | Game advertisers | All advertisers |
|---|---|---|
Traffic objective | 66% | 54% |
Traffic + conversation placement | 45% | 39% |
Conversions objective | 20% | 36% |
Comments turned off | 61% | 79% |
Lowest budget tier | 71% | 69% |
Video ads | 48% | 23% |
Mistake 1: Buying traffic instead of players
Two in three gaming ads use the traffic objective. Traffic campaigns optimize for the number of clicks, not their quality. You get lots of visitors who never wishlist, install or buy.
One rule decides the objective: can you track the result? If people land on a page where you can't install the Reddit Pixel, like a Steam page, you can't optimize for wishlists or purchases, so an awareness campaign is the right choice. Awareness should only be used when you can't track your traffic. Reddit's traffic objective optimizes for clicks and has no information about their quality, which is why so many of those clicks are accidental or bots. Free-form ads, where the ad itself is the landing page, also fit awareness.
Fix: if you send people straight to Steam, you can't track them, so run an awareness and consideration campaign with community targeting and UTM-tagged links, and watch your wishlists day by day. If you want to optimize for results, send people to a page you control with the Reddit Pixel installed and run a conversions campaign. For mobile games, use the app install objective with a mobile measurement partner.
Mistake 2: Traffic campaigns in conversation placements
45% of gaming ads combine the traffic objective with conversation placements, the ads shown between comments. In our experience, that's the most expensive cheap traffic on Reddit: the clicks cost very little, but many are accidental taps while scrolling comments, or bot traffic. They almost never turn into players.
Fix: start with feed placement. If you test conversation placements, judge them by wishlists or installs, never by click cost.
Mistake 3: Creative that doesn't fit the placement
Most game advertisers use the same trailer or key art everywhere. Conversation placements show ads much smaller and in a different layout than the feed, so a wide trailer or detailed key art turns into an unreadable thumbnail. That's wasted money and wasted creative work.
Fix: make creative for each placement, with the right size and aspect ratio. See our Reddit ad specs, sizes and types.
Mistake 4: Turning comments off
61% of gaming ads turn comments off. That's better than average, but still a missed chance. Players ask about platforms, price, release date and system requirements, and a quick answer from the studio sells the game better than the ad.
Fix: keep comments on and pin a reply with the key facts: platforms, price, release date, specs.
Mistake 5: No way to track Steam results
You can't install the Reddit Pixel on your Steam page, so many studios can't see what Reddit actually drives, and end up judging it by clicks.
Fix: use UTM links, a landing page on your own site before Steam, and watch your Steam wishlists day by day against Reddit spend. More in our Reddit Pixel and Conversions API guide.
Mistake 6: Targeting only the biggest gaming subreddits
Big general gaming subreddits are expensive and full of people who don't play your genre. The best players are often in smaller, genre-specific communities.
Fix: target communities for your genre and similar games. Our free subreddit finder shows which ones you can target.
What game advertisers do well
48% of gaming ads use video, twice the average of 23%. Gameplay video is the best way to show a game on Reddit, as long as it's made for the placement and the first seconds show real gameplay.
Reddit ads for games: FAQ
What campaign objective should games use on Reddit?
It depends on whether you can track the result. Sending people straight to Steam, where you can't install the Reddit Pixel? Use an awareness and consideration campaign. A landing page you control, with the pixel installed? Use conversions. A mobile game with a measurement partner? Use app installs. In every case, avoid the traffic objective: it optimizes for clicks, not players.
Are conversation placements good for game ads?
Rarely with the traffic objective. They bring cheap clicks, but many are accidental or bots. Test them only with creative made for them and judge them by wishlists or installs.
Can you track Steam wishlists from Reddit ads?
Not with the Reddit Pixel directly. Use UTM links, a landing page on your own site, and compare Steam wishlists with your Reddit spend over time.
Should game ads keep comments on?
Yes. Players ask practical questions, and fast answers from the studio build trust and sell the game.
About the author
Written by Dāvis Lejnieks, CEO of Undecided Agency and a Redditor for 15+ years. He plans and runs Reddit ad campaigns for DTC, gaming and app brands, and shares what the data shows here.
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