Unity and Index Exchange bring mobile gaming audiences to streaming TV

Unity’s newest ad partnership could change where mobile game players are seen and how often they are chased across screens. The company said its deal with Index Exchange gives advertisers a measurable path to reach high-intent gaming audiences across mobile, connected TV and premium formats, tying Unity’s mobile gaming inventory and first-party data into Index Marketplaces.

The announcement, dated April 22, 2026, matters most for free-to-play games built on ads and hybrid monetization. If more brands can buy Unity-linked audiences beyond the app itself, developers may see stronger demand for premium impressions and better yields on players who already spend time in games. The flip side is familiar to anyone who has watched mobile targeting get sharper over the years: the same audience data that can improve monetization can also make ads feel more persistent across devices, including streaming TV.

Index Exchange said the setup delivers first-to-market cross-channel activation for high-value gaming audiences, and the company framed itself as a globally trusted independent supply-side platform in the release. Unity said the partnership brings mobile gaming inventory and first-party data into programmatic workflows, extending campaigns from in-app placements into mobile, streaming TV and other premium environments. For brands, that creates a single path from player discovery to conversion. For game publishers, it could mean more competition for the audience segments that matter most, especially players who install, convert or keep coming back.

The move also builds on Unity’s broader Audience Hub strategy. That product launched in 2025, was powered by Optable and debuted with Experian as an initial third-party data partner. Unity said Audience Hub was available to marketers in the United States and Canada first, with global access planned later, and it was designed to let marketers build custom audiences and activate them inside Unity’s app and game inventory and beyond on channels like connected TV.

This is not Unity’s first step toward TV screens. In 2023, Unity worked with Roku to connect Roku’s premium streaming inventory to the Luna app marketing platform, aiming at mobile app marketers and user acquisition through CTV. The new Index Exchange collaboration goes further by extending Unity audiences outside the Unity platform itself for the first time, opening a broader path for mobile gaming data to follow players from a match-3 session to the living room screen.