Creative trends are getting darker, faster, and more automated.

In this Creative Trends episode, we break down how AI creatives now dominate volume, why Golden Goblins mechanics are everywhere, how celebrities are quietly replacing UGC, and why IP infringement is no longer being enforced.

We analyze Dark War’s AI-first strategy, Supercent’s creative flood, merge drama escalation, and the uncomfortable reality of what actually scales in 2026.

What we cover

• AI-generated creatives at scale

• Golden Goblins copy machine

• Celebrity ads vs AI characters

• Merge drama and moral collapse

• IP infringement in UA

• Creative cost collapse

Key takeaway

If it converts, it ships.

Everything else is optional.

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This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let’s not forget this is a 4 a.m. conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously.

Panelists: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jakub Remia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠r,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Felix Braberg, Matej Lancaric⁠

Podcast:

Join our slack channel here: https://join.slack.com/t/two-and-half-gamers/shared_invite/zt-2um8eguhf-c~H9idcxM271mnPzdWbipg

Chapters

00:00 — Intro & Creative Trends setup

01:55 — The recurring themes of this cycle

03:30 — Golden Goblins and idle dominance

05:10 — Category consolidation: idle, lumber, miner

06:45 — Early AI hooks and fake characters

08:15 — One-to-one creative copying explained

10:00 — Supercent’s volume strategy

11:45 — AI influencers and talking characters

13:30 — Celebrities quietly returning to ads

15:30 — Royal Kingdom creative pressure

17:20 — Side-view mechanics becoming standard

19:00 — AI bears, yetis, and mascots

21:00 — Dark War’s AI-first creative factory

24:40 — 80–90% AI adoption reality

26:30 — Creative cost collapse

28:00 — FastSpring D2C segment

29:30 — Merge drama escalation

31:00 — IP infringement everywhere

33:30 — Networks not enforcing anything

35:30 — Travel Town and drama maximalism

38:30 — Morals vs performance

40:00 — Outro & final thoughts

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Matej Lancaric

User Acquisition & Creatives Consultant

⁠https://lancaric.me

Felix Braberg

Ad monetization consultant

⁠https://www.felixbraberg.com

Jakub Remiar

Game design consultant

⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakubremiar

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Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me

If you are interested in getting UA tips every week on Monday, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠lancaric.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & sign up for the Brutally Honest newsletter by Matej Lancaric

Do you have UA questions nobody can answer? Ask ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Matej AI⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - the First UA AI in the gaming industry! https://lancaric.me/matej-ai

☠️​ The end of original creatives: Creative Trends just got darker

two &amp; a half gamers

☠️​ The end of original creatives: Creative Trends just got darker

☠️ The end of original creatives: Creative Trends just got darker

two & a half gamers

☠️ The end of original creatives: Creative Trends just got darker