Playable Ad Networks: Where to Run Playables in 2026

A playable ad is only as good as the network that can actually serve it. Build a beautiful HTML5 demo and hand it to a network that can't render MRAID 3.0 or chokes on a 6MB file, and it never reaches a single install. Playable ad networks are the exchanges and mediation platforms that accept, render, and serve interactive HTML5 creative inside mobile apps. Six carry most of the volume in gaming: AppLovin, Unity LevelPlay, Meta Audience Network, Liftoff/Vungle, Google AdMob, and Mintegral.

This guide breaks down which networks support HTML5 playable ads today, what their technical specs actually require, and how to pick the right mix for your game. For the fundamentals of how playables work and how to build one, start with Sett's complete guide to playable ads.

What Makes a Network "Playable-Ready"

A playable-ready network is one whose SDK can render a self-contained HTML5 file inside a WebView, support MRAID for click and close events, and enforce a file-size ceiling low enough to load instantly on a mobile connection. Most major networks cap playables at 5MB or under and require every asset embedded in a single file, no external calls.

Every major network runs on the same core idea. Package your playable as one HTML file with every image, sound, and script embedded inline. No external server calls, no CDN-hosted libraries, no login screen hiding behind the tap. The network's SDK wraps that file in a WebView, injects its own close button and click-tracking layer via MRAID, and serves it inside whatever app opened the ad slot.

The differences that actually matter for production are file-size ceilings, orientation support, and how each network's timer and CTA hooks work. Get those wrong and your playable gets rejected in review before it ever gets the chance to underperform.

The Major Playable-Supporting Networks

Six networks carry most playable-ad volume in mobile gaming: AppLovin, Unity LevelPlay (formerly Unity Ads and ironSource), Meta Audience Network, Liftoff/Vungle, Google AdMob's App campaigns product, and Mintegral. Each renders HTML5 playables through its own SDK, with its own file-size ceiling, orientation rules, and CTA implementation.

• AppLovin. Runs one of the largest playable-ad exchanges in mobile gaming through its MAX mediation SDK, now buyable through AppLovin's self-serve platform, Axon. AppLovin publishes its creative specs directly and updates them without much notice, so pull the current version before every submission.
• Unity LevelPlay. Unity Ads and ironSource now operate under one mediation platform, Unity LevelPlay. Worth flagging for a 2026 guide: ironSource's direct-demand ad network officially sunset on April 30, 2026. If your media plan still lists "ironSource" as a separate buy, that inventory now runs through LevelPlay mediation or the ironSource Exchange (iSX) for programmatic demand, not a standalone direct network.
• Meta Audience Network. Extends Meta's ad formats, including playables, into third-party apps. Meta uses its own CTA hook instead of MRAID, which is the main thing that trips up teams porting a playable built for AppLovin or Unity.
• Liftoff/Vungle. Runs playables through a self-serve creative dashboard alongside full-screen, MREC, and banner formats, with its own Creative Verifier app for pre-submission QA.
• Google AdMob (App campaigns). Google's App campaigns (UAC) product accepts HTML5 playables as one asset in its automated ad mix, per Google's HTML5 spec for App campaigns. Files ship as a ZIP, not a raw HTML file, which catches teams off guard the first time.
• Mintegral. Owned by Mobvista and heavily gaming-focused, with gaming driving roughly three-quarters of Mintegral's ad revenue. Mintegral publishes its own playable creative specs and also owns Playturbo, a dedicated playable-ad creation tool that exports builds ready to run on Mintegral and most of the other networks on this list.

Playable Specs & Requirements by Network

Playable ad specs vary by network but share a shape: a single self-contained HTML5 file (or ZIP), a hard size ceiling, 5MB on every network that publishes one, no external network calls, and MRAID-driven close and CTA behavior. AppLovin, Unity LevelPlay, Google's App campaigns product, and Mintegral all cap files at 5MB; confirm Meta's and Vungle's current limits directly before you build to them.

For the full technical breakdown behind this table, see Unity's playable specifications, which most other networks' requirements roughly mirror.

Four of six networks land on the same 5MB ceiling, which is a reasonable production target no matter where you plan to run first. Build heavier than that and you'll be re-compressing assets for every network anyway. Meta and Vungle share their current limits with advertisers directly; don't ship a number you haven't confirmed in the last spec update. Two production details worth knowing before you port a creative between networks: AppLovin requires the ad's timer to start only after the user's first interaction, and Unity routes the CTA through mraid.open rather than a custom hook.

How Playables Unlock Premium & Rewarded Inventory

Playable ads win rewarded-video and premium ad slots that static and video creative can't reach, because networks route inventory toward the format most likely to convert. Sett's published benchmarks show playables running up to 40% better across CPI, IPM, and CVR benchmarks, with 3x-4x stronger correlation to monetization metrics in rewarded video placements specifically.

This is the part of the network conversation most UA teams skip. Networks don't allocate rewarded and premium placements evenly. They route the highest-value slots, the ones inside top-grossing games with real payer audiences, toward whichever creative format wins the auction, and playables win those auctions more often. Sessions with a playable can run 70-80 seconds of engagement, long enough for a network's algorithm to read genuine intent instead of a passive view.

Skip playables entirely and the worse CPI is the small problem. The big one: you're locked out of the inventory tier where the highest-LTV players actually show up. For the full mechanics of how that inventory access works, see how playables unlock premium and rewarded inventory.

Choosing the Right Network Mix for Your Game Genre

There's no universal best network for a given genre. Ad inventory, auction dynamics, and audience composition shift network by network and month by month, so the reliable approach is a structured test: split budget across three or more networks, measure CPI, IPM, and CVR by network, then reallocate toward whichever wins for your specific game.

Ignore anyone who hands you a fixed rule like "AppLovin is best for hyper-casual." That kind of claim ages fast and varies by studio, region, and even which build of your game is live that week.

Genre changes what you measure, not which network wins. Hyper-casual lives and dies on CPI and IPM, so weight fast install signals. Midcore and RPG margins sit in payer quality, so weight D7+ retention and early ROAS over install cost. Same test loop, different scoreboard.

What holds up is process. Run the same playable concept across AppLovin, Unity LevelPlay, and at least one more network simultaneously. Give each enough spend to reach statistical significance on install volume, not just impressions. Then look past CPI to IPM and post-install retention, because a network that wins on install cost and loses on player quality isn't actually winning.

This is the same logic behind Sett's whole approach to creative. You can't predict which network or which concept wins in advance. You can build a system that finds out fast. See Sett's playable ad best practices for how to structure the concepts you're testing across that network mix.

Measuring Network-Level Playable Performance

Measuring playable performance by network means tracking CPI, IPM, CVR, and post-install retention broken out per network, not just in aggregate. Aggregate numbers hide which network is actually driving quality installs versus cheap, low-value ones, and that gap only shows up once you split the data.

AppLovin alone controls a majority of playable-ad traffic, per an AppAgent analysis cited on Sett's own analytics guide, so most teams' network-level data is dominated by a single source almost by default. That makes it easy to mistake AppLovin performance for playable performance generally, when the other networks in your mix might be telling a completely different story.

Break out performance by network in your BI layer before you break it out by creative concept. Otherwise you'll credit or blame the wrong variable when a playable underperforms. For the full breakdown of which metrics matter and how to structure that analysis, see Sett's guide to playable ad analytics.

FAQ

Does AppLovin support playable ads?

Yes. AppLovin runs one of the largest playable-ad exchanges in mobile gaming through its MAX mediation SDK, buyable via its self-serve platform Axon. Files must be a single HTML document under 5MB with every asset embedded in base64 or base122 format.

What are playable ad specs?

Playable ad specs define the technical limits a network enforces on your HTML5 file: typically a single self-contained file with a hard size cap, 5MB on the networks that publish a number, no external network calls, and MRAID-driven close and click-through behavior. Exact limits vary by network, so confirm current specs directly before building.

Is ironSource still a playable ad network?

Not as a standalone direct-demand network. ironSource's direct-demand business officially sunset on April 30, 2026. Unity Ads and ironSource now run under one platform, Unity LevelPlay, with the ironSource Exchange continuing to serve programmatic demand.

What's the maximum file size for a playable ad?

Every network that publishes a limit caps playables at 5MB: AppLovin, Unity LevelPlay, Google's App campaigns product, and Mintegral. Meta and Liftoff/Vungle share current limits with advertisers directly; confirm before production.

Can I run the same playable across every network?

Mostly, if you build to the strictest common denominator: a single HTML5 file with everything embedded inline, no external calls, and both orientations supported. Some networks require format-specific packaging. Google's App campaigns product wants a ZIP, not a raw HTML file, so budget time to repackage per network before launch.