The worldwide market for gaming software has been expanding at a steady compound annual growth rate of roughly three percent over the past four years, and analysts expect this momentum to persist for the next four-year cycle. Despite this healthy macro‑level growth, player behavior reveals a striking reluctance to explore unfamiliar titles. In fact, the latest Bain & Company Gaming Report, which gathered responses from more than 5,300 gamers across the globe, shows that two‑thirds of players gravitate toward familiar franchises or sequels, while only one in five actively seeks out brand‑new games.
Survey participants voiced a common frustration with what the researchers dubbed the "unfocused middle" of the market – games that are overly generic, safe, and lacking depth, making them difficult to differentiate. To illustrate this phenomenon, Bain & Co contrasted the reception of two recent releases: Baldur’s Gate 3 and Concord.
Baldur’s Gate 3 succeeded by aiming at a narrowly defined audience that craved deep role‑playing experiences, whereas Concord entered a saturated hero‑shooter space and struggled to persuade players already entrenched in free‑to‑play ecosystems to spend a full $40 on the title. An analysis of public data covering 100 games launched since 2023 reinforced the importance of focus. Eighty‑three percent of titles that targeted a specific player segment achieved commercial success, compared with just fifty percent of games that pursued a broader, less defined audience.
This suggests that precision in player targeting is a stronger predictor of financial performance than sheer marketing spend. Preferences among genres are also highly fragmented. When asked which type of experience they preferred – narrative‑driven adventures, open‑world sandbox or user‑generated content, or competitive multiplayer – no single category captured more than 26 % of respondents.
About 20 % said their choice varied depending on mood or that they treated the categories as roughly equal, while 17 % indicated they either play other types of games or none of the listed options. The report identified two overarching pressures reshaping the industry: escalating player expectations and the rapid adoption of generative artificial intelligence. Younger gamers, in particular, are concentrating their playtime on a narrower set of platforms, with Roblox highlighted as the emerging "centre of gravity" of the ecosystem over the past five years. This concentration amplifies the importance of understanding a tightly defined audience.
On the AI front, developers are increasingly leveraging generative tools to accelerate production pipelines. However, Bain & Co cautioned that without a crystal‑clear target player, AI can merely amplify a misguided bet: "it lets you scale the wrong bet faster." The firm predicts that the studios that will thrive in the coming years will not necessarily be those with the deepest pockets or the most sophisticated AI stacks, but those that commit early to building a game for a player they can describe in a single sentence. Player sentiment toward AI in game development has softened over the past twelve months.
Forty‑two percent of surveyed gamers now feel more comfortable with AI usage than they did a year ago, 44 % remain unchanged, and fewer than one in seven report increased discomfort. Acceptance is especially high among teenagers: 59 % of respondents aged 13‑17 say they are more at ease with AI this year, while 33 % say their view is unchanged. "For studios worried that AI adoption carries reputational risk with their player base, this data suggests the window to move is open, particularly with the audiences who will define the market over the next decade," said Bain & Co.
The firm also highlighted AI’s potential to deepen player insight. New analytical tools can parse engagement patterns, surface the elements that resonate with a target demographic, and create tighter feedback loops between developers and their communities.
Personalisation is a natural extension of these insights. Tailored communications, bespoke advertisements, and custom in‑game content can boost spending, especially among younger cohorts.
The report found that 86 % of teenagers spend money on gaming‑related activities each month, compared with just over half of players in their 50s, 36 % of those in their 60s, and 27 % of those in their 70s. These activities encompass purchases of new titles, downloadable content, subscriptions, and streamer tips, but exclude hardware such as consoles or VR headsets. Direct‑to‑consumer sales are also gaining traction.
Nearly half of gamers reported buying directly from a developer’s web store at least once per year, and 27 % do so repeatedly. This behaviour is most pronounced among the youngest segment, with 40 % of 13‑ to 17‑year‑olds making multiple direct purchases in the past year.
Anders Christofferson, global lead for Bain & Co’s Video Game sector and partner in the Media & Entertainment practice, summed up the strategic implication: "The question for gaming executives is no longer solely about reaching more players. It's reaching the right players, in the right way, and getting more ownership over that relationship." He added that studios pulling ahead are those that have made a deliberate choice about who they are building for and have aligned every resource – from AI tools to distribution channels to personalisation strategies – behind that answer.
The evidence suggests that focus, clarity of audience, and thoughtful use of emerging technologies will be the decisive factors in the next wave of gaming success.