The worldwide market for video‑game software has been expanding at a steady compound annual growth rate of roughly three percent over the last four years, and analysts expect this momentum to continue for the next four‑year horizon. Despite this overall growth, the underlying player behaviour reveals a striking reluctance to explore fresh experiences.
According to Bain & Company’s latest annual Gaming Report – which gathered responses from more than 5,300 gamers across a broad range of regions – roughly two‑thirds of players gravitate toward familiar franchises or direct sequels, while only one in five actively seeks out brand‑new titles. Survey participants expressed a clear frustration with what the firm calls the “unfocused middle” of the market: games that are overly generic, safe, and shallow, and therefore fail to capture attention. To illustrate this phenomenon, Bain & Co contrasted two recent releases. Baldur’s Gate 3 succeeded by aiming at a narrowly defined, highly engaged audience that appreciated deep role‑playing mechanics and narrative depth.
In contrast, the hero‑shooter Concord entered an already saturated segment dominated by free‑to‑play titles, and struggled to convince players to spend a $40 premium for a game that did not stand out from the crowd. When Bain & Co examined public performance data for 100 titles launched since 2023, the findings were stark. Focused games that targeted a specific player archetype achieved commercial success in 83 % of cases, whereas only half of the unfocused, broadly aimed titles reached comparable financial results. This suggests that a clear, well‑defined audience is a far stronger predictor of market performance than sheer budget size or generic appeal.
Player preferences for genre and style are also highly fragmented. When asked to choose their preferred experience – story‑driven adventures, open‑world sandbox or user‑generated content, or competitive multiplayer – no single category captured more than 26 % of respondents. About 20 % indicated that their choice varies depending on mood or that they treat the categories as roughly equal, while 17 % either selected “none of the above” or mentioned other niche types.
The report identified two major forces reshaping the industry today: 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 a focal point that has become "the centre of gravity for the entire gaming ecosystem" over the past five years.
This concentration amplifies the importance of delivering experiences that resonate deeply with a specific demographic. On the AI front, developers are increasingly leveraging generative tools to accelerate content creation, level design, and even narrative scripting.
However, Bain & Co warns that AI alone does not mitigate risk unless it is applied to a well‑targeted product. As the firm puts it, AI "lets you scale the wrong bet faster" if the underlying player profile is vague.
The analysts argue that the studios that will thrive in the coming years will not necessarily be those with the deepest pockets or the most sophisticated AI pipelines, but rather 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 shifted positively over the last twelve months.
Forty‑two percent of respondents said they feel more comfortable with the industry’s use of AI than they did a year ago, another 44 % feel unchanged, and fewer than one in seven expressed increased discomfort. Acceptance is especially pronounced among teenagers: 59 % of players aged 13‑17 reported greater comfort with AI this year, while 33 % said their view remained the same. Bain & Co interprets these findings as a signal that the window for studios to adopt AI without incurring reputational damage is open, particularly with the younger cohorts that will dominate the market in the next decade. Moreover, AI can serve as a powerful analytics engine, helping developers understand engagement patterns, surface the elements that resonate with a target audience, and create tighter feedback loops between creators and players.
Personalisation, powered by AI, is already influencing spending behaviour. Tailored communications, advertisements, and in‑game offers that speak directly to an individual’s preferences have been shown to boost monetary outlays, especially among teenage gamers. In the study, 86 % of teenagers reported spending 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 include buying new titles, purchasing downloadable content, subscribing to services, and tipping streamers, but exclude hardware purchases such as consoles or VR headsets.
Direct purchases from developers’ own web stores also feature prominently. Nearly half of all gamers reported buying directly from a developer at least once a year, and 27 % said they do so repeatedly. The propensity for direct buying is strongest among the youngest segment: 40 % of respondents aged 13‑17 made multiple direct purchases in the past year.
Anders Christofferson, global lead of Bain & Co’s Video Game sector and partner in its Media & Entertainment practice, summed up the strategic implication: "The question for gaming executives is no longer solely about reaching more players. It’s about reaching the right players, in the right way, and gaining greater ownership over that relationship." He added that studios that pull ahead are those that have made a deliberate decision about who they are building for and have aligned every resource – from AI tools to distribution channels to personalisation tactics – behind that singular focus.
In summary, the Bain & Co report paints a picture of a maturing market where growth is steady but player attention is increasingly selective. Success hinges on a clear understanding of a narrowly defined audience, the judicious use of AI to enhance—not replace—creative vision, and the deployment of personalised experiences that turn casual interest into sustained spending. Studios that internalise these lessons are poised to capture a larger share of the evolving gaming landscape.