The global 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 that momentum to continue for the next four‑year horizon. Yet, despite this healthy financial backdrop, player behavior reveals a striking reluctance to explore new intellectual property. According to the latest annual Gaming Report from Bain & Company, which gathered responses from more than 5,300 gamers across a broad geographic spread, two‑thirds of respondents said they gravitate toward familiar franchises or sequels, while only one in five actively seeks out brand‑new titles. Survey participants voiced a particular frustration with what they termed the "unfocused middle" of the market – games that feel overly generic, safe, and shallow, and therefore fail to capture imagination.
To illustrate this sentiment, Bain & Co contrasted the reception of two recent releases: *Baldur’s Gate 3* and *Concord*. *Baldur’s Gate 3* succeeded by honing in on a narrowly defined audience that craved deep role‑playing experiences, whereas *Concord* entered an already saturated hero‑shooter arena and struggled to persuade players accustomed to free‑to‑play ecosystems to part with a $40 price tag. When the firm examined public performance data for a hundred titles launched since 2023, the numbers reinforced the narrative. A striking 83 % of games that were deliberately targeted at a specific player segment achieved commercial success, compared with just 50 % of titles that lacked a clear focus.
This suggests that clarity of audience is a more reliable predictor of financial outcomes than sheer budget size or production polish. Player preferences for genre also appear highly fragmented. When asked to choose between story‑driven adventures, open‑world sandbox experiences with user‑generated content, or competitive multiplayer, no single category attracted more than 26 % of respondents.
About one‑fifth of gamers indicated that their preference shifts depending on mood or that they treat the three categories as roughly equal, while 17 % either selected "none of the above" or mentioned other, less common game types. Bain & Co also highlighted two macro‑level pressures reshaping the industry: escalating player expectations and the rapid adoption of generative AI. Younger gamers, in particular, are concentrating their playtime on a narrower set of platforms such as Roblox, which the consultancy describes as having become "the centre of gravity for the entire gaming ecosystem" over the past five years.
This concentration intensifies competition for attention and underscores the importance of delivering experiences that resonate deeply with a defined audience. On the AI front, developers are increasingly leveraging generative tools to accelerate production pipelines.
However, the report cautions that AI alone does not mitigate risk unless it is paired with a well‑defined player persona. As Bain & Co phrased it, AI "lets you scale the wrong bet faster" if the underlying design lacks focus.
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 rather those that commit early to building for a player they can describe in a single sentence. Player attitudes toward AI in game creation have softened over the past twelve months. Forty‑two percent of respondents said they feel more comfortable with AI usage in the industry than they did a year ago, another 44 % reported no change, and fewer than one in seven expressed increased discomfort. Acceptance is especially high among teenagers: 59 % of respondents aged 13‑17 indicated greater comfort with AI this year, while 33 % said their view remained 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," a Bain & Co spokesperson noted. The consultancy also emphasized that AI can deepen developers' understanding of their audience.
Emerging analytics tools can track engagement patterns, surface the features that resonate most with a target segment, and create tighter feedback loops between creators and the community. These insights translate into concrete marketing tactics, such as personalized offers, custom communications, and tailored in‑game content. Bain & Co found that personalization drives higher spending, especially among younger players.
Eighty‑six percent 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. "Gaming‑related activities" encompass purchases of new titles, downloadable content, subscriptions, and streamer tips, but exclude hardware like consoles or VR headsets. The report also revealed purchasing channel preferences.
Nearly half of all gamers said they buy directly from a developer’s own web store at least once a year, and 27 % do so repeatedly. This behavior is most pronounced among the youngest cohort: 40 % of 13‑ to 17‑year‑olds reported multiple direct purchases in the past year.
Anders Christofferson, global lead for 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 reaching the right players, in the right way, and getting more ownership over that relationship." He added that the studios pulling ahead are those that have made a deliberate choice about who they are building for and have aligned every resource—including AI, distribution, and personalization—behind that single, focused answer.