The worldwide market for gaming 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 persist for another four‑year period. Yet, despite this healthy financial trajectory, player behaviour remains heavily tilted toward the familiar. According to Bain & Company’s latest annual Gaming Report – which gathered responses from more than 5,300 gamers across the globe – about two‑thirds of participants say they gravitate toward sequels or titles they already know, while only one in five actively seeks out brand‑new experiences.
Survey respondents voiced a particular frustration with what the firm describes as the “unfocused middle” of the market. These are games that play it safe, offering shallow mechanics and generic themes that fail to differentiate themselves. To illustrate the contrast, Bain & Co highlighted two recent releases: Baldur’s Gate 3 and Concord. Baldur’s Gate 3 succeeded by zeroing in on a narrowly defined audience that craved deep, narrative‑driven role‑playing, whereas Concord entered an already saturated hero‑shooter space and struggled to convince players, many of whom were accustomed to free‑to‑play models, to spend the full $40 price tag.
When Bain & Co examined public data for 100 titles launched since 2023, the findings were stark. Focused games – those designed for a specific player archetype – achieved commercial success in 83 % of cases. By contrast, titles without a clear target audience succeeded only half as often, with a 50 % success rate.
This gap underscores the importance of clarity in design and marketing. Player preferences for genre also appear highly fragmented. When asked which type of experience they preferred – story‑driven adventures, open‑world sandbox or user‑generated content, or multiplayer competition – no single category captured more than 26 % of the vote. About one‑fifth of respondents said their choice varied roughly equally between categories or depended on their mood at the time, while 17 % indicated they either did not fit into any of the listed genres or preferred something else entirely.
The report also identified two major forces reshaping the industry: escalating player demand and the rapid adoption of generative artificial intelligence. Younger gamers, in particular, are concentrating their playtime on a smaller set of platforms, with Roblox singled out as the de‑facto hub of the ecosystem over the past five years. Bain & Co describes Roblox as the "centre of gravity" for modern gaming, reflecting how a single platform can dominate attention and spending.
On the AI front, developers are increasingly leveraging generative tools to accelerate production pipelines. However, the consultancy warns that AI alone does not mitigate risk unless the game has a well‑defined audience. As they put it, AI "lets you scale the wrong bet faster." The firms that will thrive, they argue, are not necessarily those with the deepest pockets or the most sophisticated AI stacks, but those that commit early to building for a player they can describe succinctly – essentially, a single‑sentence player persona.
Player sentiment toward AI in game creation has softened over the past year. Forty‑two percent of surveyed gamers now feel more comfortable with AI’s role in the industry than they did twelve months ago, another 44 % remain unchanged, and fewer than one in seven have grown more uneasy. Acceptance is especially high among teenagers: 59 % of respondents aged 13‑17 reported increased comfort with AI, while 33 % said their view stayed the same.
Bain & Co’s Anders Christofferson, global lead for the firm’s Video Game sector, interprets these findings as a green light for studios hesitant about AI’s reputational risk. "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," he said. He added that AI can also deepen developers’ understanding of their audience.
Emerging analytics tools can map engagement patterns, surface what resonates with a target segment, and create tighter feedback loops between creators and communities. Personalisation, powered by AI, is already proving its commercial value.
Tailored communications, targeted advertisements, and bespoke in‑game content can boost spending, especially among younger players. The report notes that 86 % of teenagers report 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 encompass buying new titles, downloadable content, subscriptions, and even tips for streamers, but exclude hardware purchases such as consoles or VR headsets. Direct purchases from developers’ own web stores are also on the rise.
Nearly half of gamers say they have bought directly from a developer at least once in the past year, and 27 % do so repeatedly. The trend is most pronounced among the youngest cohort: 40 % of 13‑ to 17‑year‑olds reported multiple direct purchases over the last twelve months. Christofferson sums up the strategic shift: "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 emphasizes that studios pulling ahead are those that have deliberately chosen a specific audience and aligned every resource – from AI tools to distribution channels to personalisation tactics – behind that decision.
This focused approach, rather than a broad, generic push, appears to be the key driver of future success in an increasingly crowded market.