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 horizon. Despite this overall growth, player behavior remains heavily skewed toward the familiar. In fact, two‑thirds of surveyed gamers say they gravitate toward existing franchises or sequels, while merely one in five actively looks for brand‑new experiences.
These findings come from Bain & Company’s latest annual Gaming Report, which gathered responses from more than 5,300 individuals across a broad range of regions and demographics. The research highlights a pervasive sense of disappointment among players with what the firm calls the "unfocused middle" – titles that are overly generic, safe, or shallow and therefore fail to capture attention. To illustrate the contrast, Bain & Co compared two recent releases.
"Baldur’s Gate 3" succeeded by deliberately targeting a narrowly defined audience of role‑playing enthusiasts, delivering deep narrative and complex mechanics that resonated with that segment. By contrast, "Concord" entered a crowded hero‑shooter space and struggled to persuade players already invested in free‑to‑play ecosystems to spend the full $40 price tag. The report’s analysis of public data for 100 games launched since 2023 underscores the point: 83 % of titles that were sharply focused on a specific player type achieved commercial success, whereas only half of the unfocused, broadly aimed games reached comparable sales milestones.
Player preferences are also fragmented across genres. When asked which type of experience they favored – story‑driven adventures, open‑world sandbox or user‑generated content, or competitive multiplayer – no single category captured more than 26 % of the vote. About 20 % of respondents said their choice varies roughly equally or depends on their mood at the moment, and another 17 % indicated they either prefer other niche genres or do not have a clear preference at all. The report identifies two major forces reshaping the industry today: rising player demand for deeper engagement and the rapid adoption of generative artificial intelligence in development pipelines.
Younger gamers, in particular, are concentrating their playtime on a smaller set of platforms, with Roblox cited as a prime example of a service that has become "the centre of gravity for the entire gaming ecosystem" over the past five years. On the AI front, Bain & Co notes that developers are leveraging generative tools to accelerate content creation, but warns that technology alone cannot offset the risk of an ill‑defined target audience. "It lets you scale the wrong bet faster," the report cautions, emphasizing that the winners in the coming years will be studios that commit early to a player persona that can be described in a single sentence, rather than those with the deepest pockets or the most sophisticated AI stacks. Player sentiment toward AI in game development has become more favorable over the last twelve months.
Forty‑two percent of respondents say 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 report increased discomfort. Acceptance is especially high among the 13‑to‑17 age group, where 59 % feel more at ease with AI and 33 % remain neutral. Bain & Co’s senior partner Anders Christofferson interprets these data points as a clear signal for studios: "The window to move is open, particularly with the audiences who will define the market over the next decade." He adds that AI can also serve as a powerful analytical engine, helping developers decode engagement patterns, surface the elements that truly resonate with a target audience, and close the feedback loop between creators and players. Personalisation, powered by AI, is already proving its worth.
Tailored communications, bespoke advertising, and customized in‑game content have been shown to boost spending, especially among teenagers. In the survey, 86 % of teens reported making at least one gaming‑related purchase each month, compared with just over half of players in their 50s, 36 % of those in their 60s, and 27 % of gamers in their 70s. These purchases encompass new games, downloadable content, subscription services, and streamer tips, but exclude hardware such as consoles or VR headsets.
Direct‑to‑developer sales are also on the rise. Nearly half of all gamers said they buy directly from a studio’s web store at least once a 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 in the past year. Overall, the report concludes that the strategic focus for gaming executives has shifted. It is no longer sufficient to simply broaden reach; success now hinges on reaching the right players, engaging them in the right way, and cultivating a deeper ownership of that relationship. Studios that align every resource – from AI tools to distribution channels to personalisation strategies – around a clearly defined player persona are the ones poised to pull ahead in an increasingly competitive landscape.