Global revenue from video‑game software has been expanding at a steady compound annual growth rate of roughly 3 % over the last four years, and analysts expect that momentum to continue for another four‑year stretch. Yet the market’s appetite for novelty is surprisingly limited: about two‑thirds of players say they gravitate toward familiar franchises or sequels, and merely one in five actively looks for brand‑new releases.
These insights come from Bain & Company’s latest annual Gaming Report, which gathered responses from more than 5,300 gamers across a broad range of regions and demographics. The survey revealed a pronounced dissatisfaction with what the firm calls the "unfocused middle" – games that are overly generic, safe, and shallow, failing to stand out in a crowded marketplace. To illustrate the point, Bain compared the reception of two recent titles: *Baldur’s Gate 3* and *Concord*. *Baldur’s Gate 3* succeeded by zeroing in on a highly specific audience of role‑playing enthusiasts, delivering deep narrative and mechanics that resonated with that niche.
By contrast, *Concord* entered an already saturated hero‑shooter segment and struggled to persuade players who were accustomed to free‑to‑play models to spend a $40 premium price. The contrast underscores the advantage of a clear, focused player‑type strategy. Analyzing public data for 100 games launched since 2023, Bain found that 83 % of titles that were sharply targeted at a particular player segment achieved commercial success, whereas only half of the unfocused, broadly aimed games met similar financial thresholds. This disparity highlights the commercial risk of trying to appeal to everyone.
Player preferences for game genres are also highly fragmented. When respondents were asked to choose their preferred experience – story‑driven adventures, open‑world sandbox or user‑generated content, or competitive multiplayer – no single category attracted more than 26 % of the vote. About 20 % said their choice depends on mood or that they treat the categories as roughly equal, while 17 % selected "none of the above" or mentioned other types of games. The report also identified two major forces reshaping the industry: escalating player expectations and the rapid adoption of generative AI.
Younger gamers, in particular, are concentrating more of their playtime on a limited set of platforms such as Roblox, which Bain describes as becoming "the centre of gravity for the entire gaming ecosystem" over the past five years. Regarding AI, developers are increasingly leveraging generative tools to accelerate production pipelines.
However, the report warns that AI alone does not mitigate risk if the underlying player target is vague: "It lets you scale the wrong bet faster." The firms that will thrive in the coming years, according to Bain, will not necessarily be the ones with the deepest pockets or the most sophisticated AI stacks. Instead, they will be the studios that, earlier than their rivals, commit to building for a player they can describe in a single sentence. Player sentiment toward AI in game creation has softened over the last twelve months. Forty‑two percent of surveyed gamers now feel more comfortable with AI’s role in the industry than they did a year ago, another 44 % remain unchanged, and fewer than one in seven feel less comfortable.
Acceptance is especially high among the youngest cohort: 59 % of players aged 13‑17 report increased comfort with AI, 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," a Bain spokesperson noted. AI can also serve as a powerful analytics engine, helping developers decode player engagement patterns, surface the elements that resonate most with a target audience, and close the feedback loop between creators and communities.
Personalisation is a concrete outcome of this AI‑driven insight. Tailored communications, bespoke advertisements, and custom in‑game content can be delivered to individual players, a strategy that Bain found boosts spending, especially among teenagers. In fact, 86 % of teens 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 expenditures encompass purchases of new titles, downloadable content, subscription services, and streamer tips, but exclude hardware such as consoles or VR headsets.
The report also highlighted a growing trend toward direct purchases from developers’ own web stores: nearly half of gamers buy directly from a developer at least once a year, and 27 % do so repeatedly. This behaviour is most pronounced among younger players, with 40 % of the 13‑17 age group making multiple direct purchases in the past year. Anders Christofferson, global lead for Bain’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, "The studios pulling ahead are the ones that have made a deliberate choice about who they are building for and are aligning every resource behind that answer; AI, distribution, and personalisation alike."