The global market for 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 cycle. Despite this overall growth, player behavior reveals a striking conservatism: about two‑thirds of gamers say they stick to familiar franchises or sequels, while only 20 % actively look for brand‑new titles.
These insights come from Bain & Company’s latest annual Gaming Report, which gathered responses from more than 5,300 players across a broad range of regions and demographics. The survey asked participants about their preferences, frustrations, and attitudes toward emerging technologies such as generative artificial intelligence (AI) in game development. One recurring theme was dissatisfaction with what respondents dubbed the "unfocused middle" of the market – games that feel overly generic, safe, or shallow and therefore fail to capture attention. To illustrate this point, Bain & Co contrasted two recent releases.
Baldur’s Gate 3 succeeded by targeting a narrowly defined audience of role‑playing enthusiasts, delivering deep narrative and complex mechanics that resonated with that group. In contrast, Concord entered a crowded hero‑shooter space and struggled to persuade players who were already invested in free‑to‑play ecosystems to spend a $40 premium price.
The comparison underscored the advantage of a laser‑focused design philosophy. When Bain & Co examined public performance data for 100 titles launched since 2023, the numbers were telling: 83 % of games that were purposefully aimed at a specific player segment achieved commercial success, versus just 50 % of titles that lacked a clear target audience. This gap highlights how crucial it is for developers to define who they are building for before committing resources.
Player genre preferences also appear highly fragmented. When asked to choose between story‑driven experiences, open‑world sandbox or user‑generated content, and competitive multiplayer, no single category attracted more than 26 % of respondents.
About one‑fifth of gamers said their choice depends on mood or that they treat the categories as roughly equal, while 17 % indicated they prefer other types of games or none of the listed options. The report identified two major pressures reshaping the industry today: escalating player expectations and the rapid adoption of generative AI.
Younger gamers, in particular, are concentrating their playtime on a smaller set of platforms – Roblox being a prime example. Bain & Co describes Roblox as having become "the centre of gravity for the entire gaming ecosystem" over the past five years, reflecting a shift toward socially driven, user‑generated environments. On the AI front, developers are leveraging generative tools to accelerate content creation, level design, and even narrative scripting.
However, the firm warns that AI alone does not mitigate risk unless there is a well‑defined player persona. As one Bain analyst put it, "it lets you scale the wrong bet faster." The companies that will thrive, according to the study, are not necessarily those with the deepest pockets or the most sophisticated AI pipelines, but those that commit early to building for a player they can describe in a single sentence. Player sentiment toward AI in game development has softened over the past year. Forty‑two percent of survey participants reported feeling more comfortable with AI usage than they did twelve months ago, another 44 % said their comfort level remained unchanged, and fewer than one in seven expressed increased discomfort.
The trend is especially pronounced among teenagers: 59 % of players aged 13‑17 said they are now more at ease with AI, while 33 % indicated no change in attitude. Bain & Co interprets these findings as a green light for studios hesitant about the reputational risk of AI.
"The window to move is open, particularly with the audiences who will define the market over the next decade," noted a senior partner. AI can also serve as a powerful analytics engine, helping developers decode engagement patterns, surface the features that resonate most with a target segment, and create tighter feedback loops between creators and their communities. Personalisation is another lever that the report highlights.
Tailored communications, bespoke advertising, and customized in‑game content can boost player spending, especially among younger cohorts. In fact, 86 % of teenagers 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 titles, downloadable content, subscription services, and streamer tips, but exclude hardware such as consoles or VR headsets.
Direct‑to‑consumer sales are also on the rise. Nearly half of all gamers said they buy directly from a developer’s web store at least once a year, and 27 % do so repeatedly. The propensity to purchase directly is strongest among the youngest players: 40 % of those aged 13‑17 reported multiple direct purchases in the previous year.
Anders Christofferson, global lead for Bain’s Video Game sector and partner in the 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 studios pulling ahead are the ones that have made a deliberate choice about who they are building for and have aligned every resource—AI, distribution, personalisation—behind that answer. In summary, the Bain & Co Gaming Report paints a picture of an industry where growth is steady but player loyalty is increasingly concentrated on familiar experiences.
Success appears to belong to developers who define a narrow, well‑understood audience, harness AI to serve that audience efficiently, and invest in direct, personalised relationships that turn casual fans into repeat spenders.