The global market for video‑game software has been expanding at a modest but steady compound annual growth rate of roughly three percent over the last four years, and analysts expect that trajectory to hold steady for the next four-year period as well. Despite this overall growth, player behaviour shows a pronounced preference for the familiar: about two‑thirds of gamers say they gravitate toward sequels or titles that feel recognizable, while only one in five actively seeks out brand‑new experiences. 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 satisfaction with the current catalogue of games, their genre preferences, and their attitudes toward emerging technologies such as generative artificial intelligence.
One of the most striking findings was the widespread disappointment with what the report calls the "unfocused middle" of the market. Respondents described many recent releases as overly generic, safe, and shallow—games that fail to differentiate themselves or to speak to a specific audience. To illustrate the contrast, Bain & Co highlighted two recent titles: Baldur’s Gate 3 and Concord.
Baldur’s Gate 3 succeeded by deliberately targeting a niche, highly engaged audience that craved deep role‑playing mechanics and narrative depth. In contrast, Concord entered an already saturated hero‑shooter space and struggled to convince players who were accustomed to free‑to‑play models to part with a full‑price $40 purchase. When Bain & Co examined public performance data for 100 games launched since 2023, the numbers reinforced the importance of focus. Eighty‑three percent of titles that were clearly aimed at a specific player segment achieved commercial success, whereas only half of the games that tried to appeal to a broad, unfocused audience managed to turn a profit.
This gap underscores a growing industry truth: precision in audience definition often outweighs sheer budget size. Player preferences for game genres are also highly fragmented. When asked to choose between story‑driven adventures, open‑world sandbox experiences with user‑generated content, or multiplayer‑focused titles, no single category captured more than 26 percent of votes.
About 20 percent of respondents said their choice depends on mood or that they treat the categories as roughly equal, while 17 percent indicated they prefer other types of games not listed in the survey. The report identified two major forces reshaping the industry today.
First, player demand is concentrating on a smaller set of platforms and titles. Younger gamers, in particular, are spending more time on a limited handful of experiences such as Roblox, which Bain & Co describes as having become "the centre of gravity for the entire gaming ecosystem" over the past five years. Second, the adoption of generative AI is accelerating. Developers are leveraging AI tools to speed up asset creation, level design, and even narrative scripting.
However, the report cautions that AI alone does not mitigate risk unless the underlying product is aimed at a well‑defined audience. As one Bain analyst put it, AI "lets you scale the wrong bet faster." Looking ahead, the firm predicts that the studios that will thrive are not necessarily those with the deepest pockets or the most sophisticated AI pipelines.
Instead, success will belong to teams that can articulate their target player in a single, concise sentence and then align every resource—whether AI, distribution channels, or personalization tactics—behind that vision. Player sentiment toward AI in game development has become more favorable over the past year.
Forty‑two percent of surveyed gamers reported being more comfortable with the industry’s use of AI than they were twelve months ago, another 44 percent said their comfort level remained unchanged, and fewer than one in seven expressed increased discomfort. The trend is especially pronounced among teenagers: 59 percent of players aged 13‑17 indicated greater comfort with AI this year, while 33 percent said their opinion stayed the same.
Bain & Co’s senior partner Anders Christofferson interprets these findings as a clear signal for studios: "The window to adopt AI responsibly is open, particularly with the audiences that 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 what resonates with specific player segments, and create tighter feedback loops between creators and their communities. Personalization is another lever that appears to boost revenue, especially among younger gamers.
Tailored communications, targeted advertisements, and bespoke in‑game content can encourage higher spend. The report notes that 86 percent of teenagers report spending money on gaming‑related activities each month, compared with just over half of players in their 50s, 36 percent of those in their 60s, and 27 percent of those in their 70s. These activities encompass purchases of new games, downloadable content, subscriptions, and even tips for streamers, but exclude hardware such as consoles or VR headsets.
Direct purchases from developers’ own web stores are also on the rise. Nearly half of all gamers said they buy directly from a developer at least once a year, and 27 percent do so repeatedly.
The behavior is most evident among the youngest cohort: 40 percent of 13‑ to 17‑year‑olds reported making multiple direct purchases in the past year. In summary, the Bain & Company Gaming Report paints a picture of an industry where growth is steady but player attention is increasingly selective. Success hinges on delivering focused experiences that speak directly to a clearly defined audience, leveraging AI and personalization not as vague buzzwords but as precise tools to deepen player relationships. Studios that commit early to a singular player archetype and marshal every capability—creative, technological, and distributional—around that commitment are poised to outpace competitors and capture a larger share of the evolving gaming economy.