Bain & Company argues gaming economics increasingly reward focus over scale as player preferences fragment and spending concentrates. The industry is growing only about 3% annually, while AI, personalization, and direct sales are shifting advantage toward studios that understand and own relationships with their highest value players.
Gaming Report 2026: Choose Your Player
Bain & Company
Research
29 Pages
Key Takeaways
Spending concentrates: Highly engaged players account for almost 60% of gaming time, while the highest spending group generates roughly 75% of total spending.
Focus improves outcomes: Focused games achieved commercial success 83% of the time in Bain’s sample, versus 50% for games lacking a clearly defined audience.
Direct sales accelerate: Three quarters of top grossing mobile games now operate web stores, up from 12% in 2019, creating 15% to 30% margin opportunities.
Join our newsletter to have all of this content + Exclusive Newsletter Bonus Content delivered to your inbox every week
