Weekly Gaming Reports Recap: December 22

Reports of the week:

1. Alinea Analytics: 2025 Year in Review (PC & Console)

2. Skala: Age rankings and the affect of Game Content on them

3. BCG: Gaming Market in 2025 & Forecast as much as 2030

4. Niko Partners: Gaming markets in Asia and MENA will attain $88.97 billion in 2025

The knowledge covers the interval from January 1 to November 20, 2025. The evaluation consists of Steam, PlayStation, Xbox, Microsoft PC, in addition to Xbox Game Pass and PS Plus subscribers. The rankings embody solely new video games launched through the 2025 calendar yr.

• Battlefield 6 was essentially the most profitable launch by participant depend (excluding the free-to-play Redsec). 23.8 million gamers throughout all platforms bought the sport.

• Skate ranked second with 21.6 million gamers. However, it’s a free-to-play title, arduous to match it with BF6’s success.

• Third and fourth place by participant depend went to 2 indie hits: R.E.P.O. with 19.2 million gamers and Peak with 14.5 million.

• Around 20,000 initiatives are anticipated to be launched on Steam in 2025. Just over 300 of them will generate greater than $1 million in gross income.

• Indie video games will account for 25%+ of whole Steam income by the top of 2025.

• Alinea Analytics highlights examples of video games with extraordinarily excessive ROI. For occasion, RV There Yet? was developed in roughly three months. PEAK took barely longer, and the mission itself originated from a four-week sport jam (the slide accommodates a minor inaccuracy, as improvement lasted longer than 4 weeks).

• Alinea Analytics emphasizes the significance of the Chinese viewers for PC and console success. According to the service, China is the biggest market on Steam and the fifth-largest for PlayStation.

• Escape From Duckov (64% of its viewers from China), Split Fiction (44%), and Monster Hunter: Wilds (26%) are the most important Steam hits in China. On PlayStation, the leaders are Split Fiction (26% of the viewers from China), Monster Hunter Wilds (17%), and Death Stranding 2: On The Beach (24%).

• Mecha Break was the most well-liked demo of 2025. More than 2 million gamers tried it, and peak CCU exceeded 300,000.

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The knowledge covers the interval from January 1, 2025, to December 6, 2025.

• Action, journey, and RPG are the highest three genres by whole participant depend amongst new releases. There are exceptions: sports activities video games rank second in reputation on consoles, whereas technique video games carry out higher on Steam.

• Looking at Steam tags, lifelike video games confirmed the strongest income progress (with a serious contribution from Battlefield 6), adopted by motion and FPS. Cooperative video games (with the related tag) confirmed the very best common income in 2025.

I’m unsure how correct Alinea Analytics’ estimate of F2P income is. The service is certainly lacking a number of the most profitable F2P hits of the previous couple of years, like Fortnite, Genshin Impact, and so forth.

• There are three sorts of initiatives that managed to enter the highest 100 by income with out a lot of wishlists: annual franchises like EA FC, viral hits corresponding to R.E.P.O., and “shadow launches” the place a sport releases on the identical day it’s introduced (Peak, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion).

• All different initiatives that made it into the highest 100 by income in 2025 have been no less than within the high 200 most-wishlisted video games.

• In 2025, getting into the highest 200 most anticipated initiatives required no less than 170k to 200k wishlists. In addition, Alinea Analytics estimates that wishlist-to-sales conversion is declining.

• Interestingly, 41% of video games within the high 100 weren’t made utilizing Unity or Unreal Engine. On PlayStation, for instance, 73% of the highest 100 initiatives have been constructed on different engines. On Steam, Unity performs significantly properly, largely because of its reputation amongst indie builders.

• The most wishlisted titles with releases in 2026 are StarRupture (January), Resident Evil: Requiem (February), and Mouse (March). Among May releases, Paralives leads.

Source

A pal of mine put collectively a heatmap displaying which content material classes result in particular age rankings. I hadn’t come throughout this sort of breakdown earlier than, so I’m completely satisfied to share this unique materials. The examine analyzed 1,895 video games.

• The sample is evident: the much less lifelike the violence, the decrease the age score. There is a direct correlation.

• Obscene language seems to have a a lot stronger affect on the chance of receiving an M score than violence or sexual themes. Only 2% of video games with any such content material ended up within the T (Teen) class.

• Violence, particularly when stylized, very not often results in the M (Mature) class. In most instances, it’s labeled as T (Teen).

• There is a particular class, AO (Adults Only). Only 27 initiatives from the pattern fell into it. These are video games with specific pornography, real-money playing video games, and initiatives which are successfully banned from distribution, as companions refuse to work with them. The latest scandal round Horses (EGS flagged the game as AO, while the developers claim they received an M rating) is partly associated to this situation.

Source

The report relies on a survey of two,972 respondents performed in July 2025. The US accounts for 22% of the full pattern, adopted by China, Germany, Japan, and South Korea.

• According to BCG, the worldwide video games market has emerged from post-pandemic stagnation. By the top of 2025, its dimension will attain $263 billion.

• Market progress from 2026 to 2030 is anticipated to be sooner than in 2022–2026: +6% CAGR versus +4% CAGR.

• By 2030, the market will attain $353 billion. Mobile IAP income will stay the biggest phase. The share of subscriptions, cloud companies, and streaming platforms will develop, whereas console {hardware} gross sales are anticipated to cease rising.

• Around 55% of gamers mentioned they elevated the period of time they spend taking part in video games over the previous six months.

The distinction in market dimension in contrast with, for instance, Newzoo is because of methodology. BCG consists of {hardware} gross sales and promoting.

• 44% of youngsters begin taking part in video games earlier than the age of 5 (survey requested dad and mom who play video games themselves). Minecraft, the Super Mario collection, and Roblox are the three most typical first video games for kids.

• Consoles are the first platform (the place customers spend essentially the most time) for greater than 50% of Gen Alpha, Gen Z, and millennials.

• PC reputation varies throughout age teams. PCs are common amongst Gen Z in addition to Gen X, and child boomers. The common age of the PC viewers is larger, no less than based mostly on the pattern.

The survey was performed largely in developed nations, which partly explains the sturdy place of consoles.

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• Around 7,300 video games on Steam talked about the usage of AI as of August 2025. The chart reveals that the share of such initiatives is rising and has reached 21% in Q3 2025.

• AI is most frequently used for creating belongings and visible supplies (88%), textual content creation (18%), audio and voice (16%), UI/UX (15%), and advertising and marketing belongings (13%).

• Developers’ major issues round AI are potential unfavourable viewers reactions (50%), cybersecurity points (43%), and authorized dangers (33%).

• 27% of surveyed gamers repeatedly use cloud gaming.

• 80% of those that have tried cloud gaming have been happy, however solely 8% play primarily through cloud (greater than 50% of their whole playtime).

• BCG initiatives important progress in cloud gaming. Analysts estimate the variety of customers will develop from 5 million in 2025 to 65 million in 2030 (+54% CAGR), whereas market dimension will enhance from $1.4 billion to $18.3 billion.

I’m skeptical about forecasts like these. Similar progress figures have been promised in experiences again in 2018, and so they by no means materialized.

• More than 40% of gamers mentioned they interacted extra with UGC over the previous yr. That mentioned, 33% (nearly as many) reported interacting with UGC much less.

• Only 10–15% of gamers are actively concerned in content material creation. The relaxation are shoppers.

• 33% of adults and 40% of youngsters have already bought video games straight through builders’ internet shops. The major motivations are reductions, bonuses, and unique gadgets, in addition to a want to indicate model loyalty. However, customers are involved about further steps (corresponding to re-entering card particulars) and safety dangers.

• According to BCG, 8–9% of transactions presently undergo various fee strategies (internet retailers or third-party funds inside apps). By 2030, the share of funds through Google and Apple is anticipated to drop to 67% (from 90% in 2025).

• The common fee is anticipated to fall from 30% to five%.

• 75% of gamers say value strongly influences their buy choices.

• Around 65% of the viewers actively manages spending: both ready for reductions (49%) or focusing spending on a single product (31%).

• According to BCG, F2P video games stay essentially the most cost-effective type of leisure when measured by price per hour. It’s odd that vertical video companies (TikTok being the clearest instance), that are utterly free, should not included right here.

• BCG notes that regardless of rising nominal sport costs, inflation-adjusted costs are literally declining. Game costs peaked in 2010.

• Although video games account for 12.5% of whole media spent by avid gamers, promoting spend in video games represents solely 3% of whole media advert spending.

• BCG expects this share to develop barely to three.5% by 2029.

• Around 30% of gamers are comfy with numerous types of in-store promoting.

Source

Niko Partners has up to date its outlook for the gaming markets in Asia and the MENA area following the outcomes of H1 2025. The report covers shopper spending on video video games (excluding RMG and playing).

• In 2025, the mixed dimension of the Asia and MENA gaming markets is anticipated to succeed in $88.97 billion (+2.7% YoY).

• The variety of gamers throughout these areas will attain 1.7 billion in 2025 (+2.7% YoY).

• Forecasts have been revised upward because of a number of elements. Regulatory situations improved in a number of markets (China elevated the variety of licenses issued, RMG was banned in India), and video games throughout all platforms carried out above preliminary expectations. Niko Partners expects the mixed Asia and MENA market to succeed in $100 billion by 2029.

• India, MENA, and Southeast Asia are projected to be the fastest-growing areas by 2029 by way of each income and participant progress. At the identical time, India, MENA, and China are anticipated to steer in ARPU progress.

• By the top of 2025, China’s gaming market is anticipated to succeed in $51.2 billion (+4.1% YoY). By 2029, this determine is projected to develop to $57.1 billion (5-year CAGR of +3%, up from Niko Partners’ earlier forecast of two.2%).

• Over the primary 10 months of 2025, China issued 1,441 sport licenses, up 24% YoY.

• India’s gaming market income is anticipated to develop from $1.1 billion in 2025 (+16.2% YoY) to $1.67 billion by the top of 2029 (5-year CAGR of +12.9%).

• The variety of gamers in India will exceed 500 million this yr and attain 700 million by 2029. The ban on real-money gaming (RMG) is anticipated to positively affect income from conventional video games.

• Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam are the fastest-growing markets in Southeast Asia. At the identical time, Niko Partners lowered its forecasts for Thailand and Indonesia. The whole dimension of Southeast Asia’s gaming markets in 2025 will attain $5.5 billion (+2.1% YoY), rising to $6.4 billion by 2029 (+3.5% YoY).

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• China, Japan, and South Korea stay the foundational markets in Asia and MENA. By 2029, their mixed market dimension will attain $88.8 billion, accounting for 89.1% of whole income throughout the lined areas.

• The mixed gaming markets of Japan and South Korea are anticipated to whole $29.1 billion in 2025 (-0.3% YoY). By 2029, they’re projected to develop to $31.7 billion (CAGR of +1.7%).

• Console gaming accounted for simply 6.3% of whole income in 2025. However, Niko Partners expects this phase to develop the quickest in Asia and MENA by 2029, pushed by the launch of Nintendo Switch 2, the upcoming launch of Grand Theft Auto VI, growing console adoption within the area, and rising shopper spending on console video games.

• The MENA-3 markets (Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE) are estimated at $2.2 billion in 2025 (+8.5% YoY). By 2029, their mixed dimension is anticipated to succeed in $2.8 billion (CAGR of +6.4%).

• Niko Partners lowered its outlook for the area because of decrease expectations for cell gaming income in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

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