Blog: Games

Read our latest daily deep dives, hot takes, and exciting updates about the entertainment world. Check out the latest insight from your favourite analyst, or search by coverage areas - music, entertainment and fandom, creator economy and social.

Online game ownership in the digital age – do we really own what we play?

Cover image for Online game ownership in the digital age – do we really own what we play?

Brandon Sutton

24 Jul 2025

Product Strategy

Over the past decade, digital sales have become the primary way gamers purchase video games. With this shift comes a series of growing pains that often puts gamers at odds with publishers. One particularly contentious issue is digital ownership and consumer rights; topics gaining renewed attention t...

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Chaos and uncertainty: Tariffs’ impact on gamers and the games market

Cover image for Chaos and uncertainty: Tariffs’ impact on gamers and the games market

Rhys Elliott

10 Apr 2025

Business Strategy

Tariff turmoil related to the US’ trade war is intensifying. Other countries have retaliated, and while Trump has eased tariffs in some countries, the situation is far from being resolved. The tariffs have major implications for the games market in the US.

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From games to social media: What the Switch 2 Direct says about Nintendo

Cover image for From games to social media: What the Switch 2 Direct says about Nintendo

Rhys Elliott

3 Apr 2025

Business Strategy

Nintendo finally lifted the curtain on the Switch 2, its software lineup, and some new social features, revealing more about Nintendo’s cross-entertainment future. In this blog, we will discuss two big takeaways from the Switch 2 Direct.

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20% of gamers love couch co-op: Split Fiction’s success is proof players want more

Cover image for 20% of gamers love couch co-op: Split Fiction’s success is proof players want more

Rhys Elliott

20 Mar 2025

Audience Insight

Key insights from this blog: MIDiA's research shows that a significant portion of gamers consider couch co-op a favourite genre. The runaway success of Split Fiction supports these findings Producing more couch co-op games would cater to gamer segments that MIDiA has identified as being underserved,...

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Live orchestras and game-specific songs: Death Stranding is a masterclass in harmonising games and music

Cover image for Live orchestras and game-specific songs: Death Stranding is a masterclass in harmonising games and music

Rhys Elliott

13 Mar 2025

Marketing Strategy

Key insights from this blog: There is ample opportunity for the games industry to leverage music to its advantage Key MIDiA data highlights that real-world live concerts using game music AND artists recording original music specifically for games are two underutilised strategies The music industry i...

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Why do gamers play games? Half say mainly to relax, but the other half has different goals

Cover image for Why do gamers play games? Half say mainly to relax, but the other half has different goals

Rhys Elliott

6 Mar 2025

Audience Insight

We are proud to have launched our new gamer segmentation , which focuses on motivations, attitudes, and underlying reasons behind gaming behaviours. This article zooms in on some key data and insights from our segmentation, based on both qualitative and quantitative data.

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Can the smart TV become a canvas for content creation?

Cover image for Can the smart TV become a canvas for content creation?

Ben Woods

21 Feb 2025

Audience Insight

YouTube’s growing strength on smart TVs is a head scratching moment for the video industry. The social video platform recently revealed that US consumers watched 1 billion hours of YouTube content daily on their smart TVs in December 2024.

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The case for more digestable games: Over a third of console and PC gamers play LESS than 5 hours a week

Cover image for The case for more digestable games: Over a third of console and PC gamers play LESS than 5 hours a week

Rhys Elliott

20 Feb 2025

The attention economy is oversaturated. Games are not just competingwith other games but with TikTok, YouTube, Netflix, and well ... life. But the games industry – especially premium games on console and PC – has a unique twofold challenge: Supply : New AAA games can take five years or more to m...

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How PlayStation broke its hardware and active user records in Q4

Cover image for How PlayStation broke its hardware and active user records in Q4

Rhys Elliott

13 Feb 2025

Business Strategy

Sony released its financial results for calendar Q4 2024. Here are the high-level results: Sony generated revenues of $27.9 billion As always, its Game & Network Services (G&NS) Segment – PlayStation – was the biggest segment (38%) Sony Music accounted for 11% and Sony Pictures for 9% of...

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Bootlegging is the scourge of many industries. Could it be music’s greatest strength?

Cover image for Bootlegging is the scourge of many industries. Could it be music’s greatest strength?

Tatiana Cirisano

7 Feb 2025

The word “bootleg” has long left a bad taste in brands’ mouths. Quite literally defined as “illicit goods,” these unauthorised versions or replications of clothes, handbags, concert tees, and other items have long plagued brands.

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Nintendo’s earnings highlight Mario's unfaltering popularity, despite the Switch running out of steam

Cover image for Nintendo’s earnings highlight Mario's unfaltering popularity, despite the Switch running out of steam

Rhys Elliott

6 Feb 2025

Business Strategy

Nintendo released its nine-month earnings ending December 31, 2024. Its revenues were $6.1 billion, dropping 31.4% year on year, with: Nintendo’s dedicated platforms (hardware, software, subscriptions, and accessories) accounting for 94.

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MIDiA’s analysts answer questions on their 2025 predictions

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Karol Severin

5 Feb 2025

Business Strategy

We are delighted by the overwhelmingly positive response and discussions sparked during our 2025 predictions webinar. We are grateful for all the engaging questions you asked during the session. Though we were unable to get through all of the excellent questions in the one-hour window, we certainly ...

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The games market will grow by 4.6% in 2025 – in line with the global inflation rate

Cover image for The games market will grow by 4.6% in 2025 – in line with the global inflation rate

Rhys Elliott

31 Jan 2025

Business Strategy

We just published our flagship games report MIDiA Research’s Global Games Forecasts 2025–2031 and its accompanying dataset. What you need to know: The games market is mature , so double-digit growth is a fantasy and the industry will only see slight growth going forward The global number of game...

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Switch 2 FAQs: Your cheat sheet for understanding Nintendo's upcoming console

Cover image for Switch 2 FAQs: Your cheat sheet for understanding Nintendo's upcoming console

Rhys Elliott

23 Jan 2025

Product Strategy

As we said in our games trends to watch article , 2025 will be the year of the portable. Nintendo kicked that off in earnest, finally lifting the curtain on its Switch 2 console. Here are the basics: The Switch 2 seems iterative – a bigger, better Switch with some quality-of-life improvements It i...

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Are console platforms about to push smartphone-style subscription plans?

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Rhys Elliott

17 Jan 2025

Business Strategy

assassin’s creed

Diminishing returns on console generations, cash-strapped consumers, and increasing console prices might just open up a new pricing model for consoles – one in which consoles look increasingly like smartphones.

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New research: What do gamers really think about generative AI in games?

Cover image for New research: What do gamers really think about generative AI in games?

Rhys Elliott

9 Jan 2025

take two interactive

New year, new research! We capped off 2024 by asking a representative sample of gamers [n=6,300] how they feel about developers using generative AI to make games (and how it affects purchasing decisions).

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MIDiA’s five games trends to watch in 2025

Cover image for MIDiA’s five games trends to watch in 2025

Rhys Elliott

19 Dec 2024

The year 2024 has been eventful for the games market to say the least. Call of Duty came to Game Pass, Sony released its PS5 Pro console, live-service games faced a reckoning, and gaming has solidified its space at the heart of entertainment.

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Gamers spend more time on social video than games

Cover image for Gamers spend more time on social video than games

Rhys Elliott

5 Dec 2024

Game publishers have long used third-party video platforms such as Twitch and YouTube as springboards for game promotion. In return, Twitch and YouTube receive ad- and creator-driven revenues (like donations).

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A message to the entertainment industry: nurture fandom or risk losing control of your IP

Cover image for A message to the entertainment industry: nurture fandom or risk losing control of your IP

Ben Woods

29 Nov 2024

Creator economy

What makes a fan in 2024? Is it how much they spend? How often they watch, listen or play? Is it how much they broadcast their fandom across social apps? Of course, the answer is all the above – and more.

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It’s social’s stage now: MIDiA’s 2025 predictions webinar

Cover image for It’s social’s stage now: MIDiA’s 2025 predictions webinar

Mark Mulligan

28 Nov 2024

2025 predictions

One of my favourite parts of the MIDiA year is creating the MIDiA predictions report and webinar. It is always a true team effort, with our team of analysts spending weeks brainstorming ideas, proposing predictions, stress testing those to within an inch of their lives, and then writing the report.

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