Reports: Microsoft

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Cover image for Is in-game advertising the next frontier for PC and console games?

Is in-game advertising the next frontier for PC and console games?

Rhys Elliott

15 Jul 2025

Apple YouTube Netflix

In-game advertising (IGA) in AAA console and PC titles is experiencing a resurgence. Advancements in technology, shifting consumer behaviours, evolving monetisation strategies, and a now-mature games market have reignited interest. With AAA publishers adopting free-to-play models and hybrid monetisation – mirroring mobile gaming’s success – a...

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AI futures
Culture wars

Ben Woods, Tatiana Cirisano, Hanna Kahlert, Mark Mulligan and Kriss Thakrar

29 May 2025

Apple Spotify Deezer

AI is transforming culture, entertainment, business, and society at a rate unprecedented in the digital era. Unlike previous tech, AI is evolving at the speed of computing, not the human brain. Delivering as quickly as it promises, AI is breaking the mould.

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The future of creator hardware
AI’s new creative lane

Ben Woods

30 Oct 2024

Twitch Sony Microsoft

AI tools pose a risk to the hardware funnel by becoming the go-to toolkit for beginners and a substitute for recorded footage. With AI providing solutions at every stage of the video creator workflow, hardware must fight to justify its need. Especially because AI makes it easier for all creators to produce professional-grade content.

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The single-player opportunity
Course correcting from a red to blue ocean

Rhys Elliott

30 Sep 2024

YouTube Netflix Xbox

The AAA PC and console games market is facing growth issues, money is more expensive, and developers are facing pressure to become leaner, more profitable, and take fewer risks. Many game makers, including those that found initial success in single player, have been chasing the live-service trend.

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The AI entertainment revolution
How artificial intelligence will reshape media consumption

Hanna Kahlert, Ashleigh Millar, Tatiana Cirisano and Annie Langston

20 Mar 2023

Innovation Creators YouTube

2023 has been jump-started by rapid progression in the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI). From the launch of ChatGPT to AI-powered DJs, this technology is revolutionising common practices, impacting consumers, creators, and industry leaders alike.

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Rebooting video fandom
Games as a video streaming genre

Tim Mulligan, Karol Severin, Perry Gresham, Samuel Griffin and Ben Woods

20 Mar 2023

Apple Apple TV Netflix

With gamers being mainstream, video streaming services and their content offerings can benefit by increasing focus on the preferences of gamers. Crucially, this enables subscription video on demand (SVOD) services to drive engagement, broaden reach and improve retention.

Cover image for Attention inflation

Attention inflation
How multitasking is reshaping the attention economy

Karol Severin and Perry Gresham

31 Aug 2022

Apple Spotify YouTube

Entertainment hours are up, but consumption is becoming diluted and losing focus, and is increasingly in the background of other activities. Audiences want to consume more but have no more time to allocate; increased multitasking is the result. Consequently, attention / focus is split between more propositions.

Cover image for From marketing to monetisation

From marketing to monetisation
The games video opportunity for games companies

Karol Severin

22 Feb 2022

YouTube Twitch facebook gaming

Games-related video consumption is now as big as established TV and video genres. Despite games companies providing the fuel for the games video sector (i.e., games experiences, processed into content by creators), the monetisation is mostly enjoyed by established games video platforms.

Cover image for 2022 MIDiA predictions

2022 MIDiA predictions
The year of the creator

Mark Mulligan, Tim Mulligan, Karol Severin, Hanna Kahlert, Srishti Das, Kriss Thakrar and Tatiana Cirisano

16 Dec 2021

Creators Apple Spotify

In this report MIDiA Research analysts present their predictions for what will be the big trends in digital media and tech across music, video, brands, marketing, games, and sports in 2022 and beyond. Companies and brands mentioned in this report: Adele,...

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In-game spending
Cross-entertainment product strategy

Karol Severin

30 Apr 2021

YouTube multitasking Twitch

Games revenue growth is about to slow, with in-game spending the sector set to retain most momentum. Simultaneously, other entertainment sectors will actively seek to monetise digital fandom. Future games revenue will need to tap opportunities beyond games-related spending alone, and the wider entertainment demands of consumers.

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2021 Predictions
The Year of the Immersive Web

Mark Mulligan, Tim Mulligan, Karol Severin, Alistair Taylor and Hanna Kahlert

23 Nov 2020

Spotify Spotify Discovery

In this report MIDiA Research analysts present their predictions for what will be the big trends in digital media and tech across music, video, brands, marketing, games and sports in 2021 and beyond. Companies and brands mentioned in this report: Amazon...

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Next-Generation Consoles
PS5 Starts in Pole Position

Karol Severin

23 Nov 2020

YouTube Amazon Xbox

The winter holiday season has always been important for next-generation console launches, but this one is different. Negative effects of the current recession will intensify, engagement will be less predictable and device-agnostic games subscription competition is set to heat up.

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COVID-19
The Self-Isolation Entertainment Boom

Mark Mulligan

6 Apr 2020

Free Report

Streaming Spotify Artists

Following our first COVID-19 impact report, this report deep dives into how media consumption patterns have changed in the initial weeks of COVID-19 dislocation. While it is crucial to remember that these behaviour shifts are a snapshot of a unique moment in time, there are nonetheless some that will persist post-pandemic.

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Recession Impact
How an Economic Downturn Could Reshape Digital Media

Alistair Taylor, Amanda Stears, Karol Severin, Keith Jopling, Mark Mulligan, Tim Mulligan and Zach Fuller

29 Oct 2019

Apple Spotify Amazon

Ten years on from the credit crunch, the global economy could be poised to enter another economic recession. Many of the underlying causes of the credit crunch remain in place, due to governments lacking the appetite for the structural reform required to right the faults in the global financial system that catalysed the slowdown.

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The Playlist Revolution
Streaming’s Battleground

Zach Fuller

30 Sep 2019

Streaming Music Apple Spotify

Playlists are swiftly becoming the lingua franca of the music streaming economy. While most closely associated with Spotify, playlists are now central to streaming as an entire sector. While playlists may not yet have become the dominant use case for streaming music in the way that binge watching is for video, they are transforming how audiences co...

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The Global Music Publishing Market
Streaming Shifts the Conversation

Zach Fuller

22 Aug 2019

Apple Spotify Spotify

The effects of music streaming having supplanted both the download and the CD as the mainstream format for recorded music (accounting for 50% of total recorded revenue in 2018) are being keenly felt across the music publishing industry. The DNA of streaming consumption (playlists, lower mechanical royalties, less revenue on average for superstar ca...

Cover image for The Games Streaming Subscription Revolution

The Games Streaming Subscription Revolution
Meet the Players

Karol Severin

26 Jun 2019

Streaming Apple Spotify

Streaming is rewriting the games market rulebook. The games subscription landscape is undergoing foundational changes driven by a growing list of new market entrants including tech majors, telcos, leading games developers and publishers. The rise of games streaming opens doors to device- and platform-agnostic solutions all across the attention econ...

Cover image for MIDiA Research Predictions 2019

MIDiA Research Predictions 2019

Alistair Taylor, Georgia Meyer, Mark Mulligan, Tim Mulligan and Zach Fuller

8 Nov 2018

Apple Spotify YouTube

In this report MIDiA Research analysts present their predictions for what will be the big trends in digital media and tech, across music, video, media, brands, marketing, games and sports in 2019. Companies and brands mentioned in this report: ABC, Alibaba, Alphabet, Amazon, Amazon Prime Video, Apple, Apple Music, AT&T, BBC, BT, BT Sports, BT T...

Cover image for Tech Majors Market Shares Q2 2018

Tech Majors Market Shares Q2 2018
A Tale of Mixed Fortunes

Alistair Taylor, Karol Severin, Tim Mulligan and Zach Fuller

10 Aug 2018

Apple Spotify YouTube

Q2 2018 delivered contrasting milestones for the tech majors with Apple becoming the first company to have a trillion-dollar market capitalisation while Facebook simultaneously saw the single biggest one-day loss in market capitalisation in the history of US stock exchanges.

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Tencent Tech Investment
Pursuing Aggressive Growth in the West

Alistair Taylor

29 May 2018

Streaming Spotify revenue

Tencent, currently the fifth most valuable public company in the world, saw income from ‘other gains’ increase in Q4 2017 by 800% on Q4 2016 figures, going $149.6 million to $1.2 billion. These other gains comprised one-off gains from IPOs, tax rebates and investment subsidies.

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