gaming

Cover image for Pixels to playlists

Pixels to playlists
Music preferences and behaviours of gamers

Rhys Elliott

28 Mar 2025

Innovation Labels US

The global games industry is a $236.9 billion behemoth. It now rivals film, television, and music combined in terms of revenues and is a cultural driver. Yet, for music companies, labels, and platforms, gaming represents more than a parallel market: it is agateway to the world’s most engaged, tech-savvy, and monetisable audience.

Are we approaching an analogue revival?

Hanna Kahlert

11 Jan 2024

analogue dvds Vinyl

It is now 2024 (yikes), and New Year’s resolutions are making the rounds. Anecdotally, at least seven of us at MIDiA have resolved to go more analogue this year. More broadly, many people, alongside the traditional attempts to go to the gym more or do ‘Dry January’, seem to be opting to cut do...

Cover image for Are we approaching an analogue revival?

Patreon is making video a battleground for creator allegiance

Ben Woods

8 Nov 2022

Social video YouTube Patreon

With jitters building in the advertising market, YouTube appears vulnerable to challengers. Google’s parent Alphabet, the ultimate owner of YouTube, recorded its slowest sales growth for two years last month when the souring ad market hit its performance in the third quarter.

Cover image for Patreon is making video a battleground for creator allegiance

Cover image for Unlocking the saturation conundrum

Unlocking the saturation conundrum
Key video trends going into 2023

Tim Mulligan, Hanna Kahlert, Samuel Griffin and Ben Woods

14 Nov 2022

A key challenge confronting the video streaming landscape in the current attention inflation era is maintaining engagement. Up until now, video streaming has been fixated on growth. In a saturated marketplace buffeted by the cost-of-living crisis, the strategic focus has shifted towards retention both of in terms of subscribers for subscription vid...

Cover image for YouTube is paving a new music discovery pathway — will it work?

YouTube is paving a new music discovery pathway — will it work?

Kriss Thakrar and Tatiana Cirisano

4 Jan 2023

Music

Song discovery ideally kicks off a fandom journey for the consumer, who then goes on to learn about the artist, stream their wider catalogue, become a fan, and buy merchandise and concert tickets. But, too often today, music discovery both starts and ends with the song.

Are social platforms losing the next generation to Roblox and Fortnite?

Ben Woods

15 Nov 2024

Roblox TikTok YouTube

Unpacking social media strategy is now part and parcel of any election postmortem. From Elon Musk’s ownership of X to Donald Trump’s use of creators to target Gen Z men, understanding social’s role in the US election is to understand how influence is wielded in the digital age.

Cover image for Are social platforms losing the next generation to Roblox and Fortnite?

From 8-bit to fantasy: Proms’ focus on gaming underscores its cultural relevance

Samuel Griffin

10 Aug 2022

Proms Gaming Fandom

After the humble beginnings of the first melodic loops from NAMCO’s Rally X , the cultural symphony of music, video, and games has since matured toHildur Guðnadóttir and Sam Slater’s recent score for Battlefield 2042 .

Cover image for From 8-bit to fantasy: Proms’ focus on gaming underscores its cultural relevance

Cover image for Flipping the script

Flipping the script
Game IP transmedia needs to evolve

Rhys Elliott

9 May 2025

Amazon Netflix Xbox

The entertainment landscape is changing. As superhero fatigue sets in, game IP is now dominating screens, from HBO’s The Last of Us to the Minecraft movie. Unlike movie trends (Westerns, superhero movies), the game-to-movie trend is here to stay, as the games market is a cross-genre treasure trove of beloved IP and fandom, with new IP arriving fr...

Can the smart TV become a canvas for content creation?

Ben Woods

21 Feb 2025

Audience Insight YouTube Netflix

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.

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

MIDiA’s five games trends to watch in 2025

Rhys Elliott

19 Dec 2024

Switch 20 second song Xbox Game Pass

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.

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

Games-video crossovers are coming of age

Samuel Griffin

8 Sep 2022

games video Entertainment Music discovery

Video and games crossover content is becoming mainstream. The Emmy winning Arcane, a live action remake of The Last of Us, indicated that games-inspired video is trailblazing at the core of entertainment fandom.

Cover image for Games-video crossovers are coming of age

Xbox’s Games Showcase points to a reckoning for game subscriptions

Rhys Elliott

13 Jun 2024

Xbox Game Pass Xbox Games

“Play it day one with Game Pass.” These words flashed on the screen 15 times during the Xbox Games Showcase 2024, which wowed critics and fans alike with a lineup of 30 Xbox games. Most of the titles are coming in 2024 or 2025, which is a huge turning point for Xbox.

Cover image for Xbox’s Games Showcase points to a reckoning for game subscriptions

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

Rhys Elliott

3 Apr 2025

Business Strategy Games Fandom

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.

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

Video streamers batten down the hatches, the social subscription revolution is coming

Ben Woods

25 Oct 2022

Social video Subscriptions Twitter

Social media companies have been happy to ride the tumultuous waves of digital advertising regardless of the market dominance of Google and Facebook. Arguments for tweaking the business model have always struggled to win-out against the benefits of scale, even during the economic turmoil caused by t...

Cover image for Video streamers batten down the hatches, the social subscription revolution is coming

Gamers aren’t finishing games, and that’s a problem

Rhys Elliott

24 Jul 2024

RPGs Assassin's Creed PlayStation

Every segment in the games market is facing challenges. While some experts remain optimistic about gaming’s growth pace returning in the near future, the truth is that many arguments for this never-ending growth are shaky.

Cover image for Gamers aren’t finishing games, and that’s a problem

Cover image for State of the music video economy

State of the music video economy
Balancing act

Tatiana Cirisano and Fernanda Balzaretti

30 Apr 2024

Consumer behaviour music industry Music publishing

The rise of short-form video, and the resulting shift in value from music videos to music in videos, have upended the music video space. This report unpacks the growth of short-form, the resulting decline in YouTube weekly active user penetration, and the impact on both artist marketing and advertising revenue.

Gamers spend more time on social video than games

Rhys Elliott

5 Dec 2024

Twitch YouTube Xbox

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).

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

Xbox Cloud Gaming expansion heralds a cross-platform future

Perry Gresham

13 May 2022

Xbox cloud gaming Fortnite

MIDiA has been writing about Xbox’s cross-platform future for years, and Microsoft is bringing this closer to reality with each step they take. Ultimately, Xbox gamers may soon not need to own consoles at all.

Cover image for Xbox Cloud Gaming expansion heralds a cross-platform future

Social is the medium, but its messages are more than just content

Hanna Kahlert

17 Sep 2025

Cultural trends Social media Content

All things, it seems, must now revert to “social”. Netflix has announced a new “Clips” feature, where segments of episodes can be selected and shared on social media (per Engadget ). Spotify has added a social feature allowing users to directly message songs to each other.

Cover image for Social is the medium, but its messages are more than just content

Gamescom 2025: The top three trends from the games industry’s biggest event

Brandon Sutton

28 Aug 2025

Games gamescom Business Strategy

The gaming industry’s largest showcase, Gamescom, wrapped up on Sunday 24 August, and with over 350,000 attendees, it broke records to become the most attended event in its history. Serving as an annual barometer for the industry, Gamescom helps set expectations for the upcoming holiday season, wh...

Cover image for Gamescom 2025: The top three trends from the games industry’s biggest event

© 2025 MIDiA Research Ltd. All Rights Reserved.