Overview
- An early‑access 2025 trends report from Matthew Ball’s Epyllion finds sustained post‑pandemic declines in player participation across the “Major Market 8.”
- In the US, the share of people who play fell by 2.5–4 percentage points, with similar drops cited in Canada, South Korea, and Italy, while France and Germany held steady or grew and Japan posted gains since 2019.
- PC and console spending is down about 8% in the US (roughly $2.3bn) and $4.8bn across those markets, with mobile also lower by $2.3bn even as five countries hit overall spending highs; Roblox captured 67% of net growth.
- Alternatives expanded quickly: US TikTok viewing rose by about 39 million hours per day versus pre‑COVID, OnlyFans spending reached roughly $5bn in 2025, and quarterly consumer AI‑app installs neared 1 billion.
- Gambling and crypto drew more engagement as prediction markets averaged 1.5 million daily bets in Q4 2025, US sports‑betting net losses topped $17bn last year, and legal iGaming accounted for 21% of US video‑game spend, with Ball warning that growth now depends on monetizing fewer players more heavily.