US Advertising in Gaming Market Report 2025
"Tough times and ever rising development costs are push more younger players, and even some big developers, towards free-to-play and advertising."
Brian Benway, Senior Tech and Gaming Analyst
Advertising in Gaming – US Trends and Insights
- 74% of adults who play games report they are spending more time playing free-to-play games lately, increasing the number of ads they are likely to encounter while playing games.
- It’s been true for a long time that video games are the largest entertainment sector, surpassing combined consumer spending on movies, television and music, making gaming a magnet for advertising dollars seeking broad, highly engaged audiences.
- There are still untapped opportunities for advertisers to have influence. Women, especially moms, are more likely to engage with and buy from in-game ads, yet they appear underserved by campaigns that meet their needs.
- With inflation affecting household budgets, premium title sales have softened as more players flock to ad-supported, free-to-play, or subscription titles. Ad revenue is becoming a crucial cushion for publishers facing softer content sales.
This Report Looks at the Following Areas:
- Video game industry revenue growth and projections
- Impact of economic factors on gaming spending
- Consumer attitudes towards in-game advertising
- Gender and age differences in ad recognition and exposure
- Impact of the attention economy and advertising avoidance behaviors
- Opportunities for brand partnerships and collaborations
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- What you need to know
- Global video game market size
- Market predictions
- Most ads are equal for player recognition, but a few struggle
- Opportunities for some industries are greater in meeting players interest in ads
- No ad solution will appeal to everyone, but clearly they should not interrupt
- Advertising in-games could be an effective measure against rising costs
- Opportunities
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MARKET DYNAMICS
- Market context
- Global gaming market
- Entertainment Software Association essential facts
- Global video gaming revenue is forecasted for slow and steady growth of 3.4%
- Graph 1: global video game industry revenue, 2022-28
- 5.5% year-on-year growth for consoles on Switch 2 success
- Graph 2: global video game industry revenue share (billions), by device, 2025
- The post-COVID-19 paradigm shift in the gaming industry
- Graph 3: attention economy and gaming (% agree), 2025
- Market drivers
- Game pass could adopt a Twitch style ad model soon
- First esports now EA, Saudi Arabia is buying gaming
- Roblox launched a licensing platform to streamline IPs usage for user content
- It’s 10pm, do you know where your kids are in Roblox?
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CONSUMER INSIGHTS
- Consumer fast facts
- Gaming ad reaction
- Go there and figure it out because that’s where the audience is
- Graph 4: motivation to play video games (% agree), by age, 2025
- Stopping gameplay for conversions is tricky, but awareness is within reach
- Graph 5: video gaming ad reaction, 2025
- Capture indifferent players by targeting discovery and curiosity
- Graph 6: video gaming ad reaction, by age, 2025
- Absent of larger gender demographic difference, moms still stand out
- Graph 7: video gaming ad reaction (select), moms vs dads, 2025
- Gaming ad exposure
- Most ads perform equally for recognition but a few struggle with broad audiences
- Graph 8: types of advertising seen in the past three months, 2025
- Ad recognition in esports skews towards men today, but that may be changing
- Graph 9: types of advertising seen in the past three months, by gender, 2025
- Cross promotional ads could help expand the gaming audience
- Graph 10: types of advertising seen in the past three months, by age, 2025
- Hispanic players are more aware of ads around them in their gaming lives
- Graph 11: types of advertising seen in the past three months, Hispanic gamers vs overall, 2025
- Industry recall
- Ads aren’t always an immediate turn-off for younger gamers
- Graph 12: attitudes towards video game advertising (% agree), by age, 2025
- Some players have seen more than they want, but there are opportunities
- Graph 13: recall seeing/interest in industry products/services advertised or sponsorships in games played, 2025
- Women who play video games are saying “please advertise to me”
- Graph 14: interest in seeing product/service advertisements or sponsored content from this industry in games played (select), by gender, 2025
- Black and Hispanic gamers also offer more ad opportunities than average
- Graph 15: interest in seeing product/service advertisements or sponsored content from this industry in games played, by race or ethnicity, 2025
- Types of ads seen
- Video ads and ads for other games stand out while audio ads languish
- Graph 16: types of in-game advertising seen most often (any rank), 2025
- Older gamers play more ad heavy games and offer more insights instead of being overshadowed by younger players
- Graph 17: types of in-game advertising seen most often (any rank), by age, 2025
- Advertising avoidance
- Advertising in-games could be an effective measure against rising costs
- Graph 18: cost of living increases and video game spending (% agree), by age, 2025
- No ad solution will appeal to everyone, but clearly they should not interrupt
- Graph 19: advertising avoidance tactics, 2025
- There are greater challenges than brand reputation in overcoming ad aversion
- Graph 20: advertising avoidance tactics, by age, 2025
- For some ads are an immediate turn off, even if the game comes recommended
- Graph 21: “I have avoided games with ads regardless if other people I know recommend them”, by age and gender, 2025
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Innovation and Marketing strategies
- Launch activity and innovation
- YouTuber and Twitch streamer MoistCr1tiKal opens up about ads
- What do GTA, Spider-Man and Like a Dragon have in common?
- Epic Game’s Fortnitemares goes all out with collabs for Halloween
- Marketing and advertising
- AI was easy to spot when it added extra fingers, now anything low quality is AI
- Graph 22: AI in advertising (% agree), by age, 2025
- Sonic collab for Timberlands new Shibuya store
- Pokémon & Le Creuset target ultra-premium with limited-edition merch deal
- MANSCAPED and Fortnite introduce Razor Island
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Appendix
- Market definition
- Consumer research questions
- Consumer research methodology
- Generations
- Abbreviations and terms
- US video game consumers
- Gaming device usage and frequency
- Graph 23: gaming device usage and frequency, 2025
- Mintel gamer segments – device and frequency
- Graph 24: Mintel gamer segments – device and frequency, 2025
- Console brand usage
- Graph 25: console brand usage, 2025
- Mintel gamer segments – motivations
- Top reason for playing video games, aside from the entertainment value
- Graph 26: top reason for playing video games, aside from the entertainment value (any rank), 2025
- Gamer segments – Achievers and Explorers
- Gamer segments – Socializers and Competitors
- Mintel gamer segments – motivations
- Graph 27: Mintel gamer segments – motivations, 2025
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