One expert claims that video games are losing the “attention war” to TikTok videos, porn and online betting.
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In the 164-page report The State Of Video Gaming In 2026 (Or Growth And Where To Find It) created by gaming industry advisory company Epyllion, it’s claimed “prior to the pandemic, eight countries (USA, Japan, UK, Germany, South Korea, France, Italy and Canada) constituted over 60 per cent of consumer spending on PC, console and mobile content spending and in the years since, [those countries] have encountered a severe, persistent and surprising reality: they are losing in the war for attention.”
A trio of surveys report that the percentage of gamers has fallen to pre-pandemic levels in recent years. “If a player stopped playing altogether, then they probably weren’t big gamers and so… how much revenue is really lost,” asked the Epyllion report. “But in practice, all player loss is a compounding problem [because] growth can only come from greater monetisation, individual games can only grow by stealing other games’ players, it’s even harder for new games to break through and if some players have stopped playing altogether, many are likely playing less too.”
My State of Video Games in 2026 is now out (Early Access)
1⃣ Why revenue growth is more elusive than headlines suggest
2⃣Why video gaming has been losing the attention war for a half decade (and to what)
3⃣ Where there’s indisputable growth
+ Lots morehttps://t.co/cqNMmJL8ni
— Matthew Ball (@ballmatthew) February 17, 2026
The report says that in the USA, PC and console content spend is down 8 per cent since 2020 while mobile spending has increased 12 per cent since 2020 but flattened last year. “Mobile game installs are at a 12-year low, hours played have tumbled and even time spent watching video game streams has flatlined.” Instead, TikTok consumption is up to 39million hours a day in North America and last year, America spent almost $5billion on OnlyFans. There’s also been renewed interest in crypto, AI tools and online better.
“Video Gaming’s post-pandemic problem isn’t that players choose to watch TikTok instead of buying a AAA game, or subscribe to Onlyfans instead of buying a PlayStation; it’s that on a Friday evening, players are placing a growing share of their time and spend elsewhere,” wrote Epyllion.
In recent months, blockbuster games such as Call Of Duty: Black Ops 7 have struggled to match the success of previous entries while interest in new games such as Highguard has quickly dropped off. Major studios such as Ubisoft have also cancelled a number of games and the last standalone GAME stores are set to shut in the UK this year.
In other news, the cast for Resident Evil Requiem has been revealed, with newcomer Grace Ashcroft played by Industry’s Angela Sant’Albano
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