Game on: what 2025’s gamers are playing, paying and prioritising

For insights teams at gaming brands, that complexity is the challenge – and the opportunity. To grow in 2025, studios, publishers and platforms need to understand the nuances of their audiences, not just the headlines. 

Our new gaming research lifts the lid on how gamers in the US and UK really play, pay, and perceive what’s happening in the industry.

From device usage and genre preferences to attitudes around monetisation and AI, this is a data-backed snapshot of where player sentiment stands — and where it’s going next.

Quick summary

Here’s a quick rundown of the key insights from our research:

• Mobile dominates in both the US and UK: 75% of Americans and 70% of Brits who game do so on mobile devices. 
• Puzzle and strategy games are the top genre overall in both countries, but younger gamers prefer action/adventure and FPS titles.
• One-third of US and UK gamers find in-game ads intrusive, and around the same number actively ignore them.
• Cross-platform play is especially important to young men: 69% of US 18–24s and 62% of UK 18–24s say it matters.
• AI in gaming is broadly welcomed: 46% of Americans say they feel positive about its use.
• Game purchasing preferences differ by gender and age: US and UK men favour one-time purchases, while women often opt for free-to-play titles.
• Friends and family recommendations are the top source of inspiration for trying new games in the UK (43%).

US gaming insights

Mobile gaming comes out top

Three quarters of Americans (75%) game on their mobile or tablet, according to our new research. 

This percentage jumps to 83.5% for females, while males are more likely than females to play on a console or PC – 59% play on a console compared to 45% of females, and 44% of males use a PC compared to 24% of females.

We also see that older age groups are generally more likely to play on a mobile device than younger people – 77% of 45–54s and 79% of 55–64s play this way.

One age group – those between 25 and 34 – showed significantly higher likelihood of using a greater range of devices. For console, PC, VR headsets and cloud gaming services, this age group over-indexed when compared to other groups. 

Puzzle and strategy games the overall top genre

Our research shows that nearly half (48%) of Americans plump for puzzle or strategy games – this came top out of all genres:

1. Puzzle/strategy – 48%
2. Action/adventure – 41%
3. First-person shooters – 30%
4. Simulation – 27%
5. Role-playing games – 25%
6. Sports – 25%
7. Casual/hyper casual – 19%
8. Horror – 13%

However puzzle games are not top among people under 45. Action/adventure games beat puzzle games for all groups under 45. And for people under 35, first-person shooters and simulation games are more popular than puzzles. 

Muted reaction to in-game ads

Overall 33% of Americans say they find in-game ads helpful, while 30.5% find them intrusive and 31% actively ignore them.

We found older groups were slightly less frosty towards ads, but these results show that game brands should exercise caution around in-game ads.

Generational differences in game purchasing preferences

Although one-time purchases came top overall for how US shoppers like to buy games, there’s a lot more to this when we split the data. 

One-time purchases remain popular across most age groups, but the trend goes downward as you work up the ages. For example, 41% of people aged 18–24 buy this way, while just 22% of people aged 55–64 prefer this. That oldest age group told us they don’t purchase games (42% said this, compared to just 6% of 18–24s), indicating that they go for free games whenever they can.

Males are also more likely to go for one-time purchase games – 40% chose this, compared to just 28% of females.

Men and young people want cross-platform play

We asked our US respondents how important cross-platform play is to them. Overall 51.5% said it’s important, with 22.5% saying it’s unimportant. 

It seems young people are more interested in playing with friends. More than two thirds (69%) of people aged 18–24 said this is important, with 63% of 25–34s and 63.5% of 35–44s saying the same. 

And nearly three fifths (59%) of men say this type of gaming is what they want, compared to 44% of women.

Americans are generally positive about AI in gaming 

Overall 46% of Americans are positive about the use of AI in games. And a still significant 40% are neutral about it, with just 14% saying they’re negative about it. 

Looking at the age breakdown, we see a spike in the middle. This is the percentage of each age group that says they’re positive about AI in gaming:

• 18–24: 41%
• 25–34: 45%
• 35–44: 59%
• 45–54: 50.5%
• 55–64: 35%

UK gaming insights

Mobile gaming is Britain’s favorite

Just over 70% of Brits who game do so on a mobile device, according to our new research. This is followed by 60% who play on a console, and 33% who play on a PC. 

We also found that older Gen Zers (people aged 25–34) are more likely to play on a console (74%) than on a mobile device (72%). 

There’s also a sweet spot of Brits who game with a VR headset – 19% of our respondents aged 35–44 said this, compared to the UK average of 11%. 

When we look at the gender split, females are significantly more likely to play using a mobile device (77%) than males (64%). Meanwhile males are more likely to play on a console (68% of males versus 53% of females) or a PC (39% of males versus 27% of females). 

Generational differences in game genre preferences

Puzzle/strategy games came top of our list of genres among Brits – 46% said this is what they play. However there’s a clear generational scale for puzzle games – a sizable 64% of people aged 55–64 play these, compared to just 32% of people aged 18–24. 

It’s action/adventure games that the youngest group favors – 42% of people aged 18–24, and 56% of those aged 25–34 chose this as their top genre. 

Notably, those aged 25–34 also over-indexed as sports games fans. More than 50% of this age group plays sports games, compared to the UK average of 38%. 

People under 24 are also outliers when we look at people who play horror games – 22% play these regularly, compared to just 12% of the overall population.

Brits don’t love in-game ads

Our results show that 31% of Brits find in-game ads intrusive, with a further 32% actively ignoring them. Three in 10 (30%) said they find them helpful, so it’s not all bad news for advertisers, but it’s worth bearing consumers’ sentiment towards ads before committing to that ad spend.

Females prefer free games; males go for one-time purchases

One-time purchases came out of our research as the top method – 37% of gaming Brits pay this way. Meanwhile 26% go for free games with in-game purchases, and a further quarter (24.5%) prefer subscriptions to services like Xbox Game Pass or PlayStation Plus. 

When we look at the gender split, males are considerably more likely than females to buy one-time purchase games (44% of males versus 30% of females). And females are more likely than males to go for free games (31% of females versus 20% of males), or to not purchase games at all (18% of females versus 8% of males). 

Young gamers want cross-platform play

While a sizable 51% of Brits overall say cross-platform play is important to them, we see this percentage rise for people under 35. Among gamers aged 18–24, 62% say social play is important, and for those aged 25–34, a significant 78% said the same.

Unsurprisingly we see older groups say cross-platform play isn’t important to them. Over a third (35%) of people aged 45–54 said this, and well over half (56%) of people aged 55–64 are uninterested. 

Brits rely on recommendations for new game ideas

When we asked what factors most influence people’s decision to try a new game, recommendations from friends and family came top. More than two in five (43%) chose this. Game trailers or demos came second overall, with 35% of gamers choosing this. And online reviews or ratings came a close third, with 33% choosing this. 

Digging into online reviews and ratings, we see a stark difference in quite a narrow age range. Among gamers aged 18–24, just 21% are influenced by online reviews or ratings. But this jumps to 41% for people aged 25–34. 

There is some consistency for these two age groups though. While just 18% of Brits overall take game recs from influencers or streamers, this rises to 31% for gamers aged 18–24 and to 27% for those aged 25–34.

Don’t forget you can dig into the data over on our interactive dashboard.