As Dentsu recently put it; ‘gaming is the new social’. Big statement to make, but the line between video games and social media is becoming increasingly hard to distinguish. Multiplayer games now offer social experiences, with real-time chat, collaboration, and communities that rival traditional social platforms. So, with that in mind, we’ve taken a closer look at the numbers behind the hype, and why gaming might be the next opportunity for brand engagement.
From Statista’s latest report, the global gaming market is expected to generate over $250b in revenue this year, with that figure projected to grow to $363b by 2029. Mobile continues to dominate, making up nearly half of total revenue, followed by console and PC gaming. What’s particularly striking is the scale of the audience, with 3.3b users worldwide in 2024, an increase of 3.11%YOY, forecast to grow to 3.6b by 2029. The demographic spread is a pretty even split between men (52%) and women (48%), the largest age bracket being 18–34’s. Still, the 45+ audience is growing fast, thanks to the rise of mobile and casual gaming. Regionally, Asia-Pacific dominates the space, contributing up to 55% of global gaming revenues, followed by North America at around 25% and Europe at 13%. That’s a massive audience, already larger than most social platforms.
Yet despite this scale and engagement, the advertising industry has yet to catch up. Less than 5% of worldwide digital media investment is within the gaming sector. In-game advertising revenue is projected to reach approximately $124.4b globally in 2025, but this still only represents a small fraction of total digital ad spend. While the number of gamers and engagement levels have risen, advertising budgets have not, highlighting a clear disconnect between the scale of the opportunity and the investments being made by brands and agencies.
This mismatch has not gone unnoticed by investors and strategists however, and the gaming market is becoming hard to ignore. In 2024, the gaming industry saw 198 M&A deals, a 21% increase compared to the previous year. The biggest announced deal was EQT’s acquisition of Keywords Studios for $2.8b. Meanwhile, in 2023, Savvy Games Group, a Saudi company backed by the Public Investment Fund, made significant acquisitions, including the $4.9b purchase of Scopely, a US-based mobile games publisher. Savvy is also reportedly in talks to acquire Niantic’s gaming division in a deal valued at around $3.5b.
Fundamentally, gaming presents both a challenge and a huge opportunity. The tools used for TV and social media ads don’t always work well in games, and it takes time to learn how to create good campaigns in those spaces. But with better tech and tools now being built, like automated ads, live data, and virtual brand events, agencies have a chance to get ahead if they act early. As gaming continues to blend entertainment, social interaction, and commerce, brands that understand the space will be well positioned to build new kinds of consumer relationships.
