The 2025 Game User Status Survey, published by the Korea Creative Content Agency last December, reports that domestic gaming participation has declined for three consecutive years from 2022 to 2025. Based on the participation rate, it has dropped from 74.4% in 2022 to 50.2%. The decline in usage following the COVID-19 pandemic has been significant. Notably, a report has been released suggesting that this trend is not limited to Korea.

Media analyst and Epyllion CEO Matthew Ball released the 'The State of Video Gaming in 2026' report on the 16th. It summarizes the key status of the gaming industry last year, providing insights into major data such as global revenue, investment, and layoffs.

A notable point is the gaming participation rate in major global markets. In the US, citing statistics from local market research firm Circana and the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), the participation rate has fallen by 2.5 to 4 percentage points compared to pre-pandemic levels, with Canada and the UK also seeing declines. While France, Germany, and Japan have maintained or shown growth in participation, these countries are also experiencing stagnant or declining consumer spending. Regarding Japan, the report mentions that due to the country's low birth rate and aging population, the number of new users added was only 6 million, despite an increase in the overall participation rate.

CEO Matthew Ball analyzed that the decline in gaming participation could lead to complex problems. The outlook suggests that the market environment will deteriorate as companies intensify efforts to induce more spending from a limited user base or engage in fierce competition to poach players from rivals, making it harder for new titles to succeed.

Other forms of entertainment are also emerging. One mentioned in the report is 'TikTok', where US users spent 50 million more hours in 2020 compared to previous periods. Spending on the adult social media platform OnlyFans has more than doubled, and installations of consumer AI apps, sports betting, and cryptocurrency investments have also shown an upward trend.

CEO Ball noted that services outside of gaming are continuing to make massive investments to capture user attention. In the 'Attention Economy', where capturing user interest translates directly into revenue, the gaming industry is effectively under attack from all sides.

The report contains various other pieces of information. Global gaming industry revenue for 2025 is estimated at $195.6 billion (approximately 283 trillion KRW), a 5.3% increase from the previous year. Meanwhile, private investment in gaming decreased by 55% year-on-year, with only 40 investment deals recorded in the fourth quarter of last year. The number of employees laid off in the industry last year was 9,200, bringing the cumulative total over the past four years to 44,000. Additionally, outsourced production accounted for 35.5% of content development spending in the gaming industry in 2025.

Finally, CEO Matthew Ball proposed five areas to drive revenue growth in the gaming industry in 2026: exploring emerging markets, creating new advertising revenue such as in-game ads, establishing direct-to-consumer sales and alternative payment channels, outsourced development, and Roblox. He specifically highlighted Roblox as a key platform driving growth across the entire gaming market.