Gaming Trends for Good: Why the World Needs Play
The gaming industry, valued at around $257 billion in 2024 with approximately 3.26 billion gamers across the world, growth is expected to continue. Moving beyond solely entertainment, gaming is now also recognised as a powerful tool for social connection, wellness and driving real-world change.
Here we share a preview of some of the most influential gaming trends influencing consumer behaviours for 2025.
The Rise of Kidulthood
As first highlighted in our Modern Caregivers series, despite ageist stereotypes, Boomers show many common values and priorities with the younger generation. Harnessing technology is one of the biggest commonalities, with the pandemic skyrocketing the rise of TikTok ‘boomfluencers’ and senior Twitch streaming gamers.
Once solo pastimes, play and gaming have now become powerful tools for social connection and with a loneliness epidemic widespread amongst both the younger and older generations, utilising this to strengthen and build bonds is a key opportunity. As highlighted in our 2025 Macro Report, it’s important that brands and businesses look beyond ageist stereotypes to create age-diverse play experiences.
Gamified Therapeutics
As interest in the digiscape continues to build momentum the popularity of digital therapeutics and mindful gaming trends for children and adults continues to rise. This immersive approach to healthcare and wellbeing sees families turn to multi-sensory, digital experiences to achieve optimal states of holistic wellbeing.
Allclusive Gaming
“With so many kids spending their time in this medium, this is where we need to start if we want to create a more inclusive world.”
Katie Stone Perez, Principal Program Manager on the Gaming For Everyone Team at Microsoft
For Generation Alpha, a tech-driven future will unlock new and exciting phygital realms, ones that are set to overhaul a number of industries, broaden self-expression like never before and transform elitist experiences for the masses. Undeterred and unafraid to disrupt the status quo, these non-conformists are sidelining archaic gender stereotypes to showcase a more expansive expression of identity online. There will be a greater expectation for brands to truly champion and advance allclusivity in gaming.
Find out more about the emerging gaming trends and the need-to-know future gamer personas.
Access our summary of some of the key discussion points from our Future Gamer event with Technext highlights from our panel which included guest speakers Professor Graham Morgan Head of Newcastle’s School of Computing and Game Technology Lab and Kerri West, Head of Audience Insights at Creative Assembly.
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