Rhys Elliott | MIDiA Research

What gamers really think about gen AI in games
Apathy, not outrage

Cover image for What gamers really think about gen AI in games

Rhys Elliott

December 2024

Game development budgets have spiralled out of control, leading game executives to cut costs and streamline their game development processes. It is no secret that generative AI (gen AI) is the tech industry’s...

MIDiA’s five games trends to watch in 2025

Rhys Elliott

19 Dec 2024

Switch

20 second song

xbox game pass

The year 2024 has been eventful for the games market to say the least. Call of Duty came to Game Pass , Sony released its PS5 Pro console , live-service games faced a reckoning, and gaming has solidified...

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MIDiA's 2025 predictions webinar slides
It's social's stage now

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Mark Mulligan, Karol Severin, Hanna Kahlert, Tatiana Cirisano, Ben Woods, Rutger Rosenborg, Rhys Elliott and Olivia Jones

December 2024

Free Report

Spotify

YouTube

Twitch

MIDiA's expert analysts dive into our 2025 predictions for the music, social, video, audio, and games industries – and explain why we believe "it's social's stage now".

Gamers spend more time on social video than games

Rhys Elliott

5 Dec 2024

Twitch

YouTube

xbox

Our new report zooms in on the opportunity for game publishers to capture video-related consumer attention, generate new engagement, and unlock new revenue streams. Ready to dive deeper? Download these...

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MIDiA’s 2025 predictions
It’s social’s stage now

Cover image for MIDiA’s 2025 predictions

Mark Mulligan, Karol Severin, Hanna Kahlert, Tatiana Cirisano, Ben Woods, Rutger Rosenborg, Rhys Elliott and Olivia Jones

December 2024

Apple

Spotify

YouTube

The creator economy reshaped entertainment in the first half of the 2020s and social wasthe big winner, now positioned at the centre of the entertainment economy. In 2025 wewill see the second-order effects...

The case for in-game video platforms
Closing the direct-to-consumer gap

Cover image for The case for in-game video platforms

Rhys Elliott

November 2024

Product Strategy

Game publishers have long used third-party video platforms like Twitch and YouTube as a springboard to promote their games. Meanwhile, Twitch and YouTube get advertising and creator-driven revenues in...

Move over, console wars – the battle for AAA portable gaming is coming

Rhys Elliott

25 Nov 2024

Sony

xbox

playstation 5

Seemingly every manufacturer in the games space is working on a portable machine. Now, Bloomberg sources claim that Sony has started early work on a portable that plays PS5 games. Microsoft’s head of...

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What would happen if Sony bought Kadokawa?

Rhys Elliott

22 Nov 2024

Sony

Playstation

kadokawa

Japanese media conglomerate Kadokawa recently confirmed that Sony sent it a letter of intent to acquire Kadokawa (increasing its current 2% stake). Kadokawa owns FromSoftware, the developer of Elden Ring...

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A fifth of gamers love couch co-op, so where are all the games?

Rhys Elliott

15 Nov 2024

console gaming

PC

EA

Couch co-op gaming, when two or more players in the same room play together co-operatively, already has some proven success stories: It Takes Two , a co-op-only platformer from EA studio Hazelight, has...

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Nintendo’s music app underlines its cross-entertainment future

Rhys Elliott

8 Nov 2024

Games

Music

Business Strategy

Nintendo is at the forefront of the cross-entertainment trend. Alongside console games and hardware, Nintendo’s strategy spans theme parks, Hollywood (including the billion-dollar-grossing Super Mario...

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Activision pushed Xbox to growth in an otherwise flat Q3

Rhys Elliott

1 Nov 2024

xbox

Games

Product Strategy

Microsoft’s Q3 2024 results (fiscal Q1 2025) continue to reflect Xbox’s shifting strategy: Xbox’s gaming revenue grew 43% year-on-year , but essentially all of this growth came from the Activision...

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Horizon's price changes show why consoles are pushing for no discs

Rhys Elliott

10 Oct 2024

Playstation

playstation 5

PC

PlayStation recently launched a remaster of 2017’s Horizon Zero Dawn forPS5 and PC. As part of a specialpromotion from Sony, anyone who already owns the original Horizon Zero Dawn can paya $10 upgrade...

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Most gamers prefer single-player games

Rhys Elliott

3 Oct 2024

Playstation

console gaming

PC

It’s no secret that the bulk of AAA games market revenues come from in-game purchases , mostlyfrom live-service games. It’s also impossible to ignore that the live-service market is fiercely competitive....

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The single-player opportunity
Course correcting from a red to blue ocean

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Rhys Elliott

September 2024

YouTube

Netflix

xbox

The AAA PC and console games market is facing growth issues, money is more expensive, and developers are facing pressure to become leaner, more profitable, and take fewer risks. Many game makers, including...

In-game cosmetics remain a huge opportunity for brands

Rhys Elliott

19 Sep 2024

Fortnite

brands

in-game monetisation

While the games market is facing growth challenges, in-game spending will remain a key pillar for revenue growth. In-game spending generated revenues of $125.7 billion in 2023. In the coming years, that...

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Sony's $700 PS5 Pro is for superfans – it won’t really grow PlayStation’s playerbase

Rhys Elliott

10 Sep 2024

playstation 5

xbox

console gaming

Sony just announced its worst-kept secret, the PS5 Pro. It's launching for $700 in November 2024, four years after the debut of the original PS5. Compared to the original, PS5 Pro will offer better visuals...

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Concord has been taken offline: What went wrong?

Rhys Elliott

5 Sep 2024

PlayStation Studios

Concord

Playstation

PlayStation is taking its PVP hero shooter Concord off the market after just two weeks. The game’s Steam numbers point to incredibly low sales. ‘’At this time, we have decided to take the game offline...

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Marketers, don't miss out on GTA 6

Rhys Elliott

31 Jul 2024

gta

grand theft auto

brands

Grand Theft Auto VI ( GTA 6 ) is due to launch in autumn 2026. It will be one of the century's biggest entertainment launches, and its impact will ripple through culture for years to come. Remember how...

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High tide raises all ships
Leveraging the cultural tidal wave of Grand Theft Auto VI

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Rhys Elliott

July 2024

Audience Insight

Grand Theft Auto VI ( GTA 6 ), due to be released in autumn 2025, is on track to be one of the biggest entertainment launches of all time. It will capture a significant amount of consumer attention. Marketers...

Gamers aren’t finishing games, and that’s a problem

Rhys Elliott

24 Jul 2024

RPGs

Assassin's Creed

Playstation

Every segment in the games market is facing challenges. While some experts remain optimistic about gaming’s growth pace returning in the near future, the truth is that many arguments for this never-ending...

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