• Gamers are open to gen AI . Only one-quarter of gamers believe that gen AI shouldn’t be used at all in video game development. Some 30 percent are in favor of gen AI as long as it doesn’t result in job losses, 15 percent are in favor of it being used for development of less- important elements of games, and 15 percent are in favor of using it for all aspects of games as long as it results in better-quality gameplay. • New games aren’t moving the needle . Two-thirds of reported game time is spent on titles that came out over a year ago. More than 50 percent of video game consumers buy three or fewer games each year, electing instead to play games that they already own and to concentrate their spending on in-game purchases. • Family, friends, and social media are driving game discovery . Beyond those primary sources, gaming websites and online and TV advertisements drive discovery for recent console and PC games. Only 3 percent of gamers report typically hearing about a game from influencers. • Globally, console and PC games are among the mediums least correlated with discretionary spending . Whereas many other mediums monetize a roughly consistent share of discretionary spending, video games command a far higher percentage in certain countries. In India, video game monetization per hour as a percentage of discretionary spend is double that seen in the United States. In Brazil, it’s sixfold higher than in the United States. — Social video: • Attention levels are driven by duration, not production quality (though users prefer user- generated content (UGC) to professionally produced content) . Consumers are much more focused while viewing long-form videos on social, and their level of long-form focus is indistinguishable between UGC and professionally produced content. Short-form videos of both types also receive similar (lesser) focus. The story is similar for jobs-to-be-done content, with long-form content generating more love than short-form content does. The long-form genres that drive the greatest love are news stories or commentaries and tutorials. • Consumers would miss long-form social video content more than they would short-form content . When asked which genre of social content consumers would miss most if it were completely removed from their lives, they are far more likely to identify long-form content (first user generated, then professionally made) than short-form content. Users consistently rate long-form UGC as the most important content that they consume on social media. • Social video consumers have a love–hate relationship with advertising . While 15 percent of consumers say they enjoy advertisements on social platforms, around twice as many (31 percent) report tolerating them as a necessary part of the experience or dislike them and find them disruptive (29 percent). Despite this prevailing sentiment, one-quarter of consumers report having clicked on an advertisement and purchased an item, and 30 percent say they do so at least every couple of weeks. Content lovers, interactivity enthusiasts, and community trendsetters overindex on purchasing items via advertisements on social platforms. • Social shopping users may not be buying, but they’re looking . Despite consumers who use social platforms stating that they make purchase there infrequently, about 50 percent of them scroll through the shopping section sometimes or more often. 34 The ‘attention equation’: Winning the right battles for consumer attention