SMART THINKING THE GREAT GAMING RESET
Adam Smart, Director of Product at AppsFlyer, on why 2026 will redefine how games are made, monetised, and measured
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025 has been the year gaming finally outgrew its comfort zone. The predictable rhythms of launches, sequels, and live-ops stability have given way to something messier and more interesting. Indies are stealing the spotlight. Platforms are losing their grip. The rules that defined gaming no longer apply. What comes next will reshape not just the games we play, but the business systems behind them.
FROM BLOCKBUSTERS TO BUILDERS The most celebrated games of 2025 weren’t billion-dollar franchises – they were crafted by small teams with sharp creative identities. Titles that would once have been niche, now dominate conversation. They prove that players care less about who makes a game than how it makes them feel. This creative shift mirrors a financial one.
Where once U.S. and European studios relied on stock-market funding, new capital is flowing from the Middle East and Asia. These investors are long-term thinkers. They’re backing ecosystems, not one-off hits. The result is more experimentation, more regional diversity, and a global power map that looks very different.
THE PLATFORM UNRAVELING Big-platform strategies are showing strain. Microsoft’s Game Pass, once the industry’s great hope for recurring revenue, has revealed the limits of the subscription model. Rising costs, shrinking margins, and frustrated players have forced even Microsoft to open its once-exclusive titles to rival consoles. Sony’s response has been cautious, doubling down on single-platform identity while quietly exploring cross-platform releases of its own. The irony is clear: the future everyone’s chasing already
exists on PC, where openness drives both creativity and profit.
2026: THE YEAR THE WALLS COME DOWN
If 2025 was about disruption, 2026 will be about decentralisation. Epic Games’ legal battles have cracked open the app-store duopoly. Already, between 10% and 35% of mobile gaming revenue bypasses the 30% platform fee and that number will climb as Android and iOS open further. The change will be messy. New payment rails, carrier-owned stores, and regional marketplaces will fragment distribution. Discovery, measurement, and monetisation will all get harder before they get smarter. But for developers, it means control and a fairer share of the value they create.
FROM HYPERCASUAL TO WHAT’S NEXT The hypercasual wave has crashed. Hybrid casual, its successor, is reaching saturation. Players are demanding depth and differentiation; investors are rewarding originality over replication. In the coming year, expect to see new genres built around progression, narrative, and community. The line between mobile and console design will blur further as developers seek sustainable engagement.
REGULATION AND REALITY Legislation is also reshaping what’s possible. The EU’s proposed consent requirements for in-app payments could make traditional monetisation models unworkable for many studios. If developers must interrupt gameplay to collect permissions, friction rises and retention falls. It’s a reminder that innovation now depends as much on compliance and infrastructure
as on creativity. The smartest studios are designing around privacy from day one.
BEYOND GAMING: A MIRROR OF MARKETING’S CHALLENGE In many ways, gaming’s growing pains mirror those of modern marketing. Fragmented tools, siloed data, and rising privacy expectations. Customer journeys – or that of players – span multiple platforms, but the systems built to understand them rarely connect. To thrive in 2026, both marketers and developers will need infrastructures that respect privacy by design while still enabling insight, collaboration, and creative experimentation. The next generation of gaming success won’t come from who spends the most, but from who understands their audience best and can act on that knowledge responsibly.
CREATIVITY MEETS COHESION The story of 2026 won’t be about decline. It will be about redistribution of creativity, power, and value. Indie studios will lead with innovation. Platforms will loosen control. Alternative app economies will emerge. And in the process, gaming will rediscover its ability to surprise.
But as the walls come down, one principle will separate those who last from those who fade: cohesion. The future belongs to those who can connect great ideas with great infrastructure, who can build, measure, and grow without losing trust.
Because the next big leap in gaming won’t
come from another console generation or a billion-pound budget. It will come from a new generation of builders who see the whole picture and design for it.
December/January 2026 MCV/DEVELOP | 19
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