Gaming is more than entertainment; it is a community hub shifting attention away from other channels, according to dentsu’s Ready Player Brand report. It finds that 70% of UK adults engage in some form of gaming, over half daily, and one in four of them say they expect to spend less time on social media over the next five years to make more time for gaming. One in five say they will prioritise gaming over streaming TV and movies. 

This marks a clear attention shift. Projected to hit 350 billion dollars by 2030*, gaming is now an unmissable opportunity for brands and needs to be a central part of the marketing mix.  

Understanding gaming as the new social channel 

Gaming has surpassed the status of a hobby. In the UK, 52% of players say gaming forms a meaningful part of their identity, rising to 60% and 70% of Gen Z and Millennials. Younger generations also feel like they can express themselves more easily in gaming spaces than in real life and over half of Gen Z players say they have made friends through gaming. 

In addition, half of UK players, and nearly three-quarters of Gen Z, feel strongly that they are part of a community around their favourite game or franchise. And the majority of UK players say their main reason for playing is to relax (42%) or to escape (21%), while only 8% cite competition as their primary motivation.   

How brands can leverage the attention shift 

Gaming is quietly rising as the winner for attention. Just a few weeks ago, Roblox overtook TikTok as the fastest-growing commerce channel for Gen Z audiences*. 

Brands entering the gaming space need to understand that they are not just entering someone’s feed; they are entering their consumer’s social circle and emotional territory. The research found that most players are welcoming brand presences, as long as it’s meaningful, and two-thirds of UK players say brand presence in games either does not bother them or feels natural when it fits.  

Entering the gaming space as a brand requires a deep understanding of its audience. For example, Mitchum’s gaming-creator-led “Skip the Shower” campaign in collaboration with dentsu, centred around the idea of players skipping the shower to stay in the game. This taps into experiences the players already value, like a community joke, adding value, rather than feeling interruptive. 

Shahar Sorek, CMO of Overwolf, said:  

“Not all screens and experiences are the same: context and placement are everything. If you get it wrong, you get backlash. If you get it right, everybody wins: the player, the creator, the studio and the advertiser.” 

Gaming as a new marketing-mix essential 

As gaming is becoming more embedded into our lives, 42% of CMOs plan to increase their investment into gaming media integration (dentsu, Global Ad Spend Report 2025). But it shouldn’t be treated as an innovation spend, which often gets cut in times of pressure – it should be part of the core marketing activity. 

For marketers to unlock growth through gaming, five rules apply: 

1. Start with emotion, not inventory – relaxation and community are key reasons why people game. Understanding the emotional context is vital to plan and execute the right brand placement. 
2. Build through creators, not just channels – in gaming, creators aren’t just amplifiers. They are culture and community-builders, and relationships need to be authentic. 
3. Design for participation, not exposure – gaming is active, and people want to engage, not just witness. Interactive rewards and value exchange create brand loyalty. 
4. Use AI to increase relevance, not surveillance – players are curious about AI, but within limits. Use of AI needs to be helpful, timely and context-aware to not feel intrusive. 
5. Organise for gaming as a core attention environment – as people shift their attention away from social, deep integration should become a core marketing priority, not a nice-to-have. 

 

Flora Kong, Managing Director, dentsu X, said:  

“Gaming has moved beyond entertainment and into culture. People are actively prioritising time spent in gaming worlds over traditional social platforms, forcing brands to rethink their marketing mix. This is not an environment to buy into casually. It is driven by emotion, community and creator influence, demanding culturally informed experiences rather than short-term, transactional advertising.”