Pay to play: Inside the minds and wallets of global gamers 

The global games market now exceeds $188 billion and reaches 3.6 billion players, but revenue is no longer growing at the same pace as the audience. Player numbers are rising faster than overall spend, which means growth depends less on new users and more on how effectively each existing player converts over time.

Our new report, Pay to Play: Inside the minds and wallets of global gamers, is based on a survey of 6,000 players across eight markets in North America, Europe, and APAC. It examines how they pay for games, subscriptions, and in-game content, where payment performance breaks down, and how that affects spend, loyalty, and channel choice. Over half of gamers have abandoned a purchase because of payment issues, nearly all of them worry about unauthorized charges, and 2 out 3 gamers say their overall payment experience needs improvement. The data points to a shared reality across regions: payment flow now shapes the player experience as much as the content itself.  

Access the full report to learn:

• How players pay today
  Which methods dominate (wallets vs. cards vs. bank rails), how behavior varies by age and region, and how often players use the same saved method across platforms.  ‍
• Where intent turns into drop-off
  What causes abandonment: from missing local methods and slow or complex checkout flows to unexplained declines and unclear pricing. ‍
• How local expectations shape revenue
  Why localized wallets, currencies, and refund norms are treated as baseline in regions like APAC, and how often players walk away when those expectations aren’t met.  ‍
• What builds or erodes trust at payment
  The role of two-factor authentication, wallet protection, brand reputation, and transparent totals in making players comfortable storing details and returning to buy again. ‍
• Which incentives increase spend
  How lower prices, rewards, cross-game balances, and direct-channel offers influence where and how much players spend. ‍
• Where players are open to new approaches
  How they feel about AI-assisted payment flows, fraud prevention, and the potential use of stable, low-volatility digital assets for cross-border or multi-currency purchases.

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