Weekly Gaming Reports Recap: October 27 - October 31 (2025)
How mods affect games performance; the US digital user in 2025 by Mike Vorhaus & Niko Partner's insights of the SEA-6 markets.
Reports of the week:
mod.io & GameDiscoverCo: The Impact of UGC on Games performance in 2025
Vorhaus Advisors: American Digital User in 2025 - Games & Tech
Niko Partners: Southeast Asia Games Market in 2025
mod.io & GameDiscoverCo: The Impact of UGC on Games performance in 2025
The study analyzed projects that earned at least $1M in their first month after release, a total of 1,200 titles, 18% of which featured UGC support.
For consoles, only games that sold at least 100,000 copies in their first month were included. Among roughly 1,000 titles, those with UGC support made up 2% on PlayStation and 3% on Xbox.
Results on PC
According to the research, PC games with UGC support generate 8% higher revenue after the first year compared to those without it. Over a 5-year period, the gap grows to 31%.
In terms of CCU, PC games with UGC show 75% higher numbers after two years and 115% higher after five years.
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The developers of Baldur’s Gate 3 noted that after introducing mod support, their DAU increased by 20%.
❗️These figures should be interpreted carefully. The report rightly points out that UGC support may often be a result rather than a cause of a game’s popularity. The $1M first-month revenue threshold automatically excludes a large number of indie developers.
On PC (Steam), games with UGC support have 105% higher DLC sales.
The developers of SnowRunner reported that players who install mods are 2.4 times more likely to purchase paid DLC.
❗️This likely reflects the behavior of the most engaged audience segment, which explains the significant difference in additional content sales.
Results on Consoles and VR
On PlayStation, games with UGC generate 16% higher sales on average after the first year. On Xbox — 24%.
Projects on Meta Quest with UGC support grow 30% faster on average than those without it. The analysis included titles with over 1,000 reviews in the Meta Quest Store.
Vorhaus Advisors: American Digital User in 2025 - Games & Tech
The survey polled 2,000 U.S. respondents aged 18 and older, evenly split between men and women.
24% of respondents are 18–34, 38% are 35–54, and 38% are 55+. The average household income among respondents is $82,000 per year.
10% of respondents own a business. Half are married. 66% own their home.
General tech & digital consumption
Smartphones and Smart/Connected TVs are the primary entertainment devices for Americans. The chart shows smartphone usage continuing to grow.
Spending on digital entertainment in the U.S. is rising. The heaviest spenders are 18–34-year-olds, averaging about $1,640 per year.
Over half (56%) of Americans aged 18–34 have created video content for social media. Among those aged 35–54, the figure is 35%.
83% said they earned no income from their videos over the past year; 17% earned something. 36% reported earning more than $1,000 in the last year from their videos, while 20% said they earned less than $25.
Facebook remains the leading platform in the U.S. by audience interest, followed by YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and X. Notably, among 18–34-year-olds, only LinkedIn gained popularity over the last year (+12%), likely tied to a tougher job market pushing younger users to job-hunt on the site.
A word from newsletter sponsor
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Flexion specializes in distributing games across alternative app stores - Samsung, Huawei, Amazon, Xiaomi, and ONE Store - through a unified SDK. From now on, games released on major third-party stores will come bundled with integrated payment solutions.
You can learn more about the details of the deal via the link.
The average American maintains 3.5 active streaming subscriptions. Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu lead.
54% of Americans watch videos daily, up from 2024.
Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and iMessage are the top messaging services in the U.S. Snapchat is declining. Reddit makes an appearance on the list. Discord holds a significant share, especially among younger users. Telegram also entered the top 10.
84% of respondents are satisfied with Discord. Loyalty to the messenger is very high. Usage grew 26% among 18–34-year-olds over the past year; 29% among those 35–54; and 8% among those 55+.
Gaming
80% of surveyed Americans play games on at least one platform - up 4% from last year’s survey.
Among 18–34-year-olds, 95% play games. Among 35–54, it’s 87%. 64% of those 55+ play games.
40% of respondents play mobile games daily.
PC saw an 8% YoY increase in people who play more than once per week. Overall, the platform’s audience is more engaged than on consoles.
The rise of PC as a platform is most pronounced among 18–34-year-olds. Reports of playing more than once per week are up 20% YoY.
Mobile gaming frequency is largely unchanged. People 55+ are playing 5% more often.
On consoles, engagement is highest among younger users - their activity rose 17% YoY. Conversely, among 35–54-year-olds, the share playing more than once per week fell 6% from 2024.
Younger people are playing web games slightly more often (up 10%) on a weekly-or-more basis.
24% of respondents said they want to play more in the next six months. This is especially evident among console owners who, for various reasons, aren’t playing as much as they’d like.
40% of surveyed Americans play with friends at least once a week, while 38% never play with friends.
22% of respondents said they have either a Nintendo Switch or a PlayStation 5 at home. 11% reported having an Xbox One; 10% - Xbox Series X. 9% have PS VR/VR2; 6% - Xbox Series X. Meta Quest is in 5% of households. Literally everyone surveyed has an iOS or Android, sometimes more than one device.
People play on handheld systems more than once a week in 34% of cases. This is most common among 18–34-year-olds (56%). The older the group, the less frequent the play.
46% of respondents are looking forward to Nintendo Switch 2 (the system launched in the middle of the survey duration). 27% would like to see a new PlayStation Portable, 15% are waiting for an Xbox handheld (not the Asus ROG Ally X), and 11% would like a Steam Deck 2 announcement.
Social media (42%), recommendations from friends and family (40%), online ads (32%), TV ads (20%), and online reviews (16%) are the main channels Americans use to discover new titles.
It’s important to note that the popularity of all these channels has declined since 2024.
PlayStation Plus, Xbox Game Pass, Apple Arcade, EA Play, and Google Play Pass are the most popular subscription services among U.S. users. Overall, at least three-quarters of their audiences are satisfied.
49% of Americans are familiar with cloud gaming. Awareness skews younger.
Americans who previously didn’t engage with UGC platforms have become more interested compared to 2024. Notably, interest is growing among those aged 55+.
Roblox is gaining popularity. The platform is adding audience not only from children but also from adults.
Monetization
In the U.S., the share of people making in-game purchases weekly or more often has decreased on PC (–7% YoY) and on mobile (–8% YoY).
70% on PC (+38% YoY), 58% on mobile (+19% YoY), 66% on consoles (+21% YoY), and 47% on the web (+25% YoY) spend more than $30 per year on in-game purchases.
❗️These are interesting figures, since several earlier reports cited a slowdown in U.S. in-game spending due to economic pressures.
At the same time, most respondents are satisfied with their purchases.
A word from newsletter sponsor
Xsolla and Flexion now work together on user monetization - Xsolla’s payment solutions will be automatically integrated into game builds by Flexion.
Flexion specializes in distributing games across alternative app stores - Samsung, Huawei, Amazon, Xiaomi, and ONE Store - through a unified SDK. From now on, games released on major third-party stores will come bundled with integrated payment solutions.
You can learn more about the details of the deal via the link.
However - echoing the earlier point - respondents are more inclined to reduce spending than to increase it. The exception is console players.
Metaverse, AR, and other technologies
Only a quarter of Americans are familiar with the concept of the metaverse. When people hear about it, they tend to think of Facebook/Instagram or virtual reality.
Understanding of augmented reality as a concept is at 6% across the general population. Interest levels are also low.
Slightly more people understand virtual reality - 27% of all respondents. A third finds it interesting.
Interest in cryptocurrencies is growing among 18–34-year-olds, while among 35–54 it has declined compared to 2024. 68% of respondents don’t own any cryptocurrency at all.
Niko Partners: Southeast Asia Games Market in 2025
Niko Partners has tracked the region for the past 11 years. The study covers six countries (SEA-6): Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Revenue, audience, monetization
In 2024, the games industry across the SEA-6 generated $5.37 billion, up 5.2% YoY.
For 2025, a more modest increase is expected to $5.47 billion (+1.8% YoY). The slowdown is attributed to economic headwinds and new regulatory practices (e.g., Vietnam now requires licenses).
By 2029, Niko Partners projects SEA-6 revenues to reach $6.47 billion, a 5-year CAGR of 3.8%.
There were 285.82 million players in Southeast Asia in 2024 (+3.1% YoY). In 2025, the number rose to 290 million (+1.5% YoY). Niko Partners expects it to reach 324.4 million by 2029 (CAGR 2.6%).
Annual ARPU in SEA-6 in 2024 was $18.8 (+2% YoY). By 2029, this figure is expected to rise to $19.96 (CAGR 1.2%).
❗️Given that dollar inflation is currently higher, regional revenue in USD terms may effectively decline in real terms.
26.9% of in-game payments in the region flow through 3rd-party stores — the highest share in Asia.
A word from our sponsor
Xsolla helped Second Dinner to build a fully branded Marvel Snap webshop with the support of personalized promo code redemption, welcome bundles, web-exclusive offers, live-ops tools for segmented targeting, timed rewards, and event synchronization. Not mentioning the full coverage of payments from more than 200 countries!
Check the webshop experience & get in touch with Xsolla if you want the same!
User behavior and preferences
Over 45% of SEA-6 players actively socialize in games.
52% of players in SEA-6 watch game livestreams — a popular activity in the region.
In 2025, players in the region averaged 15 hours of gameplay per week. In 2024, the figure was higher at 21.8 hours.
The share of non-paying users is growing by 10–20% in each of the SEA-6 countries.
Localization is very important for SEA-6 players. For many users, having their native language is a critical factor.