Video games, once considered the brain-rotting ruiner ruin of our children’s brains and of civilization itself, are, according to a new games industry report, losing the “attention war” to the Holy Trinity of modern male loserdom: porn, gambling, and cryptocurrency.
The 164-page report published by gaming advisory company Epyllion, and brought to our attention by Eurogamer, doesn’t say that the gaming industry is doomed, but it does argue that gaming is steadily losing ground across eight major markets, including the US, Japan, and the UK, and its thanks in large part to the triangle of sadness that is jacking off, blowing your money on sports betting, and blowing your money on fake money.
Before the pandemic, the eight countries identified accounted for more than 60 percent of global game spending. That spending has since dropped, along with overall participation.
Gaming May Be on the Decline, But OnlyFans Is Booming
In the United States, PC and console spending has fallen about 8 percent compared to 2020–2021 levels, roughly a $2.3 billion decline. Though a lot of that could have to do with how wildly expensive PC gaming gear has become now that the overinflated AI industry is snatching up all the components gamers used to buy for relatively cheap to outfit their PC gaming rigs.
Across the eight major markets, console and PC spending dropped $4.8 billion, with mobile gaming also down $2.3 billion overall. Some markets are technically at all-time highs in total consumer spend, but that money isn’t flowing primarily into traditional games is instead being redirected to stuff like OnlyFans, along with gambling and sports betting platforms.
The report makes clear that gamers aren’t abandoning gaming for a specific new trend, but rather their leisure time is now more fragmented than ever, with gaming still playing a large, if no longer central, role. How can it when you got porn to swipe through, wildly irresponsible bets to place, and dumbass memecoins to trade to other ill-informed saps?
The post Video Games Are Losing a Brain Rot Race to Gambling and Porn appeared first on VICE.
