Global Game Industry Trend, July-August 2026 (No. 78) (KOCCA)

Summary

• Twitch remains first in live-streaming watch time, but its share fell by 8.3 percentage points.p.8
• 62% of high-engagement consumers surveyed by Dentsu and IGN Entertainment avoid buying games at full price.p.10
• Full-price purchasing is maintained by 42% of Gen Z, 38% of Millennials and 20% of Gen X.p.10
• After release, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth's Twitch peak viewers fell 74.9% in the first week and streaming channels fell from 4,300 to 2,700.p.11
• Korea's game usage rate fell to 50.2%, down 9.7 percentage points from the prior year and the lowest since 2015.p.14
• Microsoft announced 3,200 job cuts in its Xbox division.p.20

Key insights

1. Summer Game Fest 2026 was co-streamed by more than 6,200 channels.p.9
2. Kick raised its watch time by 131% by growing its unique channels.p.9
3. Non-gaming broadcasts reached 22% of Twitch viewing.p.9
4. Among game users in Korea, PC usage rose to 58.1%.p.14
5. Sony will stop producing physical discs for new PlayStation releases from January 2028.p.21
6. Wemade's founder agreed to sell his entire 39.33% stake to the Chinese-linked investor Neopulse.p.21