Gaming's console war has become an attention war with gambling, porn and memes

The console market has plateaued, and PC gaming is bigger than ever but not exploding. Venture capitalist and analyst Matthew Ball’s annual report uses a 2026 slideshow full of graphs to sketch a stalled industry where any growth is largely driven by players in China and on Roblox.

User-generated content and casino apps on mobile have surged, making it harder for the traditional AAA blockbuster model to compete with OnlyFans, Draft Kings, and TikTok. Ball highlights distractions that increasingly occupy especially young men: porn, sports betting, live casinos, and endless short videos—TikTok watch time in the U.S.

remains over 100 million average daily hours, total social media usage has passed 500 million average hours a day, and OnlyFans spending in the U.S. is nearly $5 billion. Other figures add to the picture: meme-coin trading is still surging, AI app installs hit nearly 1 billion last quarter, and betting on prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket has jumped.

United States

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