Gaming & Esports — Polish Market Research

Gaming market research encompasses projects covering the ecosystem of PC, console, and mobile games as well as esports. These studies analyze player behaviors and preferences, monetization models (free-to-play, premium, subscriptions, microtransactions), attitudes toward in-game advertising, esports viewership, and engagement with gaming communities. Due to the young, highly engaged demographic, gaming research requires a distinctly different approach compared to traditional consumer projects.

Poland is one of Europe’s strongest gaming markets — the sector generates revenues exceeding 2 billion PLN, with millions of active gamers. The international success of Polish game studios (CD Projekt Red, Techland, 11 bit studios, People Can Fly) has cemented Poland’s position on the global gaming map. Meanwhile, mobile gaming is growing faster than PC and console segments, and esports is attracting millions of viewers alongside sponsors from FMCG, finance, and telecommunications.

Common gaming research projects include: gamer preference studies (platforms, genres, play time, spending), new game and feature concept testing (gameplay, narrative, UI/UX), monetization model analysis (willingness to pay for DLC, battle passes, microtransactions), esports viewership and engagement research, gaming sponsorship effectiveness measurement, gamer segmentation (casual, mid-core, hardcore, mobile-only), and brand image studies in gaming contexts (how brand presence in games affects perception).

Methodologically, gaming research benefits from the target group’s natural digital engagement — gamers are highly accessible online, active on forums and Discord, and willingly participate in surveys about their hobby. The most commonly used methods are: CAWI on consumer panels with precise profiling (platform, genres, frequency, spending), community research (studies within closed gaming communities — Discord, Reddit), IDI with hardcore gamers and streamers, concept testing (presenting trailers, screenshots, mechanics descriptions), and behavioral data analysis (when a developer shares telemetry data).

The challenge is the rapid evolution of preferences — gaming trends shift in weekly cycles (a viral new game can reshape the market overnight). Additionally, category boundaries are blurring — mobile games become esports titles, streaming platforms integrate interactivity, and the metaverse blends gaming with social media. Precisely defining a “gamer” requires multidimensional profiling, because a casual mobile player and a professional esports competitor are fundamentally different audiences.