The numbers don’t lie: 92% of players churn before Day 30, and over a third quit during their very first session. Despite the growth headlines, the gaming industry is grappling with a hard truth – retention is broken, and many studios are still building games that players don’t want to stay with.

Our team at Duamentes recently published the Gaming Report 2025, based on 100+ interviews with studio leaders, developers, and player behavior experts across 40 countries. One pattern became clear: the biggest risk in game development today isn’t budget or competition – it’s misalignment with player expectations.

Too often we see the same missteps:

• Testing delayed until beta, when it’s too late to pivot
• Monetisation models layered onto UX as an afterthought
• Global launches that fail due to cultural mismatches
• Games designed for KPIs instead of emotional engagement

These decisions are costing studios millions – not just in marketing inefficiencies, but in missed player trust.

But it doesn’t have to be this way.

The most promising studios today aren’t necessarily the biggest. They’re startups and indie teams – creative enough to break the mould, agile enough to build what players want. They are close to players to notice what others miss.

What are these teams doing right?

• Prototyping with players, not just on paper. Early builds and hands-on demos are tested directly with real players, often including the developers themselves
• With fresh eyes and unclouded judgment, these teams catch what others miss – long before it’s too late to change
• Aligning gameplay and monetisation upfront. Business models are built to support the player experience, not disrupt it
• Localizing for culture, not just language. UX, tone, and visual design are adapted to resonate meaningfully with regional audience
• Designing for belonging. In an attention economy, connection beats content. Features that foster community, identity, and purpose matter more than scale

This is why we launched the Duamentes Gaming Division – to help founders, product teams, and investors avoid the most common (and costly) mistakes we’ve seen across the industry.

We believe that early insight and emotionally intelligent design are no longer optional, but essential. Whether you're preparing your first launch or expanding into new markets, understanding what players need at a human level gives you an edge most studios still lack.

In a market this crowded, it’s not the size of your budget that determines success. It’s how well you listen, how early you act.