As the 2026 Paris Games Week opens its doors, an unprecedented study by Dekuple Insight challenges the certainties of influencer marketing and engagement. The analysis of millions of digital profiles reveals that the generic term “gamer” actually conceals deeply heterogeneous passions and consumption habits. For brands, it is time to rethink how they approach this essential audience.
The video game universe has become a faithful reflection of the cultural shifts in French society. Yet, marketing strategies often continue to target players as a homogeneous community. The primary finding of the new Dekuple Insight study is clear: speaking of “gamers” as a single entity no longer makes sense.
French gaming in key figures
To understand the scale and fragmentation of this market, the study relies on massive, representative data:
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13.5 million digital profiles (Meta, TikTok, X) analyzed by Dekuple Insight via behavioral scoring and semantic analysis.
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7 out of 10 French people have played a video game in the last 12 months.
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€5.85 billion: the revenue generated by the French video game market in 2025.
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7 main tribes identified, currently making up the gaming audience in France.
Beyond the controller: gaming as a cultural extension
Behind the singular act of playing lie extremely varied motivations and cultural references. An eSports enthusiast following competitions on Twitch shares very few codes with a football fan who loves sports simulations, a nostalgic parent playing Pokémon, or a fan of Japanese culture and anime.
One of the study’s major findings demonstrates that video games are no longer an end in themselves, but often the extension of another passion (football, manga, technology, music). This evolution confirms the transformation of video gaming into a true mass culture, connected to all major contemporary cultural spheres.
The 7 tribes of French gaming
Dekuple Insight’s data-driven analysis segmented this massive audience into seven distinct communities:
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Strategic competitors (31.9%)
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Mainstream enjoyers (19.1%)
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Nostalgic players (12.5%)
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Hybrid sports fans (12.0%)
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Cultural geeks (8.7%)
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Hardware gamers (8.5%)
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New gen gamers (7.2%)
A new paradigm for brand strategies
This fragmentation disrupts traditional approaches. The best entry point into the video game universe is no longer necessarily gaming itself. A sports brand will generate a better ROI by leveraging the football passion of “hybrid sports fans.” Conversely, a lifestyle brand will create more affinity with “mainstream enjoyers” by focusing on music, humor, or global entertainment.
In other words: brands must no longer try to speak to gamers as such, but to consumers through their gaming-related interests.
For a long time, gamers have been considered a single audience. On the contrary, our work shows that gaming today is a meeting point between several cultural universes. Understanding these communities has become essential for brands wishing to create relevance and engagement.
