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Data: 96% of studios now run a direct-to-consumer web store or plan to

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Data: 96% of studios now run a direct-to-consumer web store or plan to

Survey published by FastSpring and Omdia finds 82% of devs say recent regulatory changes made them "more confident in the future value of D2C"

Almost all games studios run a direct-to-consumer (D2C) web store or plan to, according to a new survey.

The Annual State of D2C Game Monetisation Survey, published by FastSpring and Omdia, found that 59% of game publishers and studios already operate a D2C store.

Of the 41% that don't, 91% plan to launch one, with 67% intending to do so within 12 months.

FastSpring and Omdia collected data from 110 senior management and exec-level respondents between April and June 2026.

The survey found D2C adoption increased modestly from 57% last year to 59% this year. However, a bigger change occurred among non-adopters: last year, 60% planned to start a D2C store within 12 months, rising to 67% this year.

The top reasons for using a D2C platform are to improve brand visibility and loyalty (66%) and to gain better access to first-party customer data and insights (58%).

Other key motivations include greater control over pricing and promotions (54%), higher profit margins (52%), and building direct relationships with players (51%).

The main barrier to launching a D2C store is technical complexity (56%), down from 67% last year. Other concerns include "damaging relationships" with Apple and Google (51%) and legal or regulatory uncertainty (47%).

Recent regulatory changes, including the Epic vs Apple and Epic vs Google cases in the EU and US, have enabled external payment options on iOS and Android.


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