Introduction
Even before announcing The Expanse: Osiris Reborn, we launched the BIG Community Survey. Each year, we use it to understand what matters to our community: what they enjoy about games and what they do not.
Our community knows how carefully we listen to feedback and use the data we receive to develop our projects. This is why they actively participate in such surveys year after year, and 2025 was no exception.
This time, more than 25,000 people from different countries and almost every time zone have participated! The survey included about fifty questions, seventeen of which were open-ended, where people could not only choose an answer but also share their views and experiences.
We tried to cover everything that makes games special: favorite genres, platforms, and settings, as well as key aspects of gameplay. We talked about hobbies, sources of inspiration, and how you discover new projects. You told us why you purchase games, what motivates you to buy them right away, and what makes you wait for discounts.
We thank everyone who participated! You shared your personal stories, experiences, and opinions, explained your choices, offered feedback, and joked around. Behind the lines of your responses there are real people, their personal tastes, and gaming experience—and that is what makes this survey so important to us.
We studied your responses and prepared a map to illustrate how many of us there are around the world. It shows how the survey participants were distributed across continents:
Some of you are Warhammer fans, some cannot imagine life without music—your interests are diverse. But there is always room for cats and a couple of memes, right? At least 12% of you will agree, and with so many participants, that is not a small number.
Now it is time to take a closer look at all these things. We invite you to learn more about our community's interests! Make yourself comfortable and let's get the ball rolling!
It All Starts With Curiosity
Some people discover new releases on their own, while others rely on recommendations from friends and content creators. For 59% of our respondents, it is their favorite genres and settings that matter. They serve as a starting point when choosing the next adventure.
In 56% of cases, recommendations from friends and acquaintances make the difference. The same number of respondents trust their favorite developers and publishers, choosing new releases from studios that have already given them an unforgettable experience.
Interestingly, the role of independent creators has grown significantly in recent years: while few people paid attention to their recommendations in the past, at least 29% of respondents now listen to their suggestions. And this influence should not be underestimated; a short video or an honest review from a content creator can spark the audience's curiosity.
Finally, about a third of our players opt for the explorer route: they browse Steam or itch catalogs, filter tags, browse collections, and make their own discoveries.
Curiously, search methods are directly related to media habits. Some discover new projects thanks to TikTok and streaming platforms, while others trust thoughtful reviews by their favorite authors and store recommendations.
The survey included respondents with varying levels of gaming experience, from those who had just started getting into the industry to those who had been following it for a long time. The largest group was aged 25-34. Each generation discovers new projects in its own way, but one principle remains the same: trust. You can scroll endlessly through your feed and watch trailers, but nothing can replace a recommendation from a trusted person.
When Interest Turns Into a Decision
For most players, it starts with the genre and the setting. Next, they pay attention to the gameplay features, the plot, and the characters. Then rational factors come into play, such as trust in the publisher and a reasonable price.
Last year, loyalty to developers was mentioned most frequently. That is why we decided to highlight it this time around, and we were not mistaken. More than half of the respondents noted that one of the key factors when making a purchase is trust in the studio or publisher. Even if the percentage for this category looks modest, it's worth remembering that respondents could choose multiple answers, and more than 13 000 people mentioned trust in the publisher. If a developer has already proven themselves, players are willing to support them over and over again, regardless of the genre and scale of the project.
We invite you to take a look at the infographic, as we cannot ignore these answers:
- The survey identified several groups of players with varying degrees of involvement:
- Those who trust their friends and content creators are twice as likely to purchase games at full price. This is the core of the community, for whom purchasing is a way to support the developer and share the experience of anticipation with other community members.
- The players who focus on trailers and reviews in stores are more likely to wait for discounts or try out demos. These “cautious observers” watch, evaluate the atmosphere, and build their trust slowly.
- In addition, there is also a third category, the “explorers”. They discover projects on their own and make choices based solely on personal opinion. The purchasing behavior of this category is somewhat unpredictable, but they are the first advocates of niche projects, which then find their audience.
This article touches upon just a fraction of our diverse community. There are many more different types of players, and a detailed analysis would require a separate, extensive study.
Genres and Titles
Role-playing games are clearly at the top of our survey. Coincidence? We don’t think so! Here are the favorite genres of the average member of our community:
Year after year, we also ask about your favorite universes. For us, this is an opportunity to find out which worlds inspire you and what evokes strong emotions. Please note that the audience could choose several answers to this question. This is how the replies were distributed this time:
Warhammer 40,000 became the absolute favorite. Nearly fifteen and a half thousand respondents mentioned it in their answers. Abelard, introduce all the Lord Captains with the appropriate honors, and make sure to list all their titles!
Pathfinder ranks second, while Dungeons & Dragons ranks third. The Lord of the Rings and Mass Effect round out the top five. These worlds have become the basis for thousands of adventures and continue to inspire people around the world to this very day.
In the ranking of favorite universes, some positions seem to gravitate to one another. Some of them appeared long before the games, while others gained traction through gaming projects.
For example, The Witcher began as a series of books by Andrzej Sapkowski, while Cyberpunk started as a tabletop role-playing game by Mike Pondsmith. Both universes have become truly iconic thanks to CD Projekt Red. They received over 11 000 votes each, confirming the power of our friends who managed to bring to life these very different universes.
The Elder Scrolls and Fallout are both original game franchises. They also stand shoulder to shoulder in the ratings, and each series has received over 11,000 mentions. Yes, Bethesda knows how to tell stories in a wide variety of settings, from the ruins of Tamriel to the post-apocalyptic wastelands.
These universes have long since become classics and stood the test of time, remaining sought-after and relevant. This is largely because their favorite stories have been brought to life in an interactive format.
We also asked you about your favorite role-playing games and are happy to share a selection based on the survey results:
Of course, this is far from a complete list of cult titles and intellectual properties mentioned by respondents. Owlcat games were deliberately left out, but we are happy to be ranked alongside such outstanding projects. You have excellent taste!
Other Than Games (Beyond the Screen)
As you may have guessed, in this section we will discuss what else our community is passionate about. As curious owlcats, we could not resist taking a peek at your hobby shelf: there are tabletop role-playing game rulebooks and non-fiction, historical and professional literature, science fiction, esotericism, and fantasy of all kinds.
This year, music ranked first according to your interests, about 16,000 participants ticked this option. Almost as many respondents are interested in tabletop role-playing games. The answer “I am interested in/studying AI” is appearing much more commonly. About 11,500 people mentioned TV series, and about 10,000 follow content creators. But the list does not end there.
Many reported an interest in writing, painting, historical reenactment, fitness, and cooking. Some find inspiration in medieval chronicles, while others are inspired by culinary experiments. One in four members of our community is passionate about wargames, and one in five enjoys and regularly listens to podcasts.
Gaming intellectual property and personal preferences go hand in hand. What we love directly influences what projects we want to see tomorrow.
The community does not simply interact with content, but creates, explores, inspires, and gives life to new projects. Sometimes it is a spaceship model, sometimes a reconstruction of a jousting tournament. But behind all these hobbies there is a common desire to explore the world, discover new things, and expand the familiar boundaries.
Together Through Thick and Thin
We see how our community is evolving, how trends and preferences are changing. But your support and love of good stories remain unchanged!
We have been together for many years. Thanks to you, ideas are born, worlds are made alive, and games are created that remain relevant for years to come.
You are our inspiration and our guide. You are our co-authors. We remember who we are building each new project for, and we rejoice when we see your guesses, expectations, and dreams in the comments. Your feedback helps us improve. Without you, there would be no stories to tell, and we are proud to walk hand in hand as we create new projects together.
Thank you for staying with us, believing in us, supporting us, and playing our games.
With new worlds and thousands of hours of adventure ahead, we are delighted to embark on this journey together with our friends!
Instead of Post Scriptum
- Now imagine, during the time that 25,000 people completed the survey (which amounts to about 6,250 hours), you could:
- finish writing a few novels
- build a Rogue Trader vessel in Minecraft
- bake 12,500 homemade pizzas (and eat them all)
- achieve enlightenment and learn how to roll successful critical hits with a d20 (many times in a row!)
- learn the Elvish language
- or replay Wrath of the Righteous a couple of times!
- But you chose to share your experience with us, and that is awesome!