Adoption crept from 57% (2025) to 59% (2026) - the real move is elsewhere
Non-adopters planning launch within 12 months jumped from 60% to 67% year-over-year
93% of non-adopters say recent court rulings made them more likely to adopt; only 6.7% said rulings changed nothing
Doubt that D2C would drive significant revenue fell from 49% to 38% among non-adopters in one year

D2C operators generate 10-29% of total revenue through direct channels
About one-third derive 20% or more via D2C - past the threshold where it becomes a primary channel
75% of operators report their direct revenue share increased over the last 12 months
84% hit or exceeded 2025 targets, 66% exceeded them, prompting 65% to raise 2026 targets

Top motivation is brand visibility and loyalty (66%), followed by first-party customer data (58%)
Higher profit margins rank fourth at 52%, behind data access and pricing control
Pricing and promotion control (54%) and direct player relationships (51%) round out the top five
"from a cost-cutting tactic into a growth and ownership strategy" - FastSpring, on the strategic reframing of D2C

Epic vs Apple and Epic vs Google opened external payments on iOS and Android in US, EU, Japan, and Brazil
82% said these changes made them more confident in D2C's future value
88% plan to increase D2C investment in 2026 after Google's Play Store fee cut; 42% significantly, up from 33%
Technical complexity remains the top barrier at 56%, but fell sharply from 67% last year
Fear of damaging Apple and Google relationships still blocks 51% - the friction regulation has not resolved

For Publishers & Developers: If D2C is under 10% of revenue, you are now below the operator median - budget accordingly for 2026
For Investors & VC: Studios with 20%+ D2C share hold first-party data and pricing control - diligence this as a margin and resilience factor
For Service Vendors: Technical complexity dropped 11 points in a year - the infrastructure gap is closing fast, differentiation window is narrowing