"Gen Z is unsubscribing: A study has found that more than half of the younger age demographic cancels and renews streaming subscriptions based on the availability of one TV series or film, and nearly a third won’t pay full price for a game and would rather sample via a gaming platform subscription.
According to the newly released “Generations In Play: 2026 Audience Insights Report,” which was published by Dentsu and IGN Entertainment, 59% of Gen Z users surveyed actively subscribe and unsubscribe to streamers to “chase a single title.” The report asserts this means “platform loyalty is effectively dead.
Additionally, the data finds 62% of Gen Z won’t pay full price for video games, 71% have stopped buying physical music, and 70% no longer by hard copies of TV shows and movies.
A bright spot in the study says Gen Z is the most theatrical generation with 13% more likely to attend opening weekend than older movie-goers.
The findings come from a study that was independently conducted by Kantar and UC Berkeley and included a survey of 6,250 “highly-engaged entertainment consumers” across the US, UK and Australia.
“Generations in Play 2026 was built on independent research conducted with Kantar and UC Berkeley, then synthesized through IGN Entertainment’s first-party behavioral platform, IMAGINE,” IGN Entertainment senior vice president of marketing and head of Imagine AI, Karl Stewart, said. “That combination is what makes it a behavioral map rather than just another trend report. For thirty years, IGN Entertainment has watched Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z form their media habits inside our ecosystem. What this research confirms is that each generation is running on a fundamentally different operating system, and that the brands working with Dentsu now have a clearer view of how to reach each one on its own terms.”
See below for a copy of the full report, followe dby Variety‘s Q&A with Dentsu’s global head of gaming, Brent Koning, which goes into more detail about the findings in the “Generations In Play: 2026 Audience Insights Report.”
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71% have stopped buying physical music, and 70% no longer by hard copies of TV shows and movies.
I’m going to guess that a large chunk of Gen Z never started buying physical media in the first place.
Poor Gen Z. Has no one taught them the gentle art of piracy?
I bought a Plex share a few years ago. I pay US$20/month and it’s been fantastic. I don’t have the space or know-how to do it myself. I’m learning but I’m still not able to run my own *arr stack with Jellyfin. I’ll get there one day.
Keep at it and pay 0pm.
That is the plan. It’s not a high priority for now, but I’m making some progress when I can.
I did it early this year, Did it over a few evenings, and I ended up doing it twice, as i made a mess of the first time. I am not a super techy person, But I succeeded. The arrs are the hardest part as that kinda take a plan to decide how you want things to be. I hate AI but it was actually quite useful with some personalised solutions…and explaining why i was doing what i was doing at each stage.
Jellyfin is not hard but i find it has limitations or its awkward to structure how I like…however its free so i cant complain.I still use stremio heavily, but i am also reluctant to buy more storage right now. I spent ages holding off promising myself i needed time and that an old pc wasnt the best option. It would have been fine. I ended up buying one of those tiny little pc’s from aliexpress and plugging in all the old hard drives around the house. I could have done without but i also wanted mine plugged direct in the router…and i had limited physical space.
That happens if prices get increased over and over again and wages don’t.
I’m a millennial and I also do the cancelling and buying video games at a discount, I do purchase physical media though
Additionally, the data finds 62% of Gen Z won’t pay full price for video games
Is there any generation with more than 38% buying video games?
That’s not really the statistic’s framing here. It’s not 62% of all Gen Z, it’s 62% of Gen Z who play games, indicating they won’t pay full price for a game. I’d like to see more statistics here too, like what platforms, what people consider reasonable pricing and whether they see value in subscription gaming services like PS+ or Xbox Live/Gamepass
