Mumbai. Apr 6: BITKRAFT Ventures, a leading global investment platform for gaming and interactive entertainment, recently published its report ‘The Future of Consumer Apps: How AI + Game Design Principles Are Reshaping Every Category’. The report outlines how artificial intelligence and game design principles are converging to reshape the next generation of consumer applications and unlock a projected $112 billion market by 2031.  The report shares insights on how game design and AI are converging to produce the next generation of breakout consumer apps, and the market opportunity globally.

 In 2025, non-gaming apps surpassed gaming in global app store revenue for the first time. The shift was driven by the rapid adoption of AI-powered applications. Generative AI became the top revenue-growth category in mobile, with revenue tripling to more than USD 5B. At the core of this transformation is a fundamental behavioural shift. More than 40% of the global population now brings gaming-conditioned habits to every app they use: they expect instant feedback, visible progress, and personalised rewards. Most apps still do not deliver this.

BITKRAFT’s report argues that AI has changed what is possible. Personalised, adaptive, game-like experiences once required studio-scale budgets. Today, they are within reach of any early-stage team. The result is a new class of apps the report calls AI Apps 2.0: applications that learn from users, adapt in real time, and build engagement that compounds with every interaction.

Jens Hilgers, Founding General Partner, BITKRAFT Ventures said,

“Gaming is not just the largest entertainment sector; it is the foundational design language for the next generation of consumer experiences. AI has made it possible for any founder to build the kind of adaptive, personalised product that once required a studio-scale budget. The founders who combine game-design thinking with AI-native infrastructure will build the most consequential consumer companies of this decade. The behavioural shift has already happened and the infrastructure costs are falling. What remains is execution, and knowing where to aim.”

The report examines six sectors: Education, FinTech, E-commerce, Health & Wellness, Social & Community, and emerging verticals, including spirituality and creative co-creation. Each is assessed for market size, where incumbents are most exposed, and which game mechanics and AI capabilities are driving the opportunity. Case studies illustrate companies already demonstrating proof of concept.

The data points to significant whitespace. Gamified consumer apps have generated $20.7B in private market transactions since 2020, across 208 deals. But nearly all of that capital has gone to just three verticals: EdTech, Fitness & Wellness, and Entertainment & Social. Finance, commerce, and social connectivity remain largely untouched. The global gamification market is projected to grow from $29 billion to $112 billion by 2031.

The investment case, the report argues, is underappreciated. Consumer companies represent around 20% of all unicorns but receive less than 10% of venture capital. BITKRAFT forecasts that private market activity in this space will reach $50B within five years, spread across more than five verticals.

By 2035, the firm expects at least five non-gaming consumer companies worth more than $10B to exist that do not exist today. The window to establish category leadership, it warns, is 18 to 24 months.