Brands are capitalising on online gaming and virtual worlds to tap Gen Z and Gen Alpha markets in what is dubbed the attention economy.
Thailand is among the top three countries in terms of internet users playing video games, rated at 93% for all devices, joining the Philippines and Indonesia, according to 2025 data from digital agency We Are Social.
"In the attention economy, the abundance of platforms and overwhelming content make it increasingly challenging to capture users' attention -- especially on social media, where feeds are overflowing," said Patthawee Apiwatcharoensin, associate director of strategy at We Are Social Thailand.
Digital advertising often struggles to engage with Gen Z as 63% of them use ad blockers, and they lose attention within 1.3 seconds, he said.
Gen Alpha engages less with Facebook (6%) compared with Gen Z (33%), but both groups are more active on Instagram (40% and 67%, respectively) and TikTok (44% and 60%, respectively).
This demonstrates the challenges for social media platforms to engage with the younger generation, said Mr Patthawee.
Both Gen Alpha and Gen Z spend more time on gaming than on social media platforms, with Gen Alpha recording higher overall gaming activity (96%) than Gen Z (92%).
Gen Alpha dedicates 21% of their free time to video games, compared with 17% for Gen Z.
"Media from the traditional, social and virtual worlds are battling to gain attention from users," he said.
Gen Z spends more time on immersive gaming than on social media, according to data from London-based platform Geeiq.
The global survey found Gen Z dedicates 180 minutes daily to Roblox, 60 minutes to Fortnite and 48 minutes to Minecraft, compared with 107 minutes on TikTok, 67 minutes on YouTube, 45 minutes on Instagram and 19 minutes on Twitch.
Gen Z has 1.3 seconds average engagement time with brand content on social media and 11 minutes engagement time with branded experiences on Roblox.
The top virtual world platforms are Roblox with 300 million monthly active users, Minecraft with 178 million, Fortnite 100 million and Sims 4 with 33 million, according to Geeiq.
"Gamers spend time in the game to socialise, communicate and hang out with friends in their virtual space," said Mr Patthawee.
He said young consumers express their style in virtual games, a shift from social media.
Mr Patthawee said brands can collaborate with intellectual property products to introduce virtual items in games to increase engagement, raising brand awareness and leading to sales conversion and customer relationship management.
For example, Walmart became the first real-world commerce brand available on Roblox, Zepeto mobile app and Spatial gaming platform.
In Thailand, skincare, music and smartphone brands are allocating more budget to promote products across multiple platforms, including in virtual worlds, he said.