According to Newzoo’s latest Global Games Market Report, the worldwide video‑game sector is on track to expand by roughly 6.1% year over year, culminating in a total market size of about $213.9 billion in 2026. The analysis, which will be released in full on September 10, highlights that more than half of all consumer spending will continue to be driven by two powerhouses: China and the United States. When the numbers are broken down by platform, console hardware and software are expected to generate $46.9 billion in revenue, representing roughly 22 % of the total market and an increase of 5.1 % from the previous year. A key catalyst for this growth is the highly anticipated November release of Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto VI.
Newzoo predicts that the title will lift full‑game spending by an impressive 17.5 %, making it the strongest growth driver among all business models in the sector. Mobile gaming remains the dominant force, accounting for the largest slice of the pie at 57 % of total revenue. This translates to $121.1 billion and reflects a 6.8 % year‑on‑year rise.
The surge is being fueled by higher average spend per player and the continued maturation of direct‑to‑consumer (D2C) distribution channels, which give developers more control over pricing, promotion, and data collection. A recent FastSpring and Omdia survey underscored this trend, revealing that 96 % of studios either already run a D2C web store or have concrete plans to launch one.
The motivations cited include stronger brand visibility, deeper customer loyalty, and richer first‑party data that can be leveraged for targeted marketing and product development. In contrast, the PC platform is projected to hold the smallest share of the overall market, at 21 % or $45.9 billion. Although still sizable, PC growth is expected to slow to a 5.3 % annual increase, down from the 12 % compound annual growth rate that Newzoo had forecast for 2025. The slowdown reflects a maturing ecosystem and heightened competition from mobile and console titles.
Nevertheless, the report notes that PC growth will be geographically diverse, with notable gains expected across the Asia‑Pacific region, Latin America, and the Middle East‑Africa (MEA) markets. From a business‑model perspective, premium and mid‑priced full‑game releases are slated to continue sustaining revenue streams, while microtransactions are poised to reclaim their position as the largest source of income across all platforms. This shift suggests that developers will increasingly rely on post‑launch monetisation strategies—such as battle passes, cosmetic items, and in‑game currency—to maximise the lifetime value of each player.
Player‑base dynamics also feature prominently in Newzoo’s outlook. The total number of gamers worldwide is projected to reach 4.07 billion by 2029, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 3.2 % after a 4.4 % increase in 2026. The growth trajectory indicates that future expansion will be driven more by retaining and monetising existing users than by acquiring brand‑new players.
This is especially relevant as market saturation approaches in mature regions, leaving emerging markets as the primary source of new participants. Regional analysis shows that the Asia‑Pacific region remains the largest contributor to market growth, while the Middle East and Africa are expanding at the fastest pace. Mobile gamers alone are expected to number 3.10 billion in 2026, representing about 84 % of the total gaming population.
PC gamers are forecast to reach roughly 977 million (26 % of the total), and console enthusiasts are projected at 651 million, or 18 % of the overall base. Penetration rates will edge up slightly, from 61.5 % in 2025 to 62 % in 2026, indicating that there is limited headroom for expanding the total addressable audience through deeper market penetration alone.
Instead, the modest increase reflects the overall online population growing by about 3.5 % to reach 5.97 billion people worldwide. In this context, the industry’s strategic focus is expected to shift toward extracting more value from existing players—through personalised content, loyalty programmes, and sophisticated data‑driven engagement—rather than relying solely on raw user acquisition. Overall, Newzoo’s forecast paints a picture of a robust yet evolving gaming landscape.
While the sector continues to generate staggering revenues and attract billions of participants, the pathways to growth are becoming more nuanced. Developers and publishers will need to balance high‑impact releases like Grand Theft Auto VI with ongoing microtransaction‑driven monetisation, expand D2C capabilities, and tailor strategies to the unique dynamics of each regional market. By doing so, they can navigate the gradual slowdown in player‑base expansion and still capture a meaningful share of the projected $213.9 billion market by 2026.