In 2025 the European video‑game market produced roughly €30 billion in revenue, with digital sales representing an overwhelming 91 percent of the total, according to the latest figures released by Video Games Europe (VGE). This milestone underscores the continuing shift toward online purchases, downloadable content and subscription‑based services across the continent’s diverse gaming ecosystem. A notable development this year is the enlargement of VGE’s flagship research publication, the All About Games report.
Previously the analysis was confined to the five largest European territories – the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain and Italy – collectively referred to as the EU5. The 2025 edition now incorporates data from an additional eleven countries: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Sweden and Switzerland. By broadening its geographic scope, VGE aims to provide a more comprehensive picture of gaming trends, consumer habits and industry health throughout the wider European region. To compile the expanded dataset, VGE commissioned market‑research firm Ipsos, which drew on three major sources: GameTrack, the Global Software Distribution (GSD) platform, and the newly released EGDF‑VGE Video Games Industry Insight Report.
The combined effort yielded responses from 39,371 participants, ranging from casual players to industry professionals, giving the study a robust statistical foundation. When the numbers are broken down, the traditional EU5 markets experienced a modest contraction, with total revenue falling 4 percent year‑on‑year to €25.7 billion, down from €26.8 billion in 2024.
Germany remained the powerhouse of the region, generating €6.5 billion, the highest national figure among all surveyed economies. Despite the dip, the overall European market continued to grow thanks to strong performance in the newly added territories, which helped push the continent‑wide total to the €30 billion mark.
Employment data paints an equally encouraging picture. In 2025, roughly 123,000 individuals were employed across 8,700 game‑development studios operating in the EU and the United Kingdom. Women accounted for 24 percent of the workforce, indicating gradual progress toward gender balance in a historically male‑dominated sector. The United Kingdom led the continent in headcount, with 28,520 employees, followed by Poland (14,930) and Germany (12,410).
These figures reflect not only the size of the domestic markets but also the growing importance of outsourcing, support services and ancillary roles such as marketing, QA and community management. Platform preferences among European gamers continued to evolve.
Mobile phones and tablets dominated usage statistics, with 82 percent of respondents indicating they primarily played on handheld devices. Consoles were the second most popular platform at 47 percent, while PCs accounted for 34 percent of playtime.
In terms of revenue contribution, mobile and tablet gaming alone generated almost half of the total €30 billion, underscoring the lucrative nature of the free‑to‑play model, in‑app purchases and ad‑supported titles. The console segment was led by Electronic Arts, whose sports franchise EA Sports FC26 claimed the top spot, with its predecessor FC25 occupying the runner‑up position. Battlefield 6 secured the third place on consoles, demonstrating the enduring appeal of large‑scale shooters. On the PC side, Battlefield 6 also emerged as the best‑selling title, followed closely by Rockstar Games’ evergreen classics Red Dead Redemption 2 and Grand Theft Auto V, which continue to attract substantial player bases years after their initial releases.
Mobile gaming charts were topped by the casual phenomenon Coin Master, which claimed the number‑one position, with Royal Match and the long‑standing Candy Crush Saga rounding out the top three. These results highlight the sustained demand for easily accessible, short‑session games that blend social interaction with simple mechanics.
Overall participation in gaming across Europe reached 199 million individuals in 2025, with women representing 46 percent (approximately 91.5 million) of the player base. The United Kingdom remained the single largest national market, boasting 25 million active gamers. Average weekly playtime across the continent measured 8.39 hours per person, a slight decline from 9.4 hours in the previous year.
Age‑specific data revealed that children aged 6‑11 logged an average of 11.35 hours per week, while teenagers aged 12‑17 averaged 14.30 hours, indicating that younger cohorts still dedicate considerable time to interactive entertainment. Parental involvement in gaming habits also featured prominently in the survey.
Seventy‑five percent of European parents expressed a desire to take an active role in setting limits on their children’s video‑game usage. Correspondingly, 79 percent reported using at least one family‑setting tool—such as screen‑time controls, content filters or purchase restrictions—to monitor or curb gameplay. Moreover, 74 percent said they had established agreements, employed monitoring software, or utilized built‑in platform settings to manage online interactions and protect their children from inappropriate content. When focusing on the EU5 markets, 72 percent of parents indicated that their children did not make in‑game purchases at all.
Among the minority who did, a striking 93 percent said they closely supervised those transactions, reflecting heightened awareness of micro‑transaction spending. Notably, the average amount spent by children who were permitted to buy in‑game items fell by 13 percent compared with 2024, suggesting that parental oversight and possibly increased price sensitivity are influencing spending behavior.
In summary, the 2025 data from Video Games Europe illustrates a robust and increasingly diversified gaming landscape across the continent. While traditional markets experienced modest revenue dips, the expansion into additional countries helped sustain overall growth, pushing total earnings to €30 billion. Digital sales dominate the revenue mix, mobile platforms continue to capture the largest share of both usage and income, and the industry supports a sizable workforce with a slowly improving gender balance.
At the same time, the findings underscore the importance of parental engagement and responsible spending, especially among younger gamers, as the sector moves forward into an ever‑more connected and monetised future.