According to Newzoo’s latest Global Games Market Report, which will be released in full on 10 September, the worldwide video‑game sector is set to expand by 6.1 percent in 2026, reaching an estimated total value of $213.9 billion. More than half of that revenue will be generated by consumers in just two countries – China and the United States – underscoring the continued dominance of these two markets in the industry.
The report breaks down the forecast by platform. Console sales are expected to account for roughly 22 percent of the total market, translating into $46.9 billion in revenue and representing a 5.1 percent year‑over‑year increase. A key driver of this growth is the anticipated launch of Rockstar Games’ highly‑anticipated title Grand Theft Auto VI in November 2026.
Newzoo predicts that the new installment will lift full‑game spending by 17.5 percent, marking the strongest growth among all business models in the sector. Mobile gaming remains the largest slice of the pie, projected to capture 57 percent of global spend – about $121.1 billion – and to grow 6.8 percent compared with the previous year.
This upward trajectory is fueled by higher average spend per player and the rapid expansion of direct‑to‑consumer (D2C) distribution channels, which allow publishers to sell games straight to gamers without relying on traditional app‑store intermediaries. A recent survey conducted by FastSpring and Omdia supports this shift toward D2C. The study found that 96 percent of game studios either already operate or plan to launch their own D2C web stores.
Developers cite improved brand visibility, stronger customer loyalty, and richer access to first‑party data as the primary motivations for moving sales in‑house. In contrast, the PC platform is forecast to hold the smallest share of the market at 21 percent, equating to $45.9 billion in revenue. Growth on PC is expected to slow to 5.3 percent year‑over‑year, down from the 12 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) that Newzoo projected for 2025. Despite the slower pace, the report notes that PC growth will be geographically diverse, with the strongest gains coming from the Asia‑Pacific region, Latin America, and the Middle East‑Africa (MEA) markets.
When it comes to monetisation models, premium and mid‑priced releases are anticipated to keep sustaining full‑game revenue streams, while microtransactions are expected to reclaim the position of the largest business model overall. This suggests that while high‑budget, full‑price titles will continue to be important, the industry’s revenue engine will increasingly rely on in‑game purchases and other small‑scale transactions. Player numbers are also a focal point of the forecast.
Newzoo expects the total global player base to reach 4.07 billion by 2029, growing at a compound annual rate of 3.2 percent after a 4.4 percent increase in 2026. The growth outlook indicates that the industry will rely more on retaining and monetising existing gamers rather than on attracting large numbers of new players.
This shift reflects the reality that the pool of internet‑connected individuals is approaching saturation in many mature markets. Regional dynamics further illustrate where the next wave of expansion will come from. Emerging markets are driving most of the growth, with the Asia‑Pacific region remaining the largest contributor in terms of revenue and player count. Meanwhile, the Middle East and Africa are expanding at the fastest pace, signaling a broadening of the global gaming audience.
In terms of platform‑specific player counts for 2026, Newzoo estimates that mobile gamers will number 3.10 billion, representing about 84 percent of all players worldwide. PC gamers are projected to reach 977 million (roughly 26 percent of the total), and console gamers are expected to total 651 million, or 18 percent of the global audience. Overall player penetration – the share of the global online population that plays games – is forecast to edge up slightly from 61.5 percent to 62 percent in 2026.
Newzoo cautions that there is limited room for further growth through deeper market penetration; instead, future expansion will largely be a function of the overall online population increasing by an estimated 3.5 percent to reach 5.97 billion people. In summary, the 2026 outlook paints a picture of a maturing industry that is still expanding, but at a more measured pace. Mobile remains the dominant force, D2C strategies are becoming the norm, and microtransactions are poised to lead revenue generation. At the same time, the sector’s growth will hinge on keeping existing gamers engaged and extracting additional value from them, as the pool of potential new players narrows in many parts of the world.