According to Newzoo’s upcoming Global Games Market Report, the worldwide video‑game sector is set to expand by 6.1% in 2026, pushing total revenues to roughly $213.9 billion. More than half of that spending is expected to come from two powerhouses: China and the United States. The full report will be released on September 10, but the headline figures already paint a vivid picture of where the industry is headed. Console platforms are slated to account for about 22 % of the total market, generating $46.9 billion in revenue—a 5.1 % increase from the previous year.
A key driver behind this uplift is the highly anticipated November launch of Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto VI. Newzoo predicts the new title will boost full‑game purchases by 17.5 %, marking the strongest growth among all business models in the sector.
This surge reflects both the franchise’s massive fan base and the continued appetite for premium, narrative‑driven experiences on traditional hardware. Mobile gaming remains the dominant force, projected to capture 57 % of global spend and deliver $121.1 billion in revenue.
This segment’s growth rate of 6.8 % year‑on‑year is fueled by two intertwined trends: higher average spend per player and the rapid rise of direct‑to‑consumer (D2C) distribution channels. More developers are launching their own storefronts, bypassing traditional app‑store gatekeepers, which allows them to retain a larger share of revenue and build deeper relationships with gamers. A recent survey conducted by FastSpring and Omdia underscores this shift: 96 % of studios either already operate a D2C web store or have plans to do so. The motivations cited include stronger brand visibility, heightened player loyalty, and access to first‑party data that can inform future content and monetisation strategies.
By owning the customer relationship, publishers can tailor offers, run targeted promotions, and gather insights that were previously hidden behind platform‑owner analytics. In contrast, the PC segment is expected to hold the smallest slice of the market at 21 %, translating to $45.9 billion in sales. Growth on this platform is forecast at 5.3 % year‑over‑year, a slowdown from the 12 % compound annual growth rate (CAGR) Newzoo had projected for 2025.
Despite the deceleration, PC remains a vital ecosystem for premium and mid‑priced releases, which are expected to sustain a significant portion of full‑game revenue. Moreover, microtransaction‑driven titles are projected to reclaim the top spot as the most lucrative business model across all platforms. Geographically, the next wave of expansion is likely to be broad‑based rather than concentrated in a single region. Asia‑Pacific will continue to lead in terms of absolute player numbers, while Latin America and the Middle East‑Africa (MEA) region are poised to deliver the fastest growth rates.
This diversification reduces reliance on any one market and spreads risk across a wider audience base. Player‑base dynamics also reveal an evolving landscape. Newzoo estimates that the global number of gamers will reach 4.07 billion by 2029, growing at a 3.2 % CAGR after a 4.4 % increase in 2026.
However, the pace of new‑player acquisition is expected to slow, signaling that future revenue growth will hinge more on retaining existing users and extracting additional value from them rather than simply adding fresh heads to the count. Mobile users alone are projected to number 3.10 billion in 2026, representing roughly 84 % of the total gaming population. PC gamers are expected to reach 977 million (about 26 % of the total), while console enthusiasts will number around 651 million, accounting for 18 % of all players.
These figures illustrate the overwhelming dominance of mobile as the primary gateway to gaming, especially in emerging markets where smartphones are often the first and only connected device. Penetration rates—defined as the proportion of the global online population that engages in gaming—are predicted to edge up from 61.5 % to 62 % in 2026. The modest increase highlights a structural ceiling: there is limited room to grow the base through deeper market penetration alone. Instead, the industry’s expansion will be driven by the overall growth of the online population, which Newzoo forecasts will rise by 3.5 % to reach 5.97 billion people.
In summary, the 2026 outlook points to a maturing yet still vibrant gaming ecosystem. Console revenues will benefit from marquee releases like Grand Theft Auto VI, mobile will retain its lead thanks to higher spend and D2C innovations, and PC will continue to serve as a hub for premium experiences and microtransaction‑heavy titles. The geographic spread of growth, combined with a shift toward monetising existing audiences, suggests that developers and publishers will need to focus on player retention, data‑driven personalization, and diversified distribution strategies to capture the full upside of a market poised to exceed $213 billion in the near term.