According to Newzoo’s latest outlook, the worldwide video‑game market is set to expand by roughly 6.1 percent in 2026, pushing total revenues to an estimated $213.9 billion. The firm’s Global Games Market Report, which will be released in full on 10 September, highlights that more than half of all consumer spending will continue to be generated by two powerhouses: China and the United States.
The report breaks down the forecast by platform, beginning with consoles. Newzoo predicts console sales will account for about 22 percent of the overall market, translating to $46.9 billion in revenue and representing a 5.1 percent year‑over‑year increase. A major driver of this uptick is the highly anticipated November launch of Grand Theft Auto VI.
The title is expected to boost spending on full‑price games by roughly 17.5 percent, a rise that Newzoo labels as the strongest growth among all business models in the sector. Mobile gaming remains the dominant force, projected to capture the largest slice of the pie at 57 percent, or $121.1 billion. This segment is slated to grow 6.8 percent from the previous year, buoyed by higher average spend per player and the continued rise of direct‑to‑consumer (D2C) distribution channels.
A recent FastSpring and Omdia survey supports this trend, revealing that 96 percent of studios either already run or plan to launch their own D2C storefronts. Developers cite greater brand visibility, stronger player loyalty, and richer first‑party data as key incentives for moving away from traditional third‑party marketplaces.
The PC platform is expected to hold the smallest share of the market, at roughly 21 percent, equating to $45.9 billion in revenue. Growth on PC is forecast at 5.3 percent year‑over‑year, a slowdown compared with the 12 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) that Newzoo had projected for 2025. Nonetheless, the firm expects PC growth to be geographically diverse, with notable expansion in the Asia‑Pacific, Latin American, and Middle East‑Africa (MEA) regions.
In terms of monetisation models, premium and mid‑tier titles are likely to continue sustaining revenue from full‑price sales, while microtransactions are predicted to reclaim the top spot as the most lucrative business model overall. This shift suggests that developers will keep balancing high‑quality, higher‑priced releases with ongoing in‑game purchase opportunities to maximise earnings.
Player‑base dynamics also feature prominently in the outlook. Newzoo estimates that the global number of gamers will climb to 4.07 billion by 2029, representing a compound annual growth rate of 3.2 percent after a 4.4 percent increase in 2026. The firm warns that future expansion will rely increasingly on retaining and monetising existing players rather than on attracting new ones, as the pool of potential gamers becomes more saturated.
Regional growth patterns underline the importance of emerging markets. Asia‑Pacific remains the largest contributor to overall market growth, while the Middle East and Africa are expanding at the fastest pace.
Mobile gaming is expected to dominate player numbers, with an estimated 3.10 billion mobile gamers in 2026—about 84 percent of the total gaming population. PC gaming is projected to reach 977 million users (approximately 26 percent of all gamers), and console players are forecast at 651 million (around 18 percent).
Player penetration, defined as the proportion of the online population that engages in gaming, is slated to inch upward from 61.5 percent to 62 percent in 2026. Newzoo notes that the modest rise reflects limited headroom for deeper market penetration; instead, growth will largely stem from the overall online population expanding by an estimated 3.5 percent to reach 5.97 billion people. Overall, Newzoo’s analysis paints a picture of a maturing industry where incremental revenue gains are driven by flagship releases like Grand Theft Auto VI, the steady rise of mobile platforms, and the strategic shift toward direct‑to‑consumer sales models. While the total addressable market continues to expand, the emphasis for developers and publishers will increasingly be on deepening engagement with existing audiences, leveraging data‑driven insights, and tailoring experiences to diverse regional preferences.
The coming years will likely see a blend of high‑budget premium titles and robust microtransaction ecosystems co‑existing, each playing a pivotal role in sustaining the sector’s financial health as it moves beyond the rapid growth phase of its early decades.