According to Newzoo’s latest Global Games Market Report, the worldwide video‑game industry is set to expand by roughly 6.1 percent over the next year, pushing total revenue to an estimated $213.9 billion in 2026. More than half of that spending is expected to come from two of the biggest consumer bases on the planet – China and the United States – underscoring the continued dominance of these markets in driving overall growth. The full report, slated for release on September 10, breaks down the forecast by platform, business model and regional dynamics. Console sales are projected to account for about 22 percent of the total market, translating to $46.9 billion in revenue and a year‑over‑year increase of 5.1 percent.
A key catalyst for this uplift is the highly anticipated November release of Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto VI. Newzoo predicts that the new title will lift full‑game spending by an impressive 17.5 percent, making it the strongest growth driver among all business models in the sector. Mobile gaming remains the largest slice of the pie, expected to capture 57 percent of global revenue – roughly $121.1 billion – and grow at a 6.8 percent annual rate. This surge is being powered by higher average spend per player and the rapid expansion of direct‑to‑consumer (D2C) distribution channels, which give developers more control over pricing, promotion and data collection.
A recent FastSpring‑Omdia survey supports this trend, revealing that 96 percent of studios either already run or plan to launch their own D2C storefronts. Studios cite stronger brand visibility, deeper customer loyalty and richer first‑party data as the primary motivations for moving away from traditional marketplace dependence. In contrast, the PC segment is forecast to hold the smallest share of the market at 21 percent, equating to $45.9 billion in sales.
Growth on this platform is expected to slow to 5.3 percent year‑on‑year, a noticeable dip from the 12 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) that Newzoo had projected for 2025. Despite the slower pace, PC growth is expected to be geographically diverse, with notable expansion in the Asia‑Pacific region, Latin America and the Middle East‑Africa (MEA) corridor. When it comes to business models, premium and mid‑tier titles are anticipated to continue sustaining the bulk of full‑game revenue.
However, microtransactions – the in‑game purchase of virtual goods, cosmetics and other small‑scale items – are projected to reclaim the top spot as the most lucrative model overall. This shift reflects a broader industry movement toward hybrid monetisation strategies that blend upfront purchases with ongoing, optional spend. Player numbers are also a focal point of the outlook.
Newzoo estimates the global gaming audience will reach 4.07 billion by 2029, growing at a 3.2 percent CAGR after a 4.4 percent rise in 2026. The composition of that audience is heavily skewed toward mobile users, who are expected to number 3.10 billion in 2026 – about 84 percent of all gamers. PC gamers are projected at 977 million (roughly 26 percent of the total), while console players should total around 651 million, representing 18 percent of the market.
Overall player penetration is predicted to inch upward from 61.5 percent to 62 percent in 2026. Newzoo notes that the room for expanding the base through deeper market penetration is limited; future growth will therefore rely more on retaining existing players and extracting additional value from them rather than on attracting large numbers of new participants. This perspective aligns with the observation that growth is increasingly concentrated in emerging markets, where the Asia‑Pacific region remains the largest driver and the Middle East and Africa are expanding at the fastest pace.
In summary, the coming year promises solid, if not spectacular, expansion for the global games market. The combination of a blockbuster console launch, continued dominance of mobile platforms, and a strategic pivot toward D2C storefronts and microtransaction‑driven revenue models should keep the industry on an upward trajectory. At the same time, developers and publishers will need to focus on deepening engagement with their current audiences, leveraging first‑party data, and tailoring experiences to regional preferences in order to sustain momentum in a market where the pool of new players is gradually plateauing.