According to the latest figures released by market‑research firm Newzoo, the most entrenched live‑service and evergreen video‑game titles posted either stagnant or lower revenues in the first half of 2026 when measured against the same period in 2025. The firm’s newly issued Global Games Market Report indicates that only a handful of games managed to generate any meaningful growth during this window.
Those outliers include Blizzard’s long‑running MMORPG World of Warcraft, the recently launched action‑RPG Diablo 4, Blizzard’s team‑based shooter Overwatch, the user‑generated‑content platform Roblox, as well as a selection of region‑specific releases from Chinese giant Tencent. While Sony’s PlayStation Plus subscription bundle is expected to provide a modest lift for multi‑game subscription models, the broader digital revenue stream actually fell year‑on‑year across six major Western markets in the first six months of 2026. Newzoo attributes this dip to a weakening of both free‑to‑play monetisation schemes and the annualised premium pricing model, which together outweighed the impact of any strong new launches during the period.
Looking ahead, Newzoo projects that the overall console‑player base will expand by roughly 3 percent in 2026, an improvement over the near‑flat 0.5 percent growth recorded in 2025. The primary catalyst for this uptick is expected to be the highly anticipated release of Grand Theft Auto VI, a title that is likely to reignite consumer interest in ninth‑generation hardware, particularly on Sony’s PlayStation platform. In addition, first‑party releases for Nintendo’s upcoming Switch 2 console are forecast to contribute further to the expansion of the install base for the current console generation.
Supporting this outlook, recent Nielsen IQ data shows a sharp rise in console sales in the United Kingdom following the premiere of GTA VI on the streaming service Netflix. PlayStation 5 units rose by 33 percent and Xbox consoles by 34 percent during the weeks after the trailer debuted, suggesting a strong correlation between high‑profile media exposure and hardware demand. Emmanuel “Manu” Rosier, Newzoo’s director of market intelligence, told GamesIndustry.biz that without the boost from GTA VI, overall console‑related revenues would likely have remained flat relative to 2025 levels.
Rosier emphasised that the title’s release not only drives hardware sales but also stimulates ancillary spending on downloadable content, in‑game purchases, and subscription services. The report also highlights the performance of the top ten publicly listed game companies for the first quarter of 2026.
Collectively, these firms generated $37.4 billion in revenue, representing a 6.7 percent increase over the same quarter a year earlier. Tencent retained its position at the top of the list, posting an 11.9 percent rise to $10.8 billion.
Sony followed with $5.2 billion, a slight dip of 0.9 percent, while Microsoft reported $5.1 billion, down 5.5 percent. Roblox, the social gaming platform, posted the strongest year‑over‑year growth among the group, climbing 39.3 percent to $1.4 billion and securing the tenth spot. On a macro level, Newzoo continues to forecast that the global games market will reach $213.9 billion in 2026, up 6.1 percent from the previous year. The Asia‑Pacific region is expected to account for almost half of that total, delivering roughly $100.7 billion in revenue.
China alone is projected to generate $58.1 billion, while North America will contribute $56.9 billion, with the United States representing $53.5 billion of the North American share. Player numbers are also set to rise, with an estimated 3.7 billion gamers worldwide in 2026 – a 4.4 percent increase over 2025. Notably, the proportion of players who spend money on games is expected to climb to 44.6 percent, up from 39.4 percent in 2015, indicating a maturing monetisation landscape.
Correspondingly, the average revenue per paying user (ARPPU) is forecast to hit $129.6, a modest 1.4 percent year‑on‑year gain that Newzoo attributes to deeper spending habits among the existing player base rather than a surge of new spenders. In summary, while the broader live‑service and evergreen segment struggled to maintain growth momentum in early 2026, the industry’s outlook is buoyed by flagship releases such as Grand Theft Auto VI and strategic first‑party titles on next‑gen hardware.
These catalysts are expected to drive both hardware adoption and increased spend per user, helping the market to continue its upward trajectory despite the challenges faced by free‑to‑play and subscription models in several key regions.