According to Newzoo’s latest Global Games Market Report, which will be released in full on September 10, the worldwide video‑game market is set to expand by 6.1% over the next year, reaching an estimated $213.9 billion in revenue. More than half of that spending is expected to come from just two countries – China and the United States – underscoring the continued dominance of these two giant consumer bases in shaping industry trends. The report breaks down the forecast by platform.
Console gaming is predicted to generate $46.9 billion, representing roughly 22 % of the total market and growing at a 5.1 % annual rate. A key driver behind this uplift is the highly anticipated launch of Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto VI in November.
Newzoo anticipates that the new title will lift full‑game spending by an impressive 17.5 %, marking the strongest growth among all business models in the sector. This surge is expected to ripple through the console ecosystem, prompting higher hardware sales, increased accessory purchases, and a boost in related services such as subscription‑based online play. Mobile gaming remains the largest slice of the pie, accounting for 57 % of global revenue and projected to hit $121.1 billion. The mobile segment is growing at a 6.8 % year‑on‑year pace, driven by two complementary forces: deeper pockets among existing players and the rapid rise of direct‑to‑consumer (D2C) distribution channels.
More developers are establishing their own storefronts, bypassing traditional app‑store intermediaries to capture a larger share of the revenue stream and to gather first‑party data that can be used for targeted marketing and product refinement. A recent joint survey by FastSpring and Omdia supports this shift, revealing that 96 % of game studios either already run a D2C web store or have concrete plans to launch one.
Studios cite stronger brand visibility, heightened player loyalty, and richer access to consumer insights as the primary motivations for moving away from platform‑centric distribution models. In contrast, PC gaming is forecast to hold the smallest market share at 21 %, translating to $45.9 billion in revenue.
While still growing – at an estimated 5.3 % year‑on‑year – the pace is expected to slow compared with the 12 % compound annual growth rate that Newzoo projected for 2025. The slowdown reflects a maturing market where the low‑hang fruit of rapid expansion has been largely harvested.
Nevertheless, 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) corridor. When it comes to business models, premium and mid‑priced releases are projected to keep sustaining full‑game revenue streams, while microtransactions are set to reclaim their position as the dominant monetisation method across all platforms. This resurgence is tied to the increasing sophistication of in‑game economies and the willingness of players to spend on cosmetics, battle passes, and other optional content that enhances the gameplay experience without compromising the core product. Player‑base dynamics also feature prominently in the outlook.
The total number of gamers worldwide is expected to rise to 4.07 billion by 2029, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 3.2 % after a 4.4 % increase in 2026. However, Newzoo cautions that future growth will hinge more on retaining and monetising existing players than on attracting brand‑new users. This shift reflects the fact that the global online population – the ultimate pool of potential gamers – is only expanding modestly, at about 3.5 % per year, to reach roughly 5.97 billion people. Regional analysis shows that growth is increasingly concentrated in emerging markets.
The Asia‑Pacific region remains the largest contributor to overall revenue, while the Middle East and Africa are expanding at the fastest pace, driven by improved broadband penetration and a youthful demographic eager to adopt new entertainment formats. In terms of player distribution by platform, mobile gamers are projected to number 3.10 billion in 2026, representing 84 % of the total gaming audience. PC gamers are expected to reach 977 million (about 26 % of the total), and console players are forecast at 651 million (approximately 18 %). These figures illustrate the continuing dominance of mobile as the entry point for new players, while PC and console segments retain strong, loyal communities that contribute disproportionately to higher‑value spending.
Finally, player penetration – the proportion of the global online population that engages in gaming – is anticipated to edge up slightly from 61.5 % to 62 % in 2026. Newzoo notes that there is limited scope for dramatic gains in penetration; instead, the industry’s future health will be measured by how effectively companies can deepen engagement, increase average revenue per user, and leverage data‑driven strategies to keep existing audiences active and spending. Overall, the 2026 outlook paints a picture of a maturing yet still vibrant market, where strategic releases like Grand Theft Auto VI, the expansion of D2C storefronts, and the steady rise of microtransaction‑based monetisation will shape the next wave of growth.
Companies that focus on player retention, cross‑platform integration, and localized content for fast‑growing regions are likely to capture the most value as the global gaming ecosystem continues its evolution.