In 2025 the European video‑game industry recorded a total turnover of €30 billion, with digital sales representing a dominant 91 percent of that figure, according to the latest data released by Video Games Europe (VGE). This milestone underscores the continued shift toward online and downloadable content across the continent’s diverse gaming landscape. A notable development this year was the broadening of VGE’s flagship "All About Games" report.
Previously limited to the five largest European markets – the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain and Italy – the study now incorporates data from an additional eleven nations: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Sweden and Switzerland. By extending its geographic scope to sixteen countries, VGE aims to provide a more comprehensive picture of the sector’s health and trends across the whole European Union and the United Kingdom. To compile the new figures, VGE commissioned market‑research firm Ipsos, which pulled together information from several industry sources, including GameTrack, the German Software Developers Association (GSD), and the freshly published EGDF‑VGE Video Games Industry Insight Report.
The combined survey reached 39,371 respondents, offering a robust sample that captures both consumer behaviour and industry performance. When the expanded dataset is broken down, the original "EU5" markets still account for the bulk of revenue, though they experienced a modest contraction of 4 percent year‑on‑year, falling from €26.8 billion in 2024 to €25.7 billion in 2025.
Germany remained the top‑earning country within this core group, generating €6.5 billion in sales, followed by the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Spain. Employment figures also paint an encouraging picture. In 2025, a total of 123,000 individuals were employed across roughly 8,700 development studios operating in the EU and the UK. Women represented 24 percent of the workforce, a gradual increase that signals a slow but steady move toward greater gender balance in an industry traditionally dominated by men.
The United Kingdom employed the greatest number of gaming professionals, with 28,520 staff members, while Poland and Germany followed with 14,930 and 12,410 employees respectively. These numbers highlight the importance of the UK as a talent hub, as well as the growing significance of Eastern European studios in the broader ecosystem. Platform usage trends continued to evolve. Mobile phones and tablets dominated the market, accounting for 82 percent of all gaming sessions, and they also contributed nearly half of the total revenue generated in 2025.
Console gaming held a respectable 47 percent share of usage, while PC gaming accounted for 34 percent. The strong performance of mobile devices reflects the increasing quality of handheld titles and the ubiquity of smartphones across Europe. In the console segment, Electronic Arts retained its leadership position.
EA’s sports franchise, EA Sports FC26, topped the charts, with its predecessor FC25 holding the second spot, and the long‑awaited Battlefield 6 rounding out the top three. On the PC side, Battlefield 6 also claimed the number‑one position, followed closely by Rockstar Games’ evergreen classics Red Dead Redemption 2 and Grand Theft Auto 5, which continue to attract substantial player bases years after their initial releases. Mobile gaming leaders were equally clear. The casual‑strategy title Coin Master secured the top rank, with Royal Match and the ever‑popular Candy Crush Saga taking second and third places respectively.
These results illustrate the enduring appeal of free‑to‑play, micro‑transaction‑driven games that cater to a broad demographic. Overall player penetration reached 199 million Europeans in 2025, with women representing 46 percent of that audience (approximately 91.5 million female gamers). The United Kingdom emerged as the single largest market, boasting around 25 million active players. Average weekly playtime across the continent slipped slightly to 8.39 hours per person, down from 9.4 hours the previous year.
Younger gamers, however, still logged substantial hours: children aged 6‑11 averaged 11.35 hours per week, while teenagers aged 12‑17 averaged 14.30 hours per week, indicating that gaming remains a primary leisure activity for younger age groups. Parental involvement in gaming habits also showed notable trends. Seventy‑five percent of European parents expressed a desire to participate in setting limits on their children’s video‑game usage.
Moreover, 79 percent reported using one or more family‑setting tools—such as time‑limits, content filters or purchase restrictions—to monitor or curb gameplay, and 74 percent indicated that they have explicit agreements, monitoring practices, or family‑setting configurations in place to manage online interactions. Within the EU5 markets, 72 percent of parents said their children did not make in‑game purchases at all. Of the minority who did, a striking 93 percent of parents reported that they actively supervised those transactions.
Interestingly, the average amount spent by children who were permitted to buy in‑game content fell by 13 percent compared with 2024, suggesting either tighter parental control, more price‑sensitive behaviour, or a shift toward free‑to‑play models. These findings collectively highlight a maturing European gaming sector: robust revenue driven largely by digital sales, expanding geographic coverage in industry reporting, steady employment growth with improving gender representation, and a clear dominance of mobile platforms alongside strong console and PC offerings. At the same time, the data underscores the importance of responsible gaming practices, with a majority of parents actively engaging in oversight and restriction mechanisms to ensure balanced and safe gaming experiences for younger users.