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 continuing shift toward online purchases and the growing importance of digital distribution channels across the continent. A notable development this year was the broadening of VGE’s flagship "All About Games" report. Previously limited to the five largest European gaming economies – the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain and Italy – the analysis now encompasses sixteen countries.
The additional territories include Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Sweden and Switzerland, providing a more comprehensive picture of the market dynamics throughout the region. To compile the new dataset, VGE engaged the market‑research firm Ipsos, which pulled information from several established sources such as GameTrack, the German Software Distribution (GSD) database, and the freshly published EGDF‑VGE Video Games Industry Insight Report.
The survey reached a total of 39,371 respondents, delivering a robust statistical foundation for the findings. When the numbers for the original "EU5" group are examined in isolation, revenue fell by 4 percent year‑on‑year, slipping from €26.8 billion in 2024 to €25.7 billion in 2025.
Germany remained the top‑earning market among the five, generating €6.5 billion, followed by the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Spain in descending order. Employment figures also paint an encouraging portrait of the sector’s health. In 2025, roughly 123,000 individuals were employed across 8,700 development studios operating in the EU and the UK. Women accounted for about a quarter of the workforce (24 percent), reflecting a gradual but steady move toward greater gender diversity in game development.
The United Kingdom led the continent in terms of job numbers, with 28,520 people working in the industry. Poland came in second with 14,930 employees, and Germany held third place with 12,410 staff members. These three nations together represent more than half of all gaming‑related jobs in Europe.
Platform usage patterns continued to be dominated by mobile devices. Smartphones and tablets were the preferred hardware for 82 percent of gamers, making them the most popular way to access games.
Consoles were used by 47 percent of respondents, while PC usage stood at 34 percent. In monetary terms, mobile and tablet gaming contributed nearly half of the total €30 billion revenue, highlighting the lucrative nature of the mobile market. In the console arena, Electronic Arts retained the leading position in 2025.
Its flagship sports titles, EA Sports FC26 and FC25, occupied the top two slots on the console charts, with the third place taken by the newly released Battlefield 6. On the PC side, Battlefield 6 also claimed the number‑one spot, followed closely by Rockstar Games’ enduring classics Red Dead Redemption 2 and Grand Theft Auto 5, which continue to generate strong sales years after their initial launch.
Mobile gaming leaders were equally clear. The casual‑strategy title Coin Master topped the mobile charts, with Royal Match and the long‑standing Candy Crush Saga rounding out the top three.
These results illustrate the sustained appetite for quick‑play, free‑to‑play experiences that rely on in‑app purchases. Overall player reach expanded to 199 million Europeans in 2025.
Women made up 46 percent of this audience, amounting to 91.5 million female gamers, while the United Kingdom alone accounted for 25 million players, making it the single largest national market. Average weekly playtime across the region was recorded at 8.39 hours, a slight decline from the 9.4 hours reported in 2024. Younger demographics still spent considerably more time gaming: children aged 6‑11 logged an average of 11.35 hours per week, and teenagers aged 12‑17 averaged 14.30 hours.
Parental involvement remains a significant factor in the European gaming landscape. Seventy‑five percent of parents indicated they prefer to be actively involved in setting limits on their children’s gaming activities. Moreover, 79 percent reported using one or more family‑setting tools to monitor or restrict gameplay, and 74 percent said they have explicit agreements, monitoring practices, or family‑setting configurations to manage online interactions. When it comes to in‑game purchases, 72 percent of parents in the EU5 markets said their children did not buy any digital content.
Among the minority who did make purchases, a striking 93 percent of parents claimed they kept a close watch over those transactions. Notably, the average amount spent by children who were permitted to buy in‑game items fell by 13 percent compared with the previous year, suggesting either more cautious spending habits or increased parental oversight. These findings collectively illustrate a mature, digitally‑focused European gaming ecosystem that is expanding both in terms of revenue and audience reach, while also grappling with the challenges of responsible consumption and gender balance within the industry. The broadened geographic scope of the report provides valuable insight for developers, publishers, and policymakers aiming to navigate the evolving market dynamics across the continent.