The global gaming market reached a new financial milestone in 2025. According to analytics firm Newzoo, worldwide gaming revenue reached $201.6 billion, marking the first time in history that the industry surpassed the $200 billion barrier. Compared with 2024, total revenue increased by 9.1%, with PC and mobile markets driving most of the growth, while consoles showed a more modest performance.
The biggest growth came from the PC segment, which achieved a record $43.6 billion in revenue, representing a 12% increase year over year. Analysts attribute the rise to a strong lineup of successful releases and continued player engagement.
Mobile gaming remained the largest part of the industry, generating $113.3 billion and growing by 10.7%. Newzoo noted that developers continue improving monetization strategies in this sector despite a decline in overall download numbers.
The console market generated $44.7 billion, growing by only 2.8%. The segment benefited from steady spending on games and subscriptions, but slower live service growth and weaker performance from the Nintendo ecosystem limited further expansion.
Analysts also highlighted changes in microtransaction spending. On PC, microtransaction revenue increased by 9.1%, largely driven by titles such as Counter-Strike 2 and Roblox. However, console microtransaction revenue dropped by 4.6% due to lower player activity in Fortnite and Call of Duty. At the same time, console subscription revenue increased by 10.2%, helped by higher prices for PlayStation Plus and Xbox Game Pass, as well as users moving to more expensive plans.
All regions recorded growth in 2025, although results varied. North America increased by only 5.7%, making it the weakest major region in the report. The Asia Pacific region remained the market leader with 47% of global revenue and 9.9% growth. Europe grew by 10.7%, the Middle East and Africa became the fastest growing region with a 15% increase, while Latin America expanded by 9.6%.
Looking ahead to 2026-2028, Newzoo expects the gaming market to grow at an average annual rate of 5.1% CAGR, reaching $234.4 billion by 2028. Analysts believe the release of Grand Theft Auto VI will become one of the major drivers of future growth. However, rising memory prices caused by AI development could keep hardware costs high and slow down progress in the next generation of gaming devices.
Despite record financial results, the wave of layoffs across the gaming industry is not caused by a shrinking market. The main issues come from companies expanding too aggressively, spending beyond sustainable levels, and relying on business models that no longer fit current conditions.
The gaming industry continues to grow, but it is becoming much more competitive. Success now depends not only on massive investments, but also on the ability to turn those investments into profitable and sustainable products.
As a Reminder, Riot Games Unveils New Summit Map for VALORANT.
