Video game industry set to break records as global market nears $214 billion in 2026

The global video game industry is heading for another record year. Research firm Newzoo expects the market to grow by about 6% in 2026 and approach $213.9 billion, with all major regions and platforms contributing to the expansion.

The forecast follows a milestone in 2025, when the industry crossed $200 billion for the first time. Total revenue reached $201.6 billion, up 9% from the previous year. The figures underline the scale of gaming as one of the world’s largest content industries.

The number of players is expected to rise 4.4% to 3.7 billion in 2026 and approach 4 billion by 2030. Yet the expansion does not mean gaming is spreading equally into new social and age groups. The share of internet users who play games is projected to edge up only from 61.5% to 62%. Of the overall increase, 3.5 percentage points mainly reflect more people gaining internet access, particularly in developing economies.

Mobile gaming remains the market’s clear leader. Revenue from mobile games is forecast to reach $121.1 billion, up 6.8% from 2025 and equal to 57% of the total. Growth is coming less from new downloads than from users spending more on games they already have, through in-app purchases, content packages and microtransactions. Chinese companies are also expanding aggressively in international markets.

Console games are expected to generate $46.9 billion, up 5.1%, while PC games are forecast to bring in $45.9 billion, up 5.3%. Asia-Pacific remains the center of the market, accounting for about 53% of players. The region had 1.896 billion users, compared with 595 million in the Middle East and Africa, 465 million in Europe, 372 million in Latin America and 249 million in North America.