The analytics company Newzoo has finally summed up the results for the global video game market in 2025—before this, they had released several forecasts. As it turns out, last year became the most profitable in monetary terms in the history of observations, despite numerous layoffs and studio closures.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Main Takeaways from the Report
- According to Newzoo, in 2025, the market revenue reached $201.6 billion for the first time in history. This is 9.1% more than in 2024. Previously, in their most optimistic scenario, analysts anticipated seeing “only” $196.7 billion.
- The largest segment remained mobile, with revenue of $113.3 billion (+10.7%). Its income grew thanks to the success of Chinese mini-games and the development of direct-to-consumer sales (D2C).
- The second place went to the console games segment—$44.7 billion (+2.8%). Of this sum, $19.9 billion (+8.1%) came from paid game sales, $13.3 billion (-4.6%) from microtransactions, and $9.4 billion (+11.7%) from subscriptions.
- The revenue from the PC games segment was $43.6 billion (+12%). As noted by Newzoo, its growth rates have never been so high before. This success was achieved thanks to the release of a series of high-profile games such as Battlefield 6, Monster Hunter Wilds, and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Furthermore, in 2025, mid-priced games performed particularly well.
- Microtransactions remained the primary source of revenue for PC games, contributing nearly half of the total—$20.3 billion (+9.1%).
- At the same time, the most significant growth on PC came from in-game subscriptions. Their revenue surged by 42.1%, reaching $1.8 billion. Additionally, paid PC games demonstrated a substantial revenue jump—by 25.3% to $14.1 billion.
- 52% of the total global video game market revenue came from two countries—China ($54.6 billion) and the USA ($50.8 billion).
- Newzoo forecasts that by the end of 2026, gamers worldwide will spend $213.9 billion on games. By 2028, the figure is expected to reach $234.4 billion.
