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The 2026 State of Web Gaming Report

Global Gaming Market Report: 2025

A lot of things went better than expected in 2025 compared to the initial Newzoo expectations.

App Monetization in 2026

Non-gaming apps are comparable with the top mobile genres by ARPPU; converting users better, but struggle to make them recurrent.

Young Male Gamers and Conspiracy Theories: UK Public Perspective

'Sceptical Scrollers' are also four times as likely to think they can spot misinformation ​​🤯

Essential Facts about Video Games in Italy: 2025

• The Italian video game market generated €2.4 billion in 2025, with game sales accounting for 77 percent (€1.8 billion) of total revenue.
• App-based gaming dominates the market, representing over half of total revenue with a freemium model where only one percent of earnings come from upfront purchases.
• Smart devices are the primary revenue driver at €929 million, while console gaming accounts for €643 million, supported by an average of eight hours of gameplay per week across the population.

Europe and Esports: High Engagement and Even Higher Potential (2020)

• Europe's esports audience reached 92 million viewers in 2020, a 7.4% increase from 2019, consisting of 33 million enthusiasts and 59 million occasional viewers.
• Global esports revenue is projected to grow from €973.9 million in 2020 to €1.6 billion by 2023, with European market trends mirroring this expansion.
• Engagement is highest among 21–25-year-olds, with Finland reporting the highest enthusiast proportion at 52% for the 18–20 age bracket, compared to 21% in the UK.

For the Game: Data Fusion Sheds a New Light on Players

• The global gaming market is projected to reach 3.5 billion players and generate over US$225 billion in revenue by 2025.
• Brands that integrate value-add experiences like exclusive rewards or AR scavenger hunts achieve a 96% ad completion rate.
• Gamer demographics show that 57% of players are female, with 40% of U.S. gamers citing social belonging as a primary motivation for play.

Is There a Shift from Content to Tech Startups Among Gaming VCs?

• Content creators and publishers remain the primary focus of gaming VC, accounting for over half of all capital deployed (approximately $1.76 billion) and the majority of deal volume across all stages.
• Gaming-focused VC funds, including VENTURES, BEHOLD Venture, and Lightspeed Lvp., significantly increased their activity between 2020 and H1 2024, with capital deployed rising from $1.3 billion to over $2.4 billion.
• The number of VC-led funding rounds grew substantially from 67 in early 2020 to 289 by H1 2024, reflecting an overall increase in investment activity.

Europe’s Gaming Consolidators: The Magnificent Seven Post-M&A Rush

• Between 2020 and 2024, seven major European gaming consolidators deployed $19 billion across over 140 deals, with mienn Easybrain Group accounting for 78 deals totaling $14.1 billion.
• Aggressive inorganic growth strategies failed to deliver sustainable shareholder value, as evidenced by a market cap collapse from a $25.5 billion peak in April 2021 to approximately $5.4 billion.
• Share prices for the primary acquirers corrected significantly, falling 30–70% from December 2019 levels as valuation multiples contracted from highs of 30× EV/NTM revenue.

The Alumni Effect: Studios Founded by Ex-Activision, Blizzard, and King Employees

• Between 2020 and 2024, 30 studios founded by former Activision Blizzard employees secured approximately $0.7 billion in venture capital across 45 funding rounds.
• Ex-Activision studios demonstrate a 'first-round momentum' effect, being roughly four times more likely than peer startups to secure a second round of financing within the same calendar year.
• Investor confidence in alumni teams peaked in 2021, when 43% of ex-Activision studios raised a subsequent round compared to only 9% of broader gaming startups.

Corporate Overhaul: Why Does CVC Play a Bigger Role Than Ever?

• Corporate venture capital (CVC) has become the dominant force in gaming investment from 2020 to 2024, accounting for over half of all capital raised with $4.0 billion across 93 CVC-led deals.
• Investment strategies have shifted toward co-investment models between CVCs and traditional VCs, which collectively raised $3.5 billion across 80 deals to spread risk and access high-profile startups.
• Asian firms, specifically from South Korea and Japan, are the most active investors, completing 105 deals worth $1.8 billion and surpassing Western peers in total deal volume.

Game & Network Services Segment Presentation

• Sony’s Game & Network Services segment has achieved a significant financial turnaround, growing from a $4 billion operating loss in 2000 to $13 billion in operating income by 2024.
• Revenue is increasingly driven by services, the PlayStation Store, and peripherals, which now account for 52–54% of the segment's total revenue.
• The PlayStation ecosystem has reached 124 million monthly active users, representing a 14% year-over-year increase, with a life-to-date spend of $846 per console.

The Great Mobile Reversal: Why Buyers Pay Billions for What VCs Abandoned

• Mobile gaming accounted for 61% of total gaming deal value (excluding ATVI) between 2020 and H1 2025, with strategic buyers and private equity firms driving nearly all deal volume in the first half of 2025.
• Strategic consolidation has replaced VC-led growth, highlighted by $7 billion in mobile M&A activity across six major deals, including Af’s $12.7 billion acquisition of 2yga and Scopely’s $4.9 billion purchase of GamesGroup.
• Venture capital interest has shifted heavily toward casual gaming, which now captures 65% of all deals due to its broader audience reach and faster iteration cycles.

Public Mobile Gaming Publishers: Resilience & Adaptation in a Shifting Landscape

• Aggregate market capitalization for major mobile gaming publishers has plummeted by more than 50% since January 2022, with most stocks remaining below pre-IDFA valuation peaks.
• User acquisition costs have surged to as high as $40 million per firm, while diminishing returns on these campaigns have compressed EBITDA margins and forced a shift toward cost control.
• MTG outperformed the broader market with a 50%+ share price increase and 9% organic growth in Q4 2024, driven by disciplined M&A and operational efficiency.

Mobile Gaming by Genre: Hypercasual

• Hypercasual revenue for the top 100 titles is projected to reach $690 million in 2025, a significant increase from $403 million in 2024.
• H1 2025 performance for the top 100 hypercasual titles hit record highs of 5.48 billion downloads and $345 million in IAP revenue, doubling the figures from the same period in 2024.
• Leading publishers like AZUR GAMES, Supersonic Studios, and Voodoo are shifting toward hybrid-casual models that blend traditional advertising with deeper IAP monetization to extend player engagement.

Mobile Gaming: Casual

• Casual mobile gaming is shifting toward higher revenue per user, with IAP revenue projected to grow from $16.8 billion to $22.9 billion by the end of 2025 despite a fluctuating download volume.
• Market leaders demonstrate divergent monetization strategies: Royal Match ($540M) and Monopoly Go! ($431M) rely exclusively on IAPs, while Candy Crush Saga ($421M) successfully integrates advertising.
• Playrix’s portfolio approach, utilizing a suite of titles like Township and Gardenscapes, generated a combined $554 million, proving the effectiveness of hybrid monetization and established franchise management.