Sensor Tower

The premium PC and console gaming market experienced a 5.3% year-over-year revenue increase in the first half of 2026, reaching $13.8 billion. This growth was driven primarily by the console sector, which offset a slight decline in the first quarter with a strong 13% surge in the second quarter. Over a 12-month period, the market generated $30 billion in gross revenue, with PlayStation capturing 45.1% of the share, followed by Steam at 38.6% and Xbox at 16.3%.

Methodologically, the analysis aggregates data from over 140,000 games across more than 50 countries, focusing on Steam, PlayStation, and Xbox platforms. While the market remains dominated by established franchises and AAA blockbusters, there is a notable trend of high-volume sales for lower-priced titles. Action remains the leading genre by revenue across all platforms, though specific platform leaders vary, with EA Sports FC 26 and Forza Horizon 6 performing strongly in units sold.

The industry is increasingly reliant on back-catalog revenue, which accounts for 60% to 80% of Steam’s total earnings. Despite a high volume of new releases, publishers are finding it difficult to capture market share, leading to a strategic focus on established intellectual property and remakes. Advertising spend for the sector totaled $1.2 billion over the 12-month period, with a heavy emphasis on social media channels like Instagram and Facebook. High-profile upcoming releases, such as Grand Theft Auto VI, are already demonstrating significant commercial impact, with pre-orders exceeding $500 million by September 2026. The data suggests that while AAA titles command massive budgets and visibility, indie and AA games often achieve more consistent conversion rates from wishlists.

The Q2 2026 Digital Market Index provides a comprehensive performance review of the global digital economy, focusing on shifts in mobile, web, and advertising sectors. The analysis highlights a divergence in performance between non-gaming and gaming mobile sectors: while non-gaming mobile revenue reached a record $2.4 billion, mobile gaming experienced a 5.9% quarter-over-quarter decline, falling below $20 billion for the first time in over two years.

The broader digital landscape shows signs of resilience and structural change. Digital advertising reached $49 billion, with social channels capturing 54% of total U.S. spend as linear TV investment dropped by 6%. Within the advertising sector, shopping remains the leading category, bolstered by significant growth from major retailers. Conversely, the retail media segment faced headwinds, with total U.S. impressions declining 19% year-over-year, largely driven by a 27% drop from Amazon.

Technological adoption continues to reshape monetization strategies, particularly within generative AI. While ChatGPT retains a 60% revenue share, competitors including Claude, Grok, and Gemini have demonstrated rapid growth, each increasing revenue by at least 7x year-over-year. Additionally, global web engagement remains stable, with 2.04 trillion visits recorded in Q2. Growth in this area is increasingly driven by emerging economies, specifically India, Argentina, and Saudi Arabia.

The findings are derived from a 50-page analysis incorporating over 45 interactive charts covering global digital trends. By contrasting the contraction in mobile gaming and retail media impressions against the expansion of social advertising and AI monetization, the data illustrates a digital economy currently defined by shifting consumer priorities and evolving platform dominance.

The 2026 Retail Media Report provides a comprehensive analysis of the evolving retail media landscape, focusing on advertising trends, channel allocation, and strategic shifts among major retail media networks (RMNs). Utilizing exclusive data from Pathmatics, the analysis examines the U.S. market during the first half of 2026, offering insights into how both endemic and non-endemic brands are navigating this complex digital advertising environment.

Key findings indicate a contraction in the broader market, with total U.S. retail media impressions declining 17% year-over-year to 223 billion in the first half of 2026. This downturn was largely driven by a 16% decrease in impressions from market leader Amazon, though the report notes that home improvement RMNs experienced growth from smaller baselines. Simultaneously, there is a clear strategic pivot toward offsite advertising, particularly within streaming TV. Amazon leads this transition, with 35% of its offsite impressions now allocated to streaming, followed by significant adoption from Instacart, Target, and DoorDash.

The report also highlights the growing influence of non-endemic advertisers, such as those in the financial services, telecommunications, and travel sectors, which are increasingly utilizing retail media to reach high-intent audiences. Furthermore, the analysis identifies a strong correlation between sports sponsorships and delivery network ad volume. During major events like the World Cup, official partners such as DoorDash successfully captured significant market share, specifically dominating pizza-related ad impressions. These findings illustrate a maturing retail media ecosystem where strategic platform selection and event-based targeting are becoming essential for maintaining competitive visibility.

The premium PC and console gaming market demonstrates robust growth, generating $30 billion in revenue across the PlayStation, Xbox, and Steam platforms over the past year. This represents a 5.7% half-over-half increase, signaling a resilient landscape for premium titles despite a highly competitive environment. The analysis focuses on providing actionable intelligence for developers, studios, and marketers by examining market trends, consumer behavior, and the efficacy of promotional strategies.

Key findings highlight the dominance of specific regions and genres, with the United States and China serving as the primary drivers of the Steam market. Within the premium PC segment, the action genre commands the highest share of user time and continues to exhibit upward growth. Top-performing titles over the last year include Battlefield and EA SPORTS FC, while the influence of external media on consumer demand is evident in the tripling of pre-order velocity for GTA VI following the release of extended promotional content.

The report also evaluates the digital marketing landscape, noting that Meta and YouTube account for 76% of total social advertising spend for PC and console games in the United States. By integrating data on launch-campaign timing, creative length, and specific case studies like Resident Evil Requiem, the analysis offers a comprehensive overview of the factors contributing to commercial success in the current industry climate. This 40-page guide serves as a strategic resource for stakeholders navigating the complexities of the premium gaming sector.

The 2026 State of Web report provides a comprehensive analysis of global internet usage, focusing on shifting acquisition patterns, engagement metrics, and the transformative influence of artificial intelligence. By leveraging proprietary Web Insights data, the report examines how digital behavior is evolving in an era increasingly defined by large language models and cross-platform navigation. The analysis covers global trends throughout 2025 and early 2026, offering a strategic overview for digital stakeholders navigating a landscape where traditional traffic sources are being challenged by new discovery channels.

A central finding is the rapid ascent of AI-driven platforms, which emerged as the fastest-growing web category in 2025, recording an 86% increase in traffic and a 101% rise in time spent. Notably, ChatGPT secured a position as the sixth most visited website globally. Despite this growth, search and social media platforms remain the primary gatekeepers of the internet, collectively accounting for approximately 2.4 trillion visits. While generative AI is establishing itself as a nascent traffic channel, it currently represents only 0.7% of overall web traffic, with usage concentrated primarily in software and education sectors.

The report also highlights a distinct divergence in device utility. While mobile devices surpassed 50% of global web visits in the first quarter of 2026, desktop platforms continue to command over 70% of total time spent online. This indicates a behavioral shift where users utilize mobile for initial discovery and browsing, while reserving desktop environments for deeper, more intensive engagement. Ultimately, the data suggests that while the internet remains highly concentrated around established tech giants, the integration of AI is fundamentally altering how consumers make decisions and interact with digital content.

The State of AI 2026 report provides a comprehensive analysis of the rapid integration and commercial impact of artificial intelligence within the global mobile application ecosystem. The primary thesis asserts that AI has transitioned from a marketing buzzword to a critical driver of consumer behavior and revenue growth, necessitating strategic fluency for brands aiming to maintain competitive relevance.

Data highlights the significant scale of this shift, with applications featuring AI-related terminology—such as LLM or machine learning—projected to generate $12 billion in in-app purchase revenue during the first half of 2026. This represents a substantial surge in market activity, evidenced by a 177% increase in downloads for AI-integrated apps compared to the first half of 2023. Beyond raw volume, the report emphasizes functional efficacy, noting that AI-driven tools, such as Amazon’s Rufus assistant, have demonstrated the ability to nearly double conversion rates compared to standard user experiences.

The scope of the analysis covers the broader digital landscape, examining regional performance, market share among large language models, and user retention metrics. By deconstructing the competitive landscape and evaluating AI’s role in content discovery and advertising, the report offers insights into how top-tier players utilize App Store Optimization (ASO) tactics to differentiate their platforms. Ultimately, the findings serve as a strategic guide for navigating the evolving AI-centric economy, illustrating how integrated features are fundamentally reshaping user engagement and monetization across diverse industry verticals.

The digital advertising landscape in 2026 is defined by the pervasive integration of artificial intelligence and a significant surge in global marketing expenditures. As brands navigate an increasingly complex online environment, annual global advertising spend is projected to exceed $375 billion by the end of the year. This growth is driven by a fundamental shift in consumer behavior across various industry verticals and the strategic deployment of AI-themed messaging, which has become a primary focus for major global organizations.

The analysis highlights the critical role of high-profile live events, such as the World Cup, in shaping modern campaign strategies. These events serve as catalysts for intense advertising activity, revealing a stark divide between highly successful creative executions and those that fail to resonate with audiences. Furthermore, the research examines the diversification of ad share within AI platforms like ChatGPT, providing insights into how these technologies are being leveraged to capture consumer attention and influence purchasing decisions.

By evaluating the creative strategies employed by top-tier global brands, the findings offer a comprehensive look at what drives campaign effectiveness in the current market. The scope of the analysis encompasses a broad range of industries, identifying the specific factors contributing to shifting audience engagement. Ultimately, the data serves as a guide for marketers looking to optimize their digital presence by understanding the intersection of emerging technology, live event capitalization, and evolving consumer trends in a rapidly maturing digital economy.

The Japanese gaming market remains a premier global powerhouse, characterized by high-value monetization and a mature player base that prioritizes engagement over sheer download volume. Despite a 5.1% year-over-year decline in mobile in-app purchase revenue, the market generated over USD $10 billion (¥1.56 trillion) in the 12 months ending July 2026, maintaining its status as the second-largest mobile gaming market in Asia. While mobile downloads fell 5.4% to 585 million, the market’s resilience is supported by approximately 16.7 billion hours of annual player engagement, which facilitates sustained live-ops monetization.

Market dynamics in 2026 reveal a clear divide between acquisition and revenue strategies. Puzzle games, such as Block Blast! and various "sort" and "match" subgenres, dominate download rankings, while 4X strategy titles like Last War: Survival and realistic sports games like eFootball lead in consumer spending. The PC and console sectors also show robust health, with nearly 21 million units sold in the first half of 2026. Action games emerged as the dominant genre in this segment, with Japan’s 22.4% growth rate in the category significantly outpacing the global average.

The analysis, which utilizes estimated data from the App Store and Google Play, highlights a competitive landscape where both established franchises and new intellectual properties drive growth. Digital advertising remains a critical component of this ecosystem, with gaming ranking as one of the top three categories for ad spend and impressions. Ultimately, the Japanese market continues to reward publishers who can balance deep, long-term live-service engagement with the fresh appeal of new releases across mobile, PC, and console platforms.

The digital advertising landscape in the United States underwent significant transformation between August 2025 and July 2026, characterized by a 15% year-over-year increase in total ad spend to $201 billion. This growth was primarily fueled by the widespread integration of generative AI into creative production workflows and a strategic migration of advertising budgets from linear television toward connected TV and streaming platforms. Facebook maintained its position as the leading advertising channel, while Procter & Gamble emerged as the top advertiser, surpassing Amazon and The Walt Disney Company.

Artificial intelligence has become an operational necessity, enabling brands to accelerate creative testing and iteration. The gaming sector led this trend with a 54% increase in unique ad creatives, reflecting a broader industry shift toward reducing production friction. Furthermore, conversational AI platforms like ChatGPT have evolved into high-intent discovery channels. While e-commerce initially dominated this space, the impression mix diversified significantly by mid-2026, with financial services, travel, and health sectors capturing a larger share of conversational ad environments.

The video advertising sector experienced a notable reallocation of capital, as OTT streaming spend reached $12 billion—a 17% year-over-year increase—while traditional linear TV spend contracted by 3%. This shift is particularly evident in the telecom, travel, and financial services industries, which have aggressively moved impressions to connected TV surfaces. These findings underscore a broader market transition where advertisers are prioritizing high-intent, digital-first environments to reach consumers, effectively sidelining traditional broadcast models in favor of more measurable, data-driven streaming and AI-integrated platforms.

The 2026 mobile market analysis for Japan provides a comprehensive overview of app performance across four key verticals: gaming, finance, entertainment, and manga. Utilizing data from the top 5,000 apps between January 2024 and May 2026, the findings highlight a mature, high-value ecosystem characterized by high smartphone penetration—approximately 85%—and a dominant iOS market share of 67-68%. The analysis draws on aggregated install and session data to track shifting consumer behaviors and monetization trends within one of Asia's most significant digital economies.

In the gaming sector, mobile titles generated $10.6 billion in in-app purchase revenue, with total engagement reaching 16.58 billion hours. While overall game installs grew by 3% year-over-year in the first half of 2026, session counts increased by 5%, indicating deeper engagement among existing users. Card games emerged as the fastest-growing sub-genre, experiencing an 18% rise in installs and a 113% surge in sessions. Conversely, genres such as hyper-casual and hybrid-casual saw declines in new installs despite maintaining or increasing session counts. Retention metrics showed improvement across all measured intervals compared to the previous year, though they remain below historical peaks observed in 2023 and 2024.

Beyond gaming, the broader app landscape is evolving rapidly. Finance applications, particularly those focused on stock trading, saw a 90% increase in installs during the first half of 2026, driven largely by the popularity of the revamped NISA program. Manga services continue to command the highest consumer spending, though they face demographic challenges as younger users increasingly migrate toward short-form video and vertical drama services. Overall, the Japanese market demonstrates a unique trend of declining cost-per-install (CPI) and shifting paid-to-organic ratios, contrasting with global patterns of rising acquisition costs.

The Retail Media Report 2026 provides a comprehensive analysis of the evolving retail media network (RMN) landscape, focusing on advertising impressions, market share, and strategic shifts in the United States during the first half of 2026. Utilizing data from Pathmatics, the analysis highlights a broader market contraction, with total retail media impressions in the U.S. declining by 17% during the period.

A key finding is the divergence between general merchandisers and specialized networks. While Amazon, which commands 60% of the domestic market, experienced a 16% decrease in impressions, specialized networks in the home improvement, pharmacy, pet, and beauty sectors saw significant growth. Notably, home retailers such as Lowe’s and Home Depot recorded impression increases of 151% and 43%, respectively. This trend suggests a strategic reshuffling where advertisers are increasingly favoring niche platforms over traditional generalist retailers.

Channel allocation strategies also show distinct patterns. Offsite advertising remains the dominant preference for many vertical-specific networks, with platforms like Instacart and Sephora dedicating 100% of their impressions to offsite campaigns. Conversely, general merchandisers are increasingly prioritizing onsite monetization to capture high-intent shoppers; Amazon, for instance, shifted its strategy to ensure onsite ads now account for 56% of its total impressions.

Finally, the report identifies a trend toward diversification among both networks and advertisers. Major networks are expanding their reach into non-core categories such as finance and telecommunications, while CPG brands are demonstrating a multi-platform approach, with over 80% of top advertisers utilizing at least two different RMNs to execute their campaigns. These findings underscore a maturing, more fragmented retail media ecosystem characterized by specialized targeting and diversified media spend.

The Indian mobile app market experienced significant growth in the second quarter of 2026, characterized by record-breaking revenue and a robust increase in user acquisition. Total in-app purchase (IAP) revenue reached $345 million, representing a 35% year-over-year increase, while total downloads surpassed 6.6 billion. This performance underscores India’s transition from a volume-driven acquisition market to a sophisticated landscape where monetization through subscriptions and digital services is increasingly viable.

Non-gaming applications served as the primary engine for this expansion, contributing nearly $240 million in revenue—a 50% year-over-year increase—and accounting for 70% of total downloads. Key growth drivers included the rapid adoption of Generative AI tools like ChatGPT, the continued popularity of short drama platforms such as Story TV, and the scaling of local e-commerce and ride-hailing services like Meesho and Rapido. Notably, premium AI services and video streaming platforms, including Crunchyroll, demonstrated strong monetization potential, with some AI applications seeing revenue growth exceeding 1,900% year-over-year.

The mobile gaming sector also showed resilience, defying global downward trends by generating $106 million in revenue, a 3.7% increase quarter-over-quarter. While download volume reached 2 billion, the market saw a notable shift toward minimalist puzzle games and mid-core titles. The 2026 FIFA World Cup provided a catalyst for sports-related gaming, with eFootball recording substantial gains in both downloads and revenue.

This analysis relies on estimated IAP revenue data from the Apple App Store and Google Play, excluding advertising and third-party Android stores. The findings highlight a maturing digital ecosystem where localized content, such as short dramas and regional e-commerce, successfully penetrates both metropolitan and lower-tier markets, positioning India as a critical global hub for both user scale and revenue generation.