Gaming Market Size: Growth Resumes as Mobile Leads and M&A Reshapes the Field

A turning point for global gaming spend

In the Gaming sector, After two choppy years marked by normalization from pandemic highs and tighter consumer wallets, the games industry has regained forward momentum. Global games revenue is projected to be roughly in the high-$180 billions in 2024, with the sector on course to clear the $200 billion mark by the middle of the decade, according to recent research from Newzoo’s Global Games Market Report. The firm’s latest outlook points to low-to-mid single-digit annual growth through 2027 as player engagement stabilizes and content pipelines improve.

The reset has been uneven across platforms, but the recovery is broadening. While unit sales of premium titles remain hit-driven, recurring monetization via live-service games, battle passes, and in-game cosmetic economies continues to underpin revenue resilience. Industry reports show that the installed bases built during the last hardware cycle are still monetizing well, even as market participants prepare for platform refreshes and a more measured cadence of AAA releases.

Platform mix: mobile’s dominance, console’s resilience

Mobile remains the industry’s gravitational center by spend and scale, buoyed by billions of devices and a mature free-to-play model. Data from analysts at data.ai’s State of Mobile Gaming 2024 indicates that mobile game consumer outlays have reaccelerated alongside improvements in user acquisition efficiency and genre innovation, following a dip tied to privacy changes and macro softness. That momentum supports a platform mix in which mobile typically commands roughly half of global revenue, with console and PC dividing the remainder.

Console and PC are holding their ground thanks to tentpole franchises, robust back catalogs, and the rise of subscription libraries. Platform owners are deepening ecosystems through services such as Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus, while publishers lean into live operations to extend lifetime value. Although subscriptions remain a modest slice of overall software spend, PwC’s Global Entertainment & Media Outlook suggests steady, sustainable growth for packaged and digital games as service models and hybrid monetization mature, according to industry reports.

Regional contours and corporate concentration

Asia-Pacific continues to be the largest region by revenue and players, led by China, Japan, and South Korea, with North America and Europe providing high-value, premium segments. Newzoo’s market mapping underscores that regional dynamics are shaped by platform preferences—mobile-first in emerging markets versus a balanced mix in mature ones—and regulatory environments that can influence content cadence and monetization, according to recent research. For operators, local partnerships, compliance fluency, and genre fit remain decisive execution variables.

At the corporate level, consolidation is redrawing the competitive landscape. Scale advantages in content, distribution, and data—amplified by cloud infrastructure and cross-platform engines—favor platform owners and top publishers. The close of landmark deals and a string of portfolio-focused acquisitions have reshaped leaderboards and deepened content pipelines. In the U.S., the Entertainment Software Association notes that gaming touches a broad consumer base spanning demographics, reinforcing durable demand fundamentals even as tastes evolve, ESA data shows.

Risks, catalysts, and the next leg of growth

Key swing factors for the market’s size over the next 12–24 months include the release slate, the timing and pricing of hardware refreshes, and ongoing optimization of user acquisition economics—especially on mobile. Developers are also experimenting with user-generated content platforms, creator tools, and generative AI to compress production timelines and broaden content variety, while advertisers revisit in-game placements as brand-safe reach vehicles. PwC expects the sector’s medium-term trajectory to remain positive as these monetization vectors mature within guardrails, industry reports show.

Cloud distribution, while still a small fraction of spend, is another watch point as infrastructure improves and licensing models evolve. Regulatory scrutiny—from app store policies to regional playtime and content standards—will continue to shape outcomes, but the baseline case remains one of measured expansion. On current forecasts, the industry exits the decade larger, more services-centric, and more geographically diversified, with mobile anchoring growth and console/PC maintaining high-value niches—an outlook consistent with the trajectory mapped by Newzoo’s market forecasts and complementary third-party analyses.