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What “the future” means in this article
“The future” here refers to the near- and medium-term outlook described by reports published in 2026, mainly covering 2026 through 2028, with one global view that runs to 2029 on player engagement. It does not describe a long-range prediction about technology or the end of any platform. Where a figure comes from a survey of past behavior, this article says so, and it keeps those observations separate from forecasts.
The headline forecast: $213.9 billion globally in 2026
Newzoo forecasts global game revenue of $213.9 billion in 2026, up 6.1% year over year, with 3.70 billion players, up 4.4%. These figures come from its global forecast published September 15, 2026, and they are estimates rather than finalized results. The platform split below is Newzoo’s own, and the shares were calculated from its published amounts.
| Platform | 2026 revenue forecast (Newzoo, Sept. 15, 2026) | Share of $213.9 billion (calculated) |
|---|---|---|
| Mobile | $121.1 billion | About 56.6% |
| Console | $46.9 billion | About 21.9% |
| PC | $45.9 billion | About 21.5% |
In that 2026 snapshot, console is still slightly ahead of PC. The reason PC is expected to pass it later is the growth rate, covered in the next section.
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How each platform is expected to grow
Mobile remains the largest platform
Mobile accounts for more than half of forecast global revenue, so it sets the overall shape of the market. Newzoo’s September 2026 outlook describes it as the largest platform by revenue, but it does not hand it a growth rate in the same way the PC and console outlook does. Mobile’s lead is a scale fact, not evidence that it will keep taking share from other platforms.
PC is forecast to outgrow console
Newzoo’s March 12, 2026 PC and console outlook projects PC revenue to grow at a 6.6% compound annual rate from 2025 to 2028, against 4.4% for console. On that trajectory PC passes console revenue by 2028. This is a forecast from one publisher’s model, not a settled fact that PC will overtake console on every measure or in every region. The two platforms also make money differently, which is why the comparison should not rest on revenue alone.
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| Factor | PC (Newzoo, March 12, 2026) | Console (Newzoo, March 12, 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth, 2025–2028 (CAGR forecast) | 6.6% | 4.4% |
| Dominant monetization | More microtransaction-led, with premium and mid-priced sales alongside | More premium-led |
| Subscriptions | Not stated as a separate growth driver in this outlook | Growing modestly |
| Main growth lever named | Not stated in this outlook | Price increases and subscription tier upgrades, alongside launches and Switch 2 |
Console growth depends on launches, hardware, and price
Newzoo ties console growth to new releases, the Nintendo Switch 2, subscriptions, and higher prices for games and services. Price increases can lift revenue in the short term, but they also create the affordability pressure discussed below. A console forecast that rests on prices is more exposed to consumer pushback than one built on new players.
Who is playing: the U.S. audience
The Entertainment Software Association’s June 3, 2026 release, based on a YouGov online survey, found that 67% of Americans aged 5 to 90 play video games at least one hour each week. Fieldwork ran February 11 to 25, 2026, among 13,545 respondents, weighted to represent the U.S. population. The same survey found that 80% of surveyed Americans play on mobile, the most popular device across age groups. These are survey findings about current habits, not forecasts of future platform share, and they describe the United States only.
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ESA president and CEO Stanley Pierre-Louis said: “Video games play an integral role in American life today, with a large majority of Americans now playing regularly,” in the same June 3, 2026 release.
U.S. spending: growth with cost pressure
Circana, a market research firm, reported on February 11, 2026 that U.S. consumer spending on video game hardware, content, and accessories reached $60.7 billion in 2025, up 1.4% from 2024. Its outlook forecasts U.S. industry spending of $62.8 billion in 2026, up 3%, which Circana says would exceed the prior high of $61.7 billion set in 2021. This is a U.S. consumer-spending measure, and it should not be compared directly with Newzoo’s global revenue estimate, which uses a different scope.
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Circana’s outlook points to the second year of the Nintendo Switch 2, expected major releases, and continued subscription engagement as spending drivers. It also flags rising costs for RAM, GPUs, CPUs, and storage, which it identifies as a potential constraint on affordability and availability. Mat Piscatella, video games industry advisor at Circana, said: “The 2026 U.S. video game market brings great opportunity — and risk,” in the February 11, 2026 release.
Circana’s survey also asked consumers how they would respond if costs rose. Among respondents, 38% said they would buy fewer full-price games at launch, and 34% said they would wait longer for sales. These are stated intentions, not observed behavior.
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Possible responses to cost pressure
Circana describes several ways players could adjust to pricier hardware. They could keep using existing devices longer, shift time to PC or mobile, or adopt cloud gaming. These are possibilities, not outcomes the outlook guarantees, and no source reviewed establishes that cloud gaming will replace local hardware. The trade-offs are different for each choice:
- Extending existing hardware costs nothing upfront but limits access to new releases that need current machines.
- Moving play to PC or mobile depends on owning a capable device, and PC is the platform with the most microtransaction-led monetization.
- Cloud gaming lowers the hardware barrier but depends on a stable connection and a paid service, and the outlook does not quantify its adoption.
Why engagement matters more than headcount
Newzoo’s September 2026 outlook expects the player base to expand in 2026, but player penetration and conversion to paying spend are forecast to flatten through 2029. Its conclusion is that publishers will need to earn more from existing audiences because attracting new players is becoming harder. For readers, that points to where growth is likely to come from: deeper spending among current players, through subscriptions, premium purchases, microtransactions, and tier upgrades, rather than a surge in new participants.
How to read gaming forecasts
- Check the geography first. Newzoo’s market figures are global, ESA and YouGov findings are U.S. survey data, and Circana’s spending outlook is U.S.-only.
- Check the measure. Revenue, consumer spending, and player counts are defined differently and should not be added together or set against each other.
- Check the date and status. A forecast published in 2026 is an estimate, and it may be revised as actual results arrive.
- Treat a platform lead in revenue as a scale fact, and a growth rate as a projection. Mobile leads on size today, while PC is projected to grow faster than console.
- Watch the signals that would change the picture: hardware price moves, the next year of major releases, subscription tier changes, and whether the forecast player-penetration flattening appears in actual data.
The future of video gaming is growth with a shifting mix. The strongest evidence supports continued revenue growth, a larger role for PC relative to console, and mobile’s continued lead in audience and revenue, with cost pressure as the main risk to that path.
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