Games startups raised $4.1 billion across 572 deals in 2023, down 72% in funding and 47% in deal count from 2022, according to PitchBook figures reported by GamesBeat. The report’s “new plateau” described a lower level of activity across five quarters—not a permanent floor or a current 2026 market reading.
What the 72% decline measures
GamesBeat’s February 14, 2024 report, citing PitchBook, put gaming startup funding at $14.6 billion across 1,083 deals in 2022 and $4.1 billion across 572 deals in 2023. That is a year-over-year funding decline of 72%, while the number of deals fell 47%. These figures compare those two calendar years; they do not describe a decline in every quarter or a 2026 result.
The scale of the comparison matters. PitchBook’s report characterized 2020–2022 as peak years that drew non-endemic and “tourist” investors during Web3 and metaverse hype cycles. It said the subsequent activity level likely represented a more realistic level of investment. That is the report’s interpretation, not proof that one trend alone caused the decline. GamesBeat’s account of the PitchBook figures provides the original context.
What “new plateau” meant in 2023
The phrase referred to five preceding quarters in which funding ranged from $900 million to $1.3 billion per quarter, with fewer than 200 deals in each, according to the PitchBook figures reported by GamesBeat. It described a sustained lower band after the peak—not a guarantee that investment had stabilized permanently, nor a forecast that future quarters would stay inside that range.
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What later reports showed
2024: annual funding fell again
Konvoy’s Q4 2024 report lists $286 million in gaming VC funding for that quarter, down 47% from Q3, and says annual gaming VC funding declined 15% from 2023 to 2024. It reports 83 Q4 deals, down 25% quarter over quarter, and a 14% annual decline in deal count. These are Konvoy’s figures and classifications. Konvoy’s Q4 2024 report provides its report and methodology context.
Konvoy also reports that 11.5% of gaming startups that raised a seed round reached a Series A within two years, compared with 20–30% of startups overall. This is a stage-progression measure, not a funding total; it suggests that early-stage gaming companies face a difficult path to follow-on capital, but does not by itself explain the change in aggregate investment.
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Q2 2024: venture and broader private funding diverged
A GamesBeat account of Konvoy’s Q2 2024 report put disclosed games VC funding at $492 million in Q2, down 20% from Q1 and 7% from Q2 2023. Disclosed VC funding for the first half of 2024 was $1.093 billion, down 20% from the first half of 2023. The broader first-half private games funding figure was $2.886 billion because it included Disney’s $1.5 billion investment in Epic Games; excluding that investment, the figure was $1.39 billion, 9% below the same period in 2023. VC-only and broader private-funding totals are different measures. GamesBeat’s account of Konvoy’s Q2 2024 report distinguishes them.
Q2 2025: a volatile quarter, not a full-year verdict
PitchBook’s global Q2 2025 preview, using data as of June 30, 2025, reported $904.6 million in gaming VC funding for the quarter, down 47.6% year over year and 83.3% quarter over quarter. The report said the quarter-over-quarter decline narrowed to 27.2% after adjusting for an outlier Q1 raise by Infinite Reality. There were 113 Q2 rounds, down 42.1% year over year. These comparisons show how a few large raises can move quarterly totals sharply. The PitchBook Q2 2025 preview hosted by InvestGame contains the period’s figures.
The same preview reported a year-to-date median deal size of $5 million, 19% above 2024, and a median pre-money valuation of $29.9 million, compared with $21.1 million in 2024. Those medians can rise even while aggregate funding and round counts fall: a typical deal’s size or valuation and the total amount invested answer different questions. PitchBook said deal value was concentrated in a handful of larger transactions.
Why reports can appear to disagree
Funding headlines are comparable only when the underlying measures match. Before reading a percentage change, check these distinctions:
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- Time window: a calendar-year total, half-year figure, and single-quarter result describe different periods.
- Geography: the Q2 2025 PitchBook preview is global; a figure from another report may use a different market scope.
- Capital type: VC-only funding is not the same as all private funding, which may include strategic investments, or a count combining private-equity M&A and financing rounds.
- Value versus activity: total dollars, deal count, median deal size, and pre-money valuation measure separate aspects of the market.
- Disclosures and outliers: disclosed funding totals can be affected by which transactions are reported, while one unusually large round can distort a quarter-on-quarter comparison.
For example, S&P Global Market Intelligence counted 208 global video-game private-equity M&A and funding transactions in 2025, down 45% year over year. That is a broader transaction count—not a VC-only funding total comparable with PitchBook’s dollar figures. Its March 19, 2026 article attributes competition for capital partly to AI and weaker consumer demand, and quotes Morgan Lewis counsel Brian Slough saying, “The largest venture rounds in the world are all going to mega-sized AI rounds.” This is an attributed market participant’s view, not evidence that AI or consumer demand alone caused gaming investment to change. S&P Global Market Intelligence’s 2025 transaction analysis explains its broader scope.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Does the plateau still describe the market?
It is safest to use “new plateau” as a description of the five-quarter band cited in the 2024 report, not as a current market label. Later reports show that funding continued to move: Konvoy reported a 15% annual VC decline in 2024, and PitchBook’s global Q2 2025 preview showed a volatile quarter with a large outlier effect. The figures available here do not establish a comparable full-year 2025 global VC total or a 2026 plateau.
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