Good news for the industry, according to Newzoo in its new PC & Console Gaming Report 2026: the market is growing significantly again, leaving the post-pandemic plateau behind. However, the market has undergone structural changes.
Last year, sales of PC and console games increased by 7% year-on-year. At least, that is the conclusion reached by market researchers at Newzoo, who have now published their new PC & Console Gaming Report 2026. They estimate the combined sales volume in the PC and console segments at around 88.3 billion US dollars. This would be the first significant growth since 2020. According to Newzoo, the market volume for PC and console games has ranged between US$78.6 billion and US$82.4 billion over the past five years.
The good news is that this growth is expected to continue. According to Newzoo, the volume is expected to gradually increase to up to $103.7 billion in 2028. Growth in the PC games sector is expected to be stronger than in the console sector. Newzoo anticipates an average growth rate of 6.6% for PC games and 4.4% for console games.
Even though the general outlook is positive, market researchers assume that players will have to adapt to a structurally changed market. “Growth is returning to the market, but it’s being driven by different factors than during the pandemic years,” said Manu Rosier, Director of Market Intelligence at Newzoo. “Hardware cycles are stretching, development costs are rising, and even proven franchises are no longer guaranteed to succeed. As engagement stabilizes, premium performance and pricing strategy are becoming increasingly important drivers of revenue growth.”
Newzoo, for example, expects the number of PC gamers to rise to over one billion by 2028. This growth will come primarily from tapping into new regions such as East Asia, which have previously been dominated by mobile games. However, this will also have an impact on business models. According to Newzoo, microtransactions will account for around 48% of PC revenue by 2025. Premium games in particular will also adopt live service models in order to increase monetisation in the long term. Another trend is that engagement is diversifying across more games. While titles outside the top 10 accounted for 33 per cent of playing time in 2022, this figure will rise to 42 per cent in 2025.
Compared to the PC gaming market, the console gaming business remains more dependent on blockbusters and hardware cycles. According to Newzoo, revenue from microtransactions on consoles has even declined recently. Premium games priced above £50 continue to account for around 80% of premium revenue on consoles.
In key Western markets, including the US, UK, Germany, France, Spain and Italy, spending on premium games is expected to increase in 2025, even though playtime is declining at the same time. Newzoo also sees the mid-price segment, i.e. between £30 and £50, as the fastest-growing premium segment.
“Scale alone no longer guarantees outcomes,” Rosier added. “Understanding where players are spending time, and how monetization strategies evolve, has become increasingly important in interpreting market performance.”
The data shown is taken from the report ‘Newzoo's PC & Console Gaming Report 2026’. This can be downloaded at Newzoo's Website.
