The last update to our annual Global Games Market Report 2023 is now live, and with it, our market analysts’ final estimates and forecasts for last year.
A lot has happened since we published the report in July last year. The market continued to recover and grow, but significant growth remains elusive. Layoffs and consolidation overshadowed the explosive number of hit releases. We reported that quarterly average playtime has dropped by a head-turning -26% since Q1 2021 and that only 66 titles accounted for 80% of playtime in 2023.
So, how did 2023 ultimately shake out? Our Games Market Reports and Forecasts service comprises the best overview of where the market stands, and in this preview, you’ll find:
- Global games market revenues in 2023 per segment and region
- Global games market revenues in 2023 per region
- The global games market forecast looking toward 2026
To explore the data and trends shaping the games market in far more depth, check out our Platform’s extensive market data. Now, let’s get into 2023’s revenue estimates and forecasts one last time before we publish the 2024 report in July.
The global games market generated $183.9 billion in 2023
From 2021 to 2022, games market revenues shrank, though we now define it as a recovery year for the industry. The market stabilized in 2022 and started to grow again in 2023. Our final calculation shows that the global games market generated $183.9 billion in 2023 with +0.5% year-on-year growth (a slight downward correction from our last update in January).
Mobile game revenues accounted for slightly less than half of the global market, with a YoY drop of -2.1% to almost $90 billion. In contrast, downloaded and boxed PC games may have only represented 22% of total revenues, but it had the highest growth out of any segment (+8.4% YoY).
PC revenues from publicly listed companies were up nearly 9% YoY. On the private company side, Valve, Epic Games, and miHoYo showed strong performances. We also saw that successful gaming companies pursuing cross-platform strategies acted as a beneficial catalyst for the PC market.
Overall, PC and console gaming generated $94.0 billion in 2023, with +3.1% growth YoY. It’s important to put this growth in context.
While the market has returned to growth, playtime hours have dropped precipitously. According to our recently released PC & Console Gaming Report 2024, average quarterly playtime has decreased by -26% since the first quarter of 2021—the first quarter we had full playtime data for PC, Xbox, and PlayStation. On top of that, 90% of new game revenue in 2023 (remember all the hit titles last year?) was captured by 43 games.
You can explore this topic further in the May 2024 Global Games Market Report 2023 update.
The US and China accounted for 50% of all consumer spending on games in 2023
Across the world, nearly every region that we cover experienced PC and console gaming market growth in 2023. The US and China accounted for a whopping 50% of all consumer spending on games, with US consumers spending well over $46 billion.
While the Middle East & Africa accounted for only 4% of total revenues globally, the market did grow (+4.6% YoY). Asia-Pacific accounted for 46% of the global market, though this region did experience a -0.2% YoY growth dip.
For reference, Newzoo reports on games market revenues in USD. Throughout 2022 and 2023, currency exchange rates were volatile, which had a significant impact on the USD value of the global games market. This was particularly impactful for China and Japan’s games market performances. Also, mobile revenue growth in Japan and South Korea was down, offset by growth in China.
As we reported in the PC and console report, most new players entering the PC and console space will come from emerging gaming markets. Player growth in emerging markets, which include Latin America, Central and Southern Asia, and Southeast Asia, along with MENA, will outpace growth in established markets by 23 times for PC and double for console.
Global games market revenues will reach $207.0 billion in 2026
While there is certainly a prevailing doom and gloom across the industry right now, our revenue projections for the next couple of years paint a slightly better picture overall.
We project that revenues will reach $207.0 billion in 2026, with the total games market CAGR (2021-2026) landing at +1.4%. This is an upward correction from our previous forecast.
Despite the challenges that PC and console gaming face this year, with mobile gaming also dealing with its own set of issues, we’re actually optimistic about the market (in 2025 especially). The market will grow by over 6% YoY (forecasted) in 2025, and that’s slightly higher than we estimated in past versions of the report.
Want to dig further into our forecasts and projections? The latest update to the Games Market Reports and Forecasts data sheds light on growth in 2024, 2025, and 2026, including what’s driving this growth.
