Ampere Analysis: The Gaming Market in 2025
Market state, influence of GTA VI not releasing in 2025, modern content strategies & much more in the report.
Market State
At the end of 2024, the gaming content and services market reached a volume of $199.4 billion (+3.5% YoY). Despite growth, it’s important to account for inflation—in real prices, the market hasn’t grown as significantly.
Analysts at Ampere Analysis anticipate modest growth over the next couple of years — 0.9% in 2025 and 2.2% in 2026. The total market volume is expected to reach $205.7 billion by the end of 2026.
The mobile gaming market grew by 4.1% YoY in 2024. Its share of the total market remains at 58%. The forecast for growth in the coming years is 2-3% per year.
The fastest-growing segment in 2024 was PC, with 5.7% growth. However, in absolute numbers, it is still smaller than both the mobile and console markets. Ampere Analysis is optimistic about the future of the PC market, noting its global reach.
The console segment did not show growth in 2024. It is expected to stagnate until 2026 (when GTA VI is anticipated to launch). The release of Nintendo Switch 2 and increased game sales for it are not expected to significantly boost the revenue of the segment.
❗️Console sales figures include subscriptions—PS Plus and Game Pass. The VR segment includes purchases of VR games, and the cloud segment includes subscriptions to cloud gaming services only.
Ampere Analysis highlights the impact of the GTA VI delay. They believe that 21 million fewer game copies will be sold on PS5 and Xbox Series S|X, console sales will drop by 700,000 from the initial forecast, and the total shortfall in the console segment will be $2.7 billion.
In-app purchases accounted for 77% of all game payments in 2024. This figure has remained stable since 2019.
Over the past few years, spending on subscriptions has noticeably increased. Physical game sales, however, are declining—Ampere Analysis believes that by 2026, physical games will make up just 2% of total revenue.
The Asia-Pacific region is the world’s key market. It is almost twice as large as North America ($92.9 billion vs. $57.7 billion), and growth is expected in 2025.
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The North American and European markets are projected to decline by 0.4% YoY in 2025.
The MENA region is expected to see the strongest growth, 6.3% YoY in 2025.
Investment Climate
Early-stage investment activity is slowly recovering. However, Ampere Analysis notes that the volume of deals has significantly decreased from the record highs of 2021 and 2022.
Attention Economy
There is widespread discussion about games competing for time with other forms of entertainment. The Ampere Analysis report is no exception.
Despite the gaming market being larger than other entertainment markets, subscription services for TV series and movies are close behind. Additionally, as the youngest form of entertainment, games have the highest percentage (21%) of people who do not interact with them at all.
Growth Points for the Gaming Industry
Ampere Analysis believes that by 2030, 103.1 million Nintendo Switch 2 consoles will be sold worldwide. Between late 2026 and 2028-2029, the active audience for both Nintendo Switch consoles will be around 130 million.
Nintendo is significantly behind Sony and Microsoft in terms of revenue share from in-game purchases and DLC. Sony is the leader (65%), Microsoft has 31%, and Nintendo has only 4%.
At the end of 2024, 4.1 million Steam Decks were sold worldwide. This number is expected to grow to 7.9 million by 2027. Supporting portable PCs in your games should not be ignored if technically possible.
Web games, web gaming platforms, and D2C (direct-to-consumer) platforms could bring mobile games an additional $3.7 billion, excluding China.
❗️Growth here is real thanks to new platforms. D2C does not expand the audience but allows for more efficient conversion.
From a regional perspective, Ampere Analysis recommends paying attention to the MENA region (especially Saudi Arabia and the UAE) and Southeast Asia.
The US Market and Growth Opportunities
The number of gamers in the US has decreased by 21 million since its peak in 2021. In 2021, 67% of the country’s population (223 million) played games; in 2024, this figure is 59% (202 million people). Despite this, the US market has grown in volume compared to 2021.
Ampere Analysis highlights the young female audience in the US (ages 16-24). There are 16 million in this group. 82% of them play games (compared to 93% of males in the same age group). They play an average of 4 hours less than men and spend 50% less.
In addition to young audiences, there are 33 million American gamers over 55, 32% of the total population over 55. The number of people in this age group is expected to grow by 2030.
UGC (user-generated content) and platforms like Roblox, Fortnite, and Minecraft play a major role in attracting young audiences. Over 35 million US gamers are under 16.
63% of all Roblox players in the US are over 13. Conversely, 37% are under 13.
❗️There has long been a debate about whether Roblox players transition to more “serious” games. Ampere Analysis analysts believe that owners of major gaming brands should start engaging with audiences on UGC platforms.
Possible Content Strategies on the Modern Market
Ampere Analysis believes that the key factor in the current market is the speed of development and time-to-market. Long-term projects are expensive to develop and often miss market opportunities.
There is no recipe for successful games on the modern market. There is also no clear recommendation on whether to make single-player or multiplayer projects—different countries have different attitudes toward single-player games, for example.
What attracts attention is the use of local myths and stories. It seems audiences have an appetite for atypical narratives.