Global games spending will reach $213.9 billion in 2026, a record level that Newzoo attributes primarily to Rockstar Games' GTA VI. The analytics firm published the figures this week, tying the year's forecast to the long-delayed flagship rather than broad market expansion.

Newzoo's 2026 outlook projects several segment-level shifts. Console premium sales — physical and digital editions, excluding microtransactions, subscriptions, and other services — will grow 17.5%, faster than any other business model in the forecast. Prior analyst estimates put GTA VI's first-week revenue between $3.25 billion and $5.2 billion.

What does the forecast say about each platform?

• Console games (overall): $46.9 billion (+5.1% YoY)
• PC games: $45.9 billion (+5.3% YoY)
• Mobile games: $121.1 billion (+6.8% YoY)

The 17.5% growth rate applies only to premium console editions, not the full $46.9 billion console line, which mixes subscription, live-service, and microtransaction revenue with boxed and digital purchases. Mobile still dominates absolute spend at $121.1 billion and posts the second-fastest growth rate among major segments.

Which regions are driving growth?

• Asia-Pacific: $100.7 billion (+6%)
• North America: $56.9 billion (+5.4%)
• Middle East and Africa: $8.5 billion (+10.3%, fastest growth)

APAC accounts for roughly 47% of global spend. The Middle East and Africa region posts the highest percentage gain in Newzoo's regional breakdown. Latin America did not appear in the report's headline regional figures.

How many people are playing?

Newzoo estimates the global player base will reach 3.7 billion by the end of 2026, up 4.2% year-on-year. By 2029, the firm projects 4.07 billion players.

Device-level figures, which count players who use each platform at least occasionally and therefore overlap:

• Mobile players: 3.1 billion
• PC players: 977 million
• Console players: 651 million

What changes for studios and businesses?

For publishers, the segment mix dictates where marketing, live-ops, and content investment land. Mobile's $121.1 billion base, growing 6.8%, remains the largest addressable pool. Console's 17.5% spike concentrates in one title and one quarter, raising concentration risk for retailers and platform holders managing digital storefront allocation around GTA VI's launch window.

For PC publishers, the 5.3% growth rate extends the platform's mid-single-digit trajectory without offering a breakout catalyst. For ad-supported and IAP-driven mobile studios, sustaining 6.8% growth in 2026 will depend on app-store economics and ad budgets that have tightened over the past 18 months.

The forecast also reframes the console category after several years of subscription and live-service dominance. A 17.5% lift in premium sales is unusual for a category that has tracked low-single-digit or negative growth in recent regional reports.

What to watch

Newzoo's 17.5% premium-console forecast hinges entirely on GTA VI's commercial performance, making the launch window the year's largest single-variable signal. Mobile's 6.8% growth assumption will be tested against Q1 and Q2 2026 IAP and ad revenue disclosures from publishers reporting through Unity, Sensor Tower, and app-store partners. Newzoo's 4.07 billion-player 2029 projection also provides a benchmark worth tracking against actual adoption in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia, where the firm sees the fastest regional growth.