Newzoo predicts global games market to reach $197bn in 2025, exceeding prior expectations

The global games market is expected to increase 7.5% to $197 billion in 2025, exceeding prior expectations set by Newzoo.

In a pre-emptive look at how the industry performed between January and November this year, the data firm said the increase was primarily driven by “stronger-than-expected performance” on PC and mobile.

PC is expected to rise 10.4% year-on-year to $43 billion following a “strong slate of premium release titles” that outperformed games released last year.

Mobile is forecast to generate $108 billion (up 7.7% YoY), marking a second consecutive year of growth supported by new and evergreen titles.

Back in September, Newzoo forecast that the global games market would reach $188.8 billion led by the Nintendo Switch 2 launch, higher software prices, and major console releases.

It now predicts that console will have the lowest revenue increase year-over-year at 4.2%, reaching $45 billion.

The data firm also tracked the top-performing games of 2025 by revenue and engagement.

Battlefield 6 was No.1 on PC for revenue, followed by Schedule 1 and Arc Raiders. All titles in the Top 10 were premium games, with shooters remaining the largest genre.

As for console (combined data from PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch), EA Sports FC 26 and NBA 2K26 led the charge, followed by Battlefield 6 in the third spot.

The first non-sports title in the Top 10 was Assassin’s Creed Shadows at No.6, followed by Ghost of Yōtei at No.8, followed by Pokémon Legends: Z-A and Borderlands 4.

Electronic Arts had four titles in the Top 10, aided by a “strong premium release strategy” and a “predictable release cycle” for sports games on console.

Newzoo noted that Pokemon Legends: Z-A spot on the chart reinforced that “platform exclusivity still matters” in terms of revenue, despite only launching on Switch consoles (roughly half of its sales came from Switch 2, according to the data firm).

The data firm also provided a data spotlight on Sandfall Interactive’s Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which continues to make an impact on the industry following its sweep at The Game Awards.

Its monthly active users (MAU) share was 43% on Xbox, 42% on PlayStation, and 15% on PC.

Clair Obscur was a Day One release for Xbox Game Pass following its launch in April – it has since become the platform’s top third-party release of 2025.

The turn-based RPG currently has a lifetime MAU of 5.13 million players and a monthly MAU of 643,000 on console, according to Newzoo’s Game Performance Monitor.

Newzoo said the game “continued to climb engagement rankings months after launch, highlighting how resonance, word-of-mouth, and discovery can drive long-tail growth without immediate top-tier scale.”

Looking at overall MAU, there was only one 2025 title in the Top 10 chart for engagement across all platforms – Landfall Games and Aggro Crab’s Peak. This title was “driven by a free-to-play extension that significantly expanded reach post-launch.”