State of Gaming 2026: Mobile, PC, & Console Trends
95,000 mobile games were downloaded per minute in 2025. For PC/Console titles, that figure was 3,800. With so many hours of play time logged, it can be hard to get to the heart of the trends that truly deserve our attention. State of Gaming 2026 breaks it all down for you, offering stakeholders a data-packed roadmap to an evolving industry.
The report starts off with a cross-platform look at the entirety of the gaming market across mobile, PC, and console. Next we’ll then dive into mobile game performance, marketing, and Live Ops trends before exploring the world of PC/Console — and cap everything off with a case study on the Shooters genre. By the end, you’ll be fluent in the shifts defining the current landscape.
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Here are a few of the key takeaways:
Mobile gaming shifts towards monetization: With downloads continuing to shrink but revenue holding steady, each download needs to count for more. Retaining, engaging, and monetizing existing players is more critical than ever.
PC gaming sees another record year: Steam saw another record year in terms of units sold, premium game revenue, and number of games released. Growth was primarily driven by AAA and AA publishers.
Youtube gains on mobile, loses ground on PC/Console: While the majority of mobile game ad spend still goes to mobile app networks and YouTube is still #1 for PC/Console, YouTube spend share shifted from PC/Console to mobile.
Battlefield 6 is #1 in an intense year for shooters: Battlefield 6 is the best-selling PC/Console game of 2025, in a market full of titans like Call of Duty and Fortnite and other massive launches like Delta Force and Marvel Rivals.
4X Strategy takes over mobile: Strategy is the only genre to make gains in revenue, downloads, and time spent, led by the #1 and #2 games by revenue of 2025, Last War: Survival and Whiteout Survival.
Content creator, friend group experiences rise up: The #2 and #3 best-selling PC/Console games of 2025 were R.E.P.O. and PEAK, handily beating AAA games with huge audiences. GTA 6 will be the culmination of this trend.