According to Newzoo, the majority of established live-service and evergreen titles experienced little to no growth, or a decline, year over year in the first half of 2026

Screenshot from World of Warcraft. A grey-skinned character with glowing yellow eyes and sharp fangs, wearing a dark hooded cloak and ornate armor with thorny vine accents, stands in a mystical, rain-soaked forest with strange flora and architecture in the background. — Image credit: Blizzard Entertainment

According to Newzoo, live-service and evergreen titles experienced stability or slight decline in the first half of 2026 compared to the previous year. Their Global Games Market Report highlights limited growth confined to a few games such as World of Warcraft, Diablo 4, Overwatch, Roblox, and some of Tencent's international releases.

Although PlayStation Plus is predicted to bolster multi-title subscription services, digital earnings across six Western regions fell in the same period. This decrease is due to the impact of "free-to-play and annualized premium weaknesses overshadowing strong new launches," per Newzoo.

The report forecasts a 3% increase in console player numbers, recovering from 0.5% growth in 2025. This is largely influenced by the release of Grand Theft Auto 6 and boosted by PlayStation.

GTA 6 along with exclusive titles for Nintendo Switch 2 are anticipated to widen the ninth-generation console user base.

Nielsen IQ data indicates a spike in UK PlayStation 5 and Xbox sales, increasing by 33% and 34% respectively, after the GTA 6 teaser was featured on Netflix.

Emmanuel "Manu" Rosier, Newzoo's director of market intelligence, remarked to GamesIndustry.biz that without GTA 6, console revenues would likely stay unchanged compared to the previous year.

The opening quarter of 2026 saw the leading public gaming companies amass $37.4 billion, marking a 6.7% rise. Tencent topped the list with an 11.9% increase to $10.8 billion. Sony reported $5.2 billion (a decrease of 0.9%) and Microsoft $5.1 billion (down 5.5%). Roblox, which grew 39.3% year-over-year, totaled $1.4 billion, placing it tenth.

Newzoo anticipates the global gaming market to bring in $213.9 billion in 2026, a 6.1% increase from the preceding year.

The Asia-Pacific area is projected to contribute nearly half of this, generating $100.7 billion. Within this, China's revenue is predicted at $58.1 billion. North America, ranking second, is expected to generate $56.9 billion, with the US alone accounting for $53.5 billion.

Player numbers are set to reach 3.7 billion in 2026, which reflects a 4.4% increase on the prior year, with 44.6% of gamers classified as spenders, up from 39.4% in 2015.

The average revenue per paying user (ARPPU) is estimated to hit $129.6, a 1.4% growth attributed by Newzoo to a shift toward "increased spending among the current audience."