Global Video Game Content Sales Grew to $195.6B in 2025 While Private Funding Took a Massive Dip

The new State of Video Gaming 2026 Report from Matthew Ball, chief executive officer at Epyllion, is now available, and as usual, there are more than a few solid insights and takeaways to make note of. Like how software sales for the global video game market in 2025 rose by 5.3% to a staggering $195.6 billion, but at the same time, funding from private investors hit another major dip, dropping by 55%.

Console software sales also hit an all-time high, recovering from the post-COVID slump to hit $41.6 billion in spending, a 2.3% increase compared to the highs of the 2020 pandemic. That said, the majority of that spending has gone to platform services, which would include things like PlayStation Plus, Xbox Game Pass and Nintendo Switch Online.

Actual game sales and transactions were down nearly 11% compared to last year, which is a tangible example of why subscription services have become so important for platform holders. That’s why, while the entire industry faces concerns about hardware sales, Sony in particular is less concerned due to its software revenue. It’s also why the company plans to lean more on its current install base, and why we could likely see a price increase on PS Plus if the memory crisis continues to worsen.

Meanwhile, when comparing PC gaming to console gaming, PC gaming not only didn’t have to endure a post-COVID slump, but PC content sales have grown by 30% since 2020.

It’s also worth noting that a huge chunk of that spending and growth comes from players in China, who account for 20% of global player spending. But even without factoring in the spending that comes from China, the PC market still sits above the console market growth by a solid $6.7 billion.

The lack of investment coming into the industry, however, continues to have a major impact on the industry. Outside of some of the biggest companies, like when Amazon lays off thousands of employees at once, layoffs like what we see from studios like Three Fields Entertainment don’t just come from disappointing game sales. A lack of private investment means that smaller teams like Three Fields can’t survive if their projects aren’t huge hits.

Another side-effect of this that’s noted in the report is that, where possible, studios will look to outsource more of the development process to try and keep internal costs down. And while PC gaming continues to outpace console gaming, one platform that is growing, which Ball also believes will become one of the industry’s biggest factors, is Roblox.

The platform was one of the top-played games in 2024 and 2025, and reached a staggering 47.3 million concurrent users in August 2025. That said, as big as Roblox is, it’ll be interesting to see how much the platform continues to be impacted by the legal efforts against the company, as it has earned a reputation for a lax approach to child safety on the platform. Now, at least, the company is trying to improve its ability to protect children on the platform.

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