Sensor Tower recently released its 2026 State of Gaming report, in which it delivers insights on the video game marketing in 2026. According to the report, 2025 was another record-setting year for PC gaming, though the market overall still trends towards maturity. Mobile gaming downloads dropped, but revenue went up as publishers adapted to the market’s changing desires.
Steam revenue was up 13% year-over-year in 2025, says Sensor Tower, with triple-A games driving much of the growth. Downloads were up 6% and releases were up 8%. The report noted that supply of games is going up as developers gain access to more AI-powered tools and adapt to policy changes.
As for the mobile market, downloads and time spent trended downward in 2025, but revenue went up by 1%. This implies that the mobile market is shifting in favor of player retention as competition for attention becomes stiffer. Strategy games like Whiteout Survival drove most of the revenue games.
One of the insights in the report is that social channels, such as YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, have proven to be one of the biggest sources of advertising in 2025. The report reads: “Social channels offer the scale PC/Console launches and live-service games need, along with access to older-skewing gaming audiences with higher disposable income and the targeting tools required to reach them efficiently.”
The report also notes that shooter titles were one of the biggest markets of 2025, led by games like Battlefield 6, Marvel Rivals and ARC Raiders. Action games drove some of the biggest PC gaming revenue, with games like PEAK and R.E.P.O. having noticeable sales peaks. While indie games appeared to have a less extraordinary year than double-A and triple-A games, this is evidently because 2024 was such a good year for indie games that 2025 was more homeostatic in comparison.