Gaming market trends for Q2 2025 reveal a nuanced landscape, with M&A activity rebounding and public markets showing strength, while venture capital investment hits a five-year low. According to the latest report from Aream & Co., in collaboration with InvestGame, the gaming industry is experiencing a significant divergence in performance across its various sectors, published on games.gg on June 8, 2026. This comprehensive analysis outlines the shifting dynamics in investment, market valuations, and platform performance.
The report highlights a robust recovery in certain areas, particularly in mergers and acquisitions. The first half of 2025 saw M&A volume reach an impressive $9.5 billion, a 144 percent increase from the preceding six months, with 82 deals closed—the highest count since H2 2022. This surge excludes the monumental Activision Blizzard and Microsoft deal, indicating broad-based activity. Mobile gaming was a dominant force in these transactions, with Keywords Studios being a notable acquisition outside the mobile segment. Since 2018, private companies and investment funds have completed 68 gaming deals totaling $22 billion, with recent major transactions including Niantic Games, Jagex, and Aonic.
Segmented Performance Across Platforms
The performance across gaming segments presents a mixed picture. PC gaming is a clear growth leader, with Steam revenue soaring 20 percent year-over-year in Q2 2025 and concurrent user counts reaching new peaks. Over the past five years, free-to-play PC titles grew at an average of 17 percent annually, outperforming premium releases which grew 13 percent. Peak concurrent players on PC platforms rose 11 percent per year on average, bolstered by recent launches like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and Rematch.
Console gaming performance remains tied to hardware cycles and major releases. Xbox gaming revenue increased 5 percent in fiscal 2024, while Sony reported 9 percent growth and confirmed 77 million PlayStation 5 units sold. Nintendo, however, saw a 30 percent revenue drop as anticipation builds for the Nintendo Switch 2 launch. In stark contrast, mobile gaming revenue from in-app purchases has plateaued at approximately $20 billion per quarter, with app downloads declining and competition for existing players intensifying. US-based Century Games, Supercell, and iKame were among the few to post significant gains in incremental IAP revenue after platform fees.
User-generated content (UGC) platforms continue their upward trajectory. Both Fortnite and Roblox experienced a rise in concurrent user counts, and creator payouts across major UGC platforms increased significantly. Roblox paid out $923 million in 2024, a 25 percent year-over-year increase, while Epic Games and Overwolf raised their payouts by 11 percent and 19 percent respectively. Total creator earnings across these platforms hit $1.5 billion in 2024, marking a 20 percent increase. Investment in UGC studios has mirrored this growth.
“The market is in transition, with optimism concentrated in specific segments and strategies, particularly in PC gaming and UGC platforms, contrasting sharply with the struggles in early-stage mobile ventures.”
Public Markets and Investor Sentiment
Public market activity reached a four-year high in H1 2025, with 26 transactions representing a 24 percent increase in deal count and a 134 percent rise in value compared to the previous year. Companies are increasingly leveraging convertible bonds, share issuances, PIPE investments, and flexible credit lines. The stock index tracking major diversified gaming companies like Tencent, Sony, Nintendo, and Electronic Arts surged 58 percent year-over-year in Q2 2025. PC and console developers, including Capcom, Square Enix, CD Projekt Red, and Paradox Interactive, gained 38 percent. Mobile developers, however, showed mixed results: Asian companies like Nexon and Krafton grew 2 percent, while Western developers such as Playtika and Stillfront fell 27 percent.
Valuations across segments are highly disparate. PC and console developers are trading at historic highs, averaging 18 times EBITDA, while major holdings sit at 15.4 times earnings. Conversely, mobile developers are at historic lows, with Asian companies at 10.6 times EBITDA and Western companies at a mere 5 times. Despite weaker stock prices, many mobile developers posted stronger earnings in Q1 2025 compared to PC and console companies that often showed flat or minimal revenue growth. Nintendo, Capcom, and Take-Two are projected to attract significant investor attention through the end of 2026. For more on gaming investment trends, see our recent analysis.
Venture Capital’s Retreat and Emerging Hubs
In a concerning turn for early-stage companies, venture capital investment in gaming plummeted to $800 million in H1 2025, a 77 percent year-over-year decline. This marks the lowest deal count in five years, with only 177 transactions. Early-stage funding continues to shrink outside the web3 and esports sectors, with pre-seed and seed rounds totaling $400 million across 85 deals, and Series A funding reaching $200 million across 18 deals. Top content-related funding rounds in Q2 2025 included Bigger ($25 million Series A) and HYBE ($21 million Series B+). In platforms and technology, Sett raised $15 million for AI-driven creative production, and spAItial secured $13 million for its UGC platform. Read more about venture capital in gaming.
Despite the overall downturn in VC, specific areas are attracting capital. Over $2 billion has been invested in AI gaming startups across 283 deals since 2020. Türkiye has emerged as a significant hub for early-stage gaming investment, securing 113 deals totaling $800 million since 2020, with 28 deals recorded in the past 18 months—more than any other national market. Companies are increasingly using external capital for user acquisition. A16Z Games, Bitkraft, and Laton Ventures were the most active VC firms over the past 12 months, with Bitkraft leading in deployed capital at $123 million.
The Aream & Co. Q2 2025 report paints a picture of a gaming industry in flux, characterized by a stark divergence between segments. While M&A and public markets demonstrate resilience and growth, particularly in PC and console, the early-stage investment landscape is facing significant headwinds. The future of gaming investment will likely prioritize proven growth areas like UGC and AI, while mobile developers grapple with intensified competition and investor skepticism. This segmented recovery underscores the importance of targeted investment strategies in an evolving market.
