According to Fami, according to annual game market yearbook data published by Sensor Tower, in 2025 global game downloads reached 52 billion, of which about 50 billion were mobile games and the rest were host/PC games. Mobile end-year downloads are declining year by year, but there is an upward trend in the application of in-sourcing income, with strategic games such as Last War: Survival and Whiteout Survival being the main drivers of income growth.
The Yearbook explores in depth trends in performance, marketing and operation of mobile games and looks at the whole industry from a cross-platform perspective, as well as a detailed analysis of the dynamics of the PC/host platform. The game industry is changing, mobile games are moving from a download mode to a profit model, and the PC/host market experienced rapid growth prior to the sale of the Manhunter 6, followed by the seven key points of Sensor Tower ‘ s 2026 Game Market Yearbook.
1. Wideness of mobile end coverage, contribution depth of host/PC end
The vast majority of game downloads in 2025 came from mobile devices: Google Play contributed 42 billion downloads, more than four times that of App Store, highlighting Andre ‘ s penetration in the global market. App Store earns 75% more on the inside. The remaining 2 billion downloads are from the PC/host. Unlike the free game-led mobile market, PC/host downloads are usually linked to the purchase of paid games, and each download usually has a greater income impact. Steam has the highest download, 37 per cent higher than PlayStation, the second highest. However, PlayStation and Xbox combined had 1,17 million downloads, and the host demand was still higher than the PC end.2. Moving end centre of gravity from download to realization
The year 2025 was the third consecutive year of income growth for App Store and Google Play. While downloads have declined, their use has increased considerably, indicating that the market is shifting from acquiring new users to increasing the lifetime value of users. The growth in the use of in-house purchases was mainly from Europe and the United States market remained relatively stable. The participation of users varies from one market to another: users in the United States and Japan experienced a recovery after a decline in 2024, while mainland China experienced a decline. In Europe, the length of use by British users increased, the French market remained stable and Germany declined. In the context of declining levels of installation, user retention rates and activations have become a priority rather than relying on recipients for growth.3. Steam ‘ s multiple indicators are at record highs
Steam has an all-time high on the revenue, downloads and game distribution of paid games. On the surface, income growth is concentrated on 3A and 2A game distributors, especially action and shooting-type games. However, the black myth that was distributed in 2024 made the situation somewhat complicated. The Black Myth: The Goku was developed by game science, which is an independent publisher in the Sensor Tower classification, but the size of the game science studio and its development inputs reached level 3A, with impressive success, with more than 30 million sales, upping the total collection of independent games throughout 2024. At first glance, the growth in income from independent games in 2025 does not seem to be significant, but if the black myth is removed, the income of independent distributors is still increasing in real terms over the same period.4. Transfer of share of YouTube advertising expenditures from PC/host to mobile
The bulk of mobile game advertising expenditure goes to mobile application networks such as AppLovin and AdMob, while PC/host-end spending is more focused on social and video channels, of which YouTube has the largest share. Nevertheless, the share of YouTube ‘ s advertising expenditure at the mobile end is increasing on a year-on-year basis, in line with the industry ‘ s trend to move from maximizing downloads to liquidity, user retention and precision to high-value audiences. By contrast, the share of YouTube at the PC/host end, while declining, remains the highest channel of expenditure for this category. Instagram holds a significant share of the PC/host, confirming that its short video format and orientation functions are well suited to the marketing of the early film type creative and high-intensity players.5. Strategy-type hand-to-hand tour of the market
Thanks to the high tide of the Asian distributor 4X strategy game, the game became the largest driver of income growth in major regions in 2025. This trend is led by popular games such as Last War: Survival and Whiteout Survival. The puzzle game grew strongly in Europe, with Royal Match at the top of the list and Gosip Harbor the largest. The launch of Operation Delta contributed to the growth of shooting-type games in Asia. Tactical games are also the only type of game where downloads have increased in Asia, North America and Europe. All the remaining game types have seen a decline in downloads in major areas, especially in the life, simulation and wisdom categories.6-2025 shooting game with field 6 top PC/host bestseller
The year 2025 was a year of intense competition for shooting games, and many mainstream distributors launched new works that challenged the old market pattern. Field 6 is the highest-selling 3A game in 2025 and doubles all 3A games except EA SPORTS FC 25 and EA SPORTS FC 26. In addition to Field Six, the easy-to-release of the Web, Van Vie: Fighting, ranks third in annual downloads with a weak gap. Operation Delta is ranked third on the download list for the shooting game. Together with “Deadlock ” by V and ” ARC Raiders ” by Black Horses, new shooting games will emerge as springs of rain. Nevertheless, in 2025, the highest shooting game of active PC/host-month players was still Fort Night, Anti-Terrorism Elite 2, Mission Call and Jedi Survival, fifth in Field 6. There is still a long way to go before those who are subversive challengers can declare true victory.7. Targeting friend teams (through content creators) becomes an important trend.In addition to 3A majors such as Field 6, such as R.E.P.O. and PEAK, the creation of a new path became a financial explosion, reflecting the wave of chaos and cooperation that swept the circle of friends in 2025. These games are perfect for content creators. The unique combination of humor, high-risk failures and terrorist elements provides social media creators with the opportunity to collect footage, work with other creators and attract new audiences. This will have the dual effect of providing the required outreach and large audience for independent games. Adding to the fact that games are often sold for less than $10, it is not difficult to convince audiences to try.
