Players spent less on mobile games in the third quarter of 2026. In-app purchase revenue fell to 19.6 billion dollars, 7% less than a year earlier, according to the Q3 2026 Video Game Market Update by the investment bank Aream & Co, reported by PocketGamer.biz on October 12.
Fewer downloads and no new hits
The report links the drop to a smaller player base: mobile downloads fell 10% year on year. The split is uneven. Mobile-first companies from Asia grew 11% overall and Western mobile-first companies grew 6%, and publishers from Asia and Turkey are gaining share.
The most striking figure is in the charts. No mobile game released in 2026 has broken into the global top-grossing ranking, and Kingshot and Delta Force are the only games in the top 20 that are less than two years old.
Consoles fall, PC grows
Mobile was not the only market under pressure. According to Aream, console game revenue fell 12% year on year, the steepest drop in two years:
- Nintendo had the biggest fall of the three console makers, 18%, more than a year after the launch of Switch 2
- PC games grew by double digits, driven by spending on Steam
Money keeps moving
Deal-making did not slow down. The quarter closed with 54 mergers and acquisitions worth 57.8 billion dollars, most of it from the 55 billion dollar take-private of Electronic Arts. Private investment more than tripled to 2.8 billion dollars across 137 deals.
Why it matters
The figures point to a mobile market that depends on established games: players keep spending on titles that have been around for years, while new releases struggle to reach the top of the charts.
This article was written with AI assistance from the sources linked above.
