Walmart canceled pre-orders for the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time-themed Switch 2 console just one day before delivery, citing stock shortages despite prior payments. Customers reported being misled by a system that t…
#Market data & sales
This week in Market data & sales · updated Fri Oct 23 2026
The gaming market experienced notable shifts across multiple segments this week. Mobile gaming revenue remained concentrated among established titles like Honor of Kings and Monopoly Go, though several top performers posted declining figures in recent months. Console markets saw NBA 2K27 dominate sales charts following its August launch, while overall US spending contracted 9%. The sector witnessed expanding international participation, with Turkish developers achieving significant revenue milestones. Strategic concerns emerged around sustainability, including publisher delisting practices for annual franchises and declining live-service launches despite gacha games' growth trajectory. Industry consolidation challenges and data privacy scrutiny continued shaping competitive dynamics.
AI-written weekly briefing drawn from this topic's recent stories.
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Walmart Cancels Limited-Edition Zelda Console Pre-Orders Amid Stock Shortage
TikTok Launches Must Eat to Challenge Yelp and Google Maps
TikTok has launched Must Eat, a new in-app restaurant guide powered by 40 million user-generated videos and reviews. The feature offers curated recommendations, real-time ratings, and reservation booking, positioning its…
Nine Current In-Game Halloween Events Offer Spooky Fun Across Platforms
Multiple major video games are hosting seasonal Halloween events in 2026, including Pokémon Pokopia’s Pumpkin Festival, Fortnite’s Fortnitemares with horror-themed POIs and power-ups, and Skate-O-Ween’s new warehouse map…
Study Reveals U.S. Players Form Emotional Bonds With Anime Love Interests Without Needing Reciprocity
A new study by Elena Yifei Zhao and Nicholas D. Bowman finds that American players of otome games like Love and Deepspace form strong emotional connections with fictional male characters, even without expecting romantic …
The Hidden Costs of a $16K Pokémon Card Sale
The author recounts the emotional and logistical toll of selling a $16,000–$20,000 collection of Pokémon trading cards, describing the stress, family strain, and loss of personal time involved. The experience, though fin…
Activision Now Downplays Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 Sales Despite Strong Reception
Despite receiving critical acclaim and marking a major franchise milestone with $40 billion in lifetime revenue, Activision has refrained from sharing specific sales figures for Modern Warfare 4’s launch weekend. This co…
Samsung’s high-speed MicroSD Express cards now under $50 for Nintendo Switch 2 users
Samsung’s P9 MicroSD Express cards, designed for high-speed storage on the Nintendo Switch 2, are currently on sale at discounted prices—$47.99 for the 256GB model and $99 for the 512GB version. These cards offer up to 8…
Why Peak’s console edition costs $10
Peak launched on consoles for $9.99 after its PC version was priced at $8 and initially sold for $5. Developer Nick Kaman said the console price reflects the game's expanded content, which has roughly doubled since launc…
Game Streaming Fails to Capitalize on GTA6 Launch Despite Ideal Conditions
An article examines why game streaming services are not experiencing a breakthrough despite the massive GTA6 launch coinciding with expensive and scarce console hardware. The piece addresses earlier confusion around Xbox…
NBA 2K27 Surges to Top of August Sales, Ranking Third for Full Year
NBA 2K27 claimed the number one spot on US sales charts in August after launching into early access, achieving third-place status for the entire year based on Circana tracking data. The month saw six new releases enter t…
Nintendo's Fire Emblem Shadows significantly underperforms predecessor with under $1 million annual revenue
Nintendo's Fire Emblem Shadows has earned $892,000 during its first year following its September 2025 launch, representing just 0.3% of Fire Emblem Heroes' $265.1 million first-year revenue. The social deduction spinoff,…
Major Cross-Game and Brand Partnerships Dominate October Mobile Gaming Updates
October 2026 sees a wave of collaborations across mobile games, including PUBG Mobile's partnership with B.Duck featuring themed cosmetics and vehicles, Diablo Immortal's Spawn crossover introducing new gameplay modes an…
Mobile gaming revenue roundup: Monopoly Go dominates ad spending as Turkish market surges
Monopoly Go led US mobile game advertising expenditure in August with $93.8 million in revenue, followed by Royal Match with $64.8 million and Candy Crush Saga at $53 million. Turkish developers achieved a remarkable mil…
Resident Evil game player numbers spike 50% around film launch, though long-term impact remains uncertain
Daily active users across five Resident Evil titles jumped from 500,000 to 750,000 between late August and mid-September following the release of Zach Cregger's Resident Evil film. Daily unit sales nearly doubled during …
2K Games sets expiration date for NBA 2K25, disabling story mode and online features by year-end
NBA 2K25 will be delisted from digital storefronts on October 30 with server shutdowns following on December 31, rendering online-dependent features like MyCareer unplayable. Players retaining the title will only access …
Honor of Kings Maintains Revenue Lead as Top Mobile Games Show Mixed Performance in September
According to AppMagic data, Honor of Kings remained the highest-grossing mobile game in September despite a second consecutive month of revenue decline, while Gossip Harbor held second place with approximately $99 millio…
Gacha RPGs emerge as primary growth engine in maturing free-to-play market
Newzoo's analysis shows that while free-to-play's overall playtime share declined 2.9 percentage points between 2021 and 2025, absolute hours remained stable as other genres grew, contradicting claims of an F2P decline. …
September mobile gaming downloads see Bus Fever Party surge while Roblox momentum slows
September's mobile game download rankings show Free Fire Max maintaining strong performance with approximately 22 million installs, while Roblox experienced its second consecutive month of decline despite remaining a top…
Industry Roundup: Data Privacy Concerns, Failed Deals, and Major Closures Shape Mobile Gaming Week
PocketGamer.biz editorial team examines several significant industry developments including scrutiny of a ProtonVPN report claiming major mobile games contain trackers sending user data internationally, an anticipated Su…
NetEase Games Club taps EBANX for Latin American payment rollout
NetEase Games Club has teamed with EBANX to add local payment options in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, and Peru. The supported methods include Pix, SPEI, PagoEfectivo, and Mercado Pago, and they will be used in title…
August game spending rankings highlight strong debuts across platforms
Newzoo's August PC and console revenue rankings featured multiple new releases, including EA Sports Madden NFL 27 at No. 2 on console and Big Walk at No. 3 on PC. Star Wars Zero Company entered at No. 6 on PC and No. 20 …
My.Games' hunting shooter clears 3m downloads and $3m in revenue
My.Games' mobile hunting game Hunting Rivals has generated more than $3m in revenue and passed 3m installs since its May 2026 launch. The title has also reached 1m monthly active users, according to the company. It offer…
Free Witcher 3 remaster pushes Steam player record past previous peaks
CD Projekt Red released a free Remastered edition of The Witcher 3, and the 2015 RPG reached a new Steam concurrent-player record. At the time of writing, more than 120,000 people were playing it on Steam, surpassing ear…
AION 2 Climbs Steam Top Sellers During Paid Early Access Despite Launch Woes
AION 2 became Steam's top-selling game during its paid early access period ahead of an October 5 global launch. The early access start was delayed by server issues and drew negative reviews, but the game later reached ov…
Weekly data round-up: Circle Games funding, August charts, Japan market, H5 gaming
This weekly data round-up covers Circle Games' $25m Series A led by Tencent, August's top mobile earners, and Japan's 2026 market figures. SocialPeta data showed Gossip Harbor leading App Store revenue and Roblox leading…
S&P forecasts global game content revenue to reach $229.1bn by 2030
S&P Global Market Intelligence Kagan projects global game content revenue will grow from $204.4 billion in 2025 to $229.1 billion in 2030, a 2.3% compound annual growth rate. The forecast attributes growth to publishers …
Valve revamps Steam's Discount & Events section for personalized discovery
Valve is replacing Steam's manually curated, calendar-based Discount & Events placements with a dynamic, personalized system intended to improve discoverability. The company says the change lets it show ten times as many…
Dying Light: The Beast Marks First Year With Massive Kill Count
Techland has released first-year statistics for Dying Light: The Beast, showing players eliminated 8.6 billion enemies and completed 1 billion quests. The game saw 52 million sessions, 11,000 years of playtime, and 39 mi…
Sony reportedly asks developers for feedback on ending PlayStation discs
A YouTube report claims Sony Interactive Entertainment sent a large survey to developers that indirectly asks about the impact of removing physical game discs. Sony previously said it would stop producing PlayStation dis…
Some indie games still plan November 19 releases despite GTA 6
Grand Theft Auto 6 is set for November 19 and is expected to dominate the market, with millions of preorders and substantial early revenue. While many publishers have moved titles away from that date, Fairy Mount and Dev…
McDonald’s Reportedly Reviving Pokémon Happy Meals This Fall
A report says McDonald’s will offer Pokémon Happy Meals in the U.S. from November 5 through December 9. Each meal is expected to include a four-card booster pack with one holographic card and three standard cards, drawn …
Minecraft Still Draws Over 300,000 First-Time Players Each Day, Xbox CEO Says
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma said Minecraft averages more than 300,000 first-time players each day. She also noted that the game has sold over 425 million copies across 17-plus years. The statistic was shared after Minecraft Liv…
MobileGamer.biz releases tool for estimating app store and webshop cuts
MobileGamer.biz has introduced a calculator to help developers estimate how much Apple, Google, or webshop providers may take from in-app purchases. The tool draws on publicly available Apple and Google documentation and…
A Guide to the Leading Competitive Games in Esports
This guide surveys prominent esports titles, including Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, League of Legends, Call of Duty, and Rainbow Six Siege. It highlights factors such as player counts, tournament prize pools, and long-runni…
Resident Evil Catalog Maintains Strong Sales as Six Entries Top 3 Million Annually
A Game File report says six Resident Evil titles each moved over 3 million copies between July 2025 and June 2026. Resident Evil 4 Remake led with more than 5 million, while Village and Biohazard also surpassed 3 million…
Weekly Mobile Launch Roundup: EA's Soccer Update, Sanrio's Debut, and Supercell's Beta Return
This week's mobile releases include EA's FC Mobile 27 season update, the global launch of FunPlus-backed creature-catching RPG Aniimo, and Sanrio's first mobile title, a dance rhythm game. Supercell is placing Mo.co back…
August Mobile Data: Merge Games Surge, China's Market to Hit $59.8B by 2030
Sensor Tower data shows Gossip Harbor reached second in global revenue in August, while worldwide downloads hit 3.76 billion. China's games market generated $51.8 billion in 2025, with forecasts of $59.8 billion by 2030.…
Global mobile game spending hits $6.57B in August, Honor of Kings tops revenue
Sensor Tower reports global mobile game consumer spending reached $6.57 billion in August, a 1% decline month-over-month. Honor of Kings led revenue, while Roblox topped download charts. Tencent-owned or published games …
Apple Reverts to Soldered Storage in New Mac Mini, Ending DIY Upgrades
Apple's latest Mac Mini and Mac Studio models have returned to soldered flash storage, eliminating the removable NAND module that had enabled third-party upgrades on the M4 Mini. The change comes as memory and flash pric…
Siege Director Prepares for GTA 6 Launch Disruption
Rainbow Six Siege's creative director Joshua Mills acknowledged that the upcoming release of Grand Theft Auto 6 will impact all games, including his own. He said the team is preparing by focusing on delivering high-quali…