Mobile game revenue grows 1% to $82B in 2025, Sensor Tower

Sensor Tower’s State of Gaming 2026 report, covering 2025, found mobile game revenue edged up about 1% to $82 billion while total games were downloaded 52 billion times across mobile, PC, and console. The dataset also shows 95,000 mobile games were downloaded per minute during 2025, a figure Sensor Tower highlights as part of a broader slowdown in mobile download growth from 2024.

That slowdown has pushed mobile developers toward retention and monetization strategies. Sensor Tower frames the shift as a move away from pure acquisition toward live ops, events, and IP collaborations to keep existing players engaged and spending. The report notes YouTube ad spend for mobile grew in 2025, signaling a marketing pivot toward channels used historically by PC and console publishers to reach higher-value audiences. Strategy stood out as the only mobile genre to gain across revenue, downloads, and time spent, with Last War: Survival and Whiteout Survival named the top two mobile revenue titles for the year.

By contrast, PC and console posted a strong year. Aggregate PC/console revenue rose 13% in 2025, while downloads across those platforms increased 7% and releases climbed 8.4%. Sensor Tower attributes much of that momentum to AA and AAA publishers, which posted year-over-year gains of 29% and 25% respectively. The report also states that more games were sold on Steam than ever before, further underscoring the platform-level strength behind the revenue uptick.

Top-selling titles reinforced that PC/console surge. Battlefield 6 finished as the best-selling game on PC and console in 2025, with EA Sports FC 25 and EA Sports FC 26 in second and third place; Sensor Tower notes the two EA Sports FC games combined sold more than Battlefield 6. Free-to-play downloads were led by Skate, followed by Marvel Rivals, Delta Force, and Deadlock. On the indie front, R.E.P.O. and Peak ranked as 2025’s best-selling indie games, a performance the report ties to the popularity of chaotic co-op playstyles.

Oliver Yeh, CEO and co-founder of Sensor Tower, summarized the split between platforms: “2025 proved the strength of the PC/console ecosystem, fueled by viral indie hits, high-quality AA experiences, and reliable AAA pipelines–anchored by the year's top-selling title, Battlefield 6. With GTA VI still ahead, that momentum will only accelerate into 2026.” Yeh added, “Meanwhile, mobile has entered a more mature phase. While downloads are harder to scale, opportunity has shifted to favor developers who prioritize retention, monetization, and innovation, with tactics like webstores and IP partnerships driving sustainable growth.”

Sensor Tower’s State of Gaming 2026 report also marks the first time the company aggregated mobile, PC, and console data in a single release. The combined picture points to a mature mobile market holding revenue steady through monetization tactics even as PC and console growth accelerates into 2026, driven by indie virality, AA and AAA pipelines, and major releases on the horizon.