International sport content material revenue elevated 3.6% to $54.14 billion in Q1 2026, marking the seventh consecutive quarter of year-over-year development, in accordance with estimates reported by S&P International Market Intelligence.
The content material revenue figures cowl software program, in-game purchases, and game-based subscription companies, however don’t embrace {hardware}.
Tencent stays by far the world’s largest gaming firm, with S&P estimating the agency introduced in $9.60 billion in gaming content material revenue in Q1 2026, up 8.4% year-over-year.
Tencent’s Chinese language rival NetEase noticed its gaming content material revenue leap up by a good greater margin, growing 12.3% to $3.62 billion, supported by The place Winds Meet, Marvel Rivals, and different home franchises.
However Capcom and Pearl Abyss noticed a number of the largest year-on-year revenue will increase.
Capcom’s gaming content material revenue jumped 89.8% to $451.8 million, due to Resident Evil Requiem, the fastest-selling sport within the franchise thus far, whereas Pearl Abyss’s revenue soared by an astonishing 468.6% to $328.1 million, with Crimson Desert promoting over 5 million copies.
S&P famous that regardless of the dominance of live-service games, Q1 confirmed continued shopper demand for single-player titles like Requiem and Crimson Desert.
“The biggest greenback positive factors remained concentrated amongst a comparatively small group of scaled publishers and platform holders with sturdy live-service portfolios, robust positions in China, or each,” stated S&P.
“However the quarter provided at the very least some proof that customers are still keen to offer conventional, stand-alone titles a glance ought to publishers ship a compelling bundle.”
Roblox was an enormous hitter, with revenue rising 39.3% to $1.44 billion, whereas Nexon confirmed a 29.8% YoY enhance, Bandai Namco was up 28.7%, and Digital Arts rose 11.9%.
When it comes to the most important platform holders, Nintendo recovered considerably within the first quarter, with content material revenue rising 37.7% to $1.31 billion. This was pushed by Change 2 gross sales and the profitable launch of Pokémon Pokopia.
Sony’s gaming content material revenue elevated 6.3% year-over-year to $2.87 billion, supported by PlayStation’s ecosystem for third-party and live-service games. S&P analysts described Sony’s Q1 as “steadier and, in some methods, extra consultant of the broader console enterprise.”
Nonetheless, Sony recorded a $765 million impairment on Bungie in its full-year outcomes, as working earnings fell 41.6% in This autumn.
In the meantime, Microsoft’s gaming revenue fell 0.2% to $4.12 billion within the first quarter, which S&P attributed to decrease Xbox {hardware} gross sales.
Ubisoft skilled a considerable 48.7% loss in revenue which S&P suggests was tied to the discharge timing of Murderer’s Creed.
The corporate has since introduced the closure of its Winnipeg and Belgrade studios along with chopping publishing roles worldwide, placing 380 jobs in danger.
Embracer Group additionally noticed a 35% decline, whereas Sega was down 16.7% which was attributed to the underperformance of Sonic Rumble Social gathering.
Sega additionally reported a $200 impairment write-down for Rovio earlier this yr, which it acquired in 2023 for $776 million.
PC was the fastest-growing platform, rising 7.8% year-over-year to $12.11 billion. Its market share grew to 22.4%, up from 21.5% final yr.
Cell remained the biggest section, reaching $30.53 billion, however at 2.5%, the sector’s development was far slower than for PC. Console was the slowest rising sector, with revenue up 1.3% year-over-year to $9.81 billion.
S&P’s estimates are based mostly on publicly reported revenue from publishers and platform holders, in addition to discussions with business figures, proprietary survey information and different market analysis.