The App Store will remain the highest-grossing platform in the global gaming market in 2025. According to Sensor Tower's "State of Gaming 2026" report, Apple's marketplace for mobile games generated $52.5 billion in revenue. This puts the App Store ahead of the combined revenue of Google Play and Steam. However, a more nuanced picture emerges: revenue is increasing slightly, while download numbers are declining. The market is therefore no longer growing through volume, but rather through monetization.
Last month, Sensor Tower's "State of Mobile 2026" report revealed that consumers spent more money on apps than on games for the first time in 2025. Nevertheless, a total of 444.63 billion hours were spent playing games worldwide.
Despite declining download numbers, revenue from mobile games increased by 1 percent compared to 2024.
The recently published report "State of Gaming 2026" analyzes the development of the mobile, PC, and console gaming markets in 2025 in more detail and provides an outlook for 2026. A clear focus is placed on the mobile gaming market and, in particular, on the App Store.
App Store revenue 2025: Record level with moderate growth
The App Store generated $52.5 billion in revenue in the gaming sector in 2025. This represents a growth of 0.6 percent compared to the previous year.
Even though the increase is small, it marks a new high for the platform. In direct comparison:
- Google Play generated $30 billion in revenue in 2025.
- Steam reached $11.7 billion.
Together, Google Play and Steam have a market capitalization of 41.7 billion US dollars, which is significantly less than the App Store.
Steam recorded the strongest year-on-year growth at 13 percent, but remains clearly behind Apple in terms of absolute revenue.
Downloads are declining – on all platforms except Steam
While revenues remain largely stable, download figures show a different trend. In 2025, the App Store recorded 7.8 billion downloads. This represents a decrease of 5.7 percent compared to the previous year.
Google Play reached 42.4 billion downloads, a decrease of 7.3 percent. Steam, on the other hand, recorded 857 million downloads, representing a 6 percent increase compared to the previous year. These figures indicate that while the number of installations is declining, willingness to pay remains stable or is rising slightly.
More new releases in the App Store
There are also clear differences between the platforms when it comes to new releases. The App Store recorded a total of 55,300 new games in 2025. This represents an increase of 11.4 percent.
Google Play significantly outperformed Steam with 150,000 new games, representing a growth of 45.9 percent. Steam added approximately 20,000 new releases, a growth of 8.4 percent.
The App Store thus ranks between Google Play and Steam in terms of the number of new games, but also shows double-digit growth.
Roblox will dominate the market in 2025
According to the report, Roblox was the dominant platform in 2025. The application reached an average of almost 450 million monthly active users. Of these, nearly 100 million monthly active users were on iOS devices.
In the US, Roblox was the most popular app among male and female users aged 18 to 54. Other top-ranked apps included:
- Clash Royale – especially popular with male players
- Block Blast! – leading among female players
- NYT Games – ranked number one among users aged 55 and over
The report makes it clear that individual titles continue to achieve enormous reach and contribute significantly to revenue in the App Store.
App Store 2025: Highest-grossing gaming platform worldwide
The App Store was the highest-grossing platform in the gaming sector in 2025. With $52.5 billion, it surpassed Google Play and Steam combined.
Revenue grew slightly despite a decline in downloads. Globally, 444.63 billion hours were spent playing games, while for the first time, consumers spent more money on apps than on games.
The market is thus evolving away from pure download growth towards stronger monetization per user. The "State of Gaming 2026" report also shows that platforms like Roblox continue to play a central role in the app store ecosystem and retain large portions of the user base. (Image: Shutterstock / Diego Thomazini)
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