The European gaming landscape in 2024 displayed modest expansion amidst a backdrop of economic uncertainty. Game studios across the continent reached a total of 6,600, reflecting a year-on-year rise estimated between 5 and 10 %. The United Kingdom led the count with 2,148 studios, while Sweden (1,101), Germany (910) and Poland (824) followed closely. Türkiye entered the tally with 851 studios, and Cyprus appeared for the first time with 260, overtaking Denmark, Romania and Italy.
Studio footprint and workforce dynamics
Employment figures painted a mixed picture. In 2024, roughly 95,000 people were employed by studios and publishers throughout Europe. The United Kingdom, Poland and Türkiye each housed around 15,000 workers, making them the three largest labour markets. However, Country-specific shifts were evident: Poland’s headcount fell from 15,290 to 14,929, while Germany added roughly 400 workers, moving from 11,992 to 12,408.
Gender balance remains a challenge, with women representing 24.5 % of the sector’s workforce, slightly below the 24.9 % recorded a year earlier. The highest female shares appear in Croatia and Serbia (both 31 %) and Germany (30 %), whereas Czechia lags at 19 %.
Turnover, platform focus and self-publishing trends
Within the subset of sixteen EU nations reporting both years, growth was more modest at 2.1 % (€13.7 billion to €14 billion). Cyprus topped the EU per-country turnover chart with €4.35 billion, accounting for 18 % of total EU revenue, followed closely by France (€4.21 billion) and Germany (€3.73 billion). Finland and Sweden also posted double-digit growth, while Germany and Poland experienced declines of 4.4 % and 8.8 % respectively.
When measured per employee, stark contrasts emerged: Polish studios generated €87,000 each, Finland €750,000 and Cyprus nearly €1 million. This disparity underlines differing business models, with many Polish developers focusing on volume-driven releases and Finnish firms emphasizing higher-value IP.
Platform preferences varied widely. In fifteen of nineteen surveyed countries, more than 60 % of studios produced PC titles, with Croatia (98.5 %) and Spain (95 %) at the top. Mobile development dominated in Serbia (80 % of studios) and North Macedonia (68 %). Console-centric studios were most common in Spain (63 %), Serbia (48 %) and Italy (44 %). Self-publishing remained the norm: Finland, Romania and Slovakia reported that over 80 % of their games were released without a third-party publisher.
Mobile market pulse and the economics of AAA blockbusters
Mobile revenue data from September 2026 highlighted Honor of Kings as the sole title surpassing $100 million, despite a 12 % month-on-month drop to $135 million. Roblox stayed in the top three, while PUBG Mobile saw a dramatic 50 % decline. Download rankings shifted dramatically, with Bus Fever Party! leaping 141 places to fourth after 12.8 million installs.
Advertising spend on mobile apps grew 14.77 % quarter-on-quarter in Q2 2026, split almost evenly between Android (14.73 %) and iOS (14.80 %). iOS accounted for 53.42 % of total spend, though its share of impressions fell to 38.12 %. The gaming segment captured 45.09 % of all ad spend, expanding 16.48 % over the quarter.
The funding reality for high-budget AAA titles contrasts sharply with these mobile figures. Development costs for recent blockbusters have exceeded $200 million; Horizon Forbidden West and The Last of Us Part II each required over $200 million, while the Call of Duty franchise has amassed more than $700 million across its life cycle. Assuming an average net contribution of $45 per sold copy, a $200 million project would need roughly 4.5 million units to break even, excluding marketing expenses. This illustrates why only a fraction of gamers — often those purchasing premium console or PC titles at €70-80 — can sustain such massive budgets.
Demographic data from 2025 indicated 199 million European players aged 6-75, with an average age of 34. Mobile devices reached 82 % of this audience, while 47 % also owned a console. The overlap means that the pool of potential AAA buyers is far smaller than the total player base, reinforcing the importance of diversified revenue streams, such as microtransactions and live-service models, for covering development costs.
