2026-02-19
Video games are under clear assault from novel forms of interactivity and which mostly emerged or scaled after 2019. Consider that in 2019, US spending on online sports betting was under $500MM, iGaming under $500MM, and OnlyFans under $250MM. They are now $33B combined. And then there's prediction markets, crypto trading, social media (up 21 minutes per person per day since COVID ended), AI, and on and on [...]
GamesIndustry.biz
Matthew Ball's State of Video Gaming 2026 report: global video game content sales grew 5.3% YoY to $195.6B in 2025 while job losses fell 40% YoY to 9,200 people
My State of Video Games in 2026 is now out (Early Access) 1⃣ Why revenue growth is more elusive than headlines suggest 2⃣Why video gaming has been losing the attention war for a half decade (and to what) 3⃣ Where there's indisputable growth + Lots more https://www.matthewball.co/...
GamesIndustry.biz
Matthew Ball's State of Video Gaming 2026 report: global video game content sales grew 5.3% YoY to $195.6B in 2025 while job losses fell 40% YoY to 9,200 people
One of the most interesting aspects of the video game market's growth is... where it doesn't seem to be going (most gamemakers!). Since 2021, Roblox has captured more than 60% of total net growth in consumer spending outside China (67% in 2025!). It's now >4.5% of the market. [image]
GamesIndustry.biz
Matthew Ball's State of Video Gaming 2026 report: global video game content sales grew 5.3% YoY to $195.6B in 2025 while job losses fell 40% YoY to 9,200 people
How big was Roblox in 25? Well, it's catching up to Netflix for hours of use... about matches the combined playtime of the next largest gaming ecosystems.... and its top titles are as played as top non-Roblox games and even publishers (though they get a fraction of the revenue) [image]
GamesIndustry.biz
Matthew Ball's State of Video Gaming 2026 report: global video game content sales grew 5.3% YoY to $195.6B in 2025 while job losses fell 40% YoY to 9,200 people
2026-02-18
Video games are under clear assault from novel forms of interactivity and which mostly emerged or scaled after 2019. Consider that in 2019, US spending on online sports betting was under $500MM, iGaming under $500MM, and OnlyFans under $250MM. They are now $33B combined. And [image]
GamesIndustry.biz
Matthew Ball's State of Video Gaming 2026 report: global video game content sales grew 5.3% YoY to $195.6B in 2025 while job losses fell 40% YoY to 9,200 people
Private funding fell a further 55% last year, according to Epyllion's latest State of Video Gaming report
One of the most interesting aspects of the video game market's growth is... where it doesn't seem to be going (most gamemakers!). Since 2021, Roblox has captured more than 60% of total net growth in consumer spending outside China (67% in 2025!). It's now >4.5% of the market. [image]
GamesIndustry.biz
Matthew Ball's State of Video Gaming 2026 report: global video game content sales grew 5.3% YoY to $195.6B in 2025 while job losses fell 40% YoY to 9,200 people
Private funding fell a further 55% last year, according to Epyllion's latest State of Video Gaming report
How big was Roblox in 25? Well, it's catching up to Netflix for hours of use... about matches the combined playtime of the next largest gaming ecosystems.... and its top titles are as played as top non-Roblox games and even publishers (though they get a fraction of the revenue) [image]
GamesIndustry.biz
Matthew Ball's State of Video Gaming 2026 report: global video game content sales grew 5.3% YoY to $195.6B in 2025 while job losses fell 40% YoY to 9,200 people
Private funding fell a further 55% last year, according to Epyllion's latest State of Video Gaming report
My State of Video Games in 2026 is now out (Early Access) 1⃣ Why revenue growth is more elusive than headlines suggest 2⃣Why video gaming has been losing the attention war for a half decade (and to what) 3⃣ Where there's indisputable growth + Lots more https://www.matthewball.co/...
GamesIndustry.biz
Matthew Ball's State of Video Gaming 2026 report: global video game content sales grew 5.3% YoY to $195.6B in 2025 while job losses fell 40% YoY to 9,200 people
Private funding fell a further 55% last year, according to Epyllion's latest State of Video Gaming report
2025-07-31
By my model, Meta's life-to-date outlays/spend/investment into Reality Labs will pass $100B this quarter (Q3 2025). Sounds wild, but reported spend (Q1 2019-Q2 2025) is $88.6B.
CNBC
Meta's Reality Labs Q2: revenue up 5% YoY to $370M, vs. $381M est., and a $4.53B operating loss, vs. $4.99B est.; Reality Labs has lost nearly $70B since 2020
2025-06-25
U.S. District Court finds Anthropic's use of copyright books (i.e. w/o express consent/agreement/deal) to train LLMs is “transformative” ("among the most transformative in our lifetime") thus justified as fair use + “in light of the purposes of copyright” https://www.documentcloud.org/ ...
ai fray
A US judge rules Anthropic's use of copyrighted books to train AI was fair use, but its storage of pirated books in a central library for training LLMs was not
but it's still in trouble for stealing books Blake Brittain / Reuters : Anthropic wins key US ruling on AI training in authors' copyright lawsuit Jason Koebler / 404 Media : Judge ...
2025-06-24
U.S. District Court finds Anthropic's use of copyright books (i.e. w/o express consent/agreement/deal) to train LLMs is “transformative” ("among the most transformative in our lifetime") thus justified as fair use + “in light of the purposes of copyright” https://www.documentcloud.org/ ...
ai fray
A US judge rules Anthropic's use of copyrighted books to train AI was fair use, but its storage of pirated books in a central library used for training was not
Context: Last August, book authors Andrea Bartz, Charles Graeber and Kirk Wallace Johnson filed a copyright infringement class action …
2025-05-21
Where we dropping / What're we using to drop Let's goooo
9to5Mac
Epic Games says Fortnite for iPadOS and iOS is back on the US App Store, and on the Epic Games Store and AltStore in the EU; Apple kicked it off in August 2020
After a nearly five-year hiatus, Fortnite is back on the App Store for iPhone and iPad users in the United States.
2025-05-01
Roblox is now doing 7.2 billion hours of monthly engagement (~43% of Netflix) with 97.8 million average daily active users [image]
Bloomberg
Roblox reports Q1 revenue up 29% YoY to ~$1B, Bookings up 31% YoY to ~$1.21B, above $1.11B est., and DAUs up 26% YoY to 97.8M, above 93.3M est.; RBLX jumps ~4%
Cecilia D'Anastasio / Bloomberg :
And a month after this, Xbox announces its standard game prices will go to $80 later this year, too
The Verge
Microsoft raises the prices of its Xbox Series S and X consoles, Xbox controllers, and some new Xbox games globally; the consoles are priced $80 to $100 more
New first-party Xbox games are moving from $69.99 to $79.99 later this year, but there are no Xbox Game Pass increases.
2025-04-07
Nintendo USA Pres on new Switch 2 price variability: Based on the “development into the game”, “breadth and depth of the gameplay,” “durability” and “repeatability” of play (i.e. lifespan), and more factors, highlighting there is no “benchmark” @GenePark https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... [image]
Wired
Nintendo of America President Doug Bowser says the company is “actively assessing” the impact of US tariffs, which “weren't factored into” its Switch 2 pricing
Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser tells WIRED the company is still figuring out how to address tariffs …
2025-04-02
Two months ago, I went rather controversially viral for saying out loud that $80 premium games were probably nearby, and the industry was hoping/betting GTA6 would go even higher. Here we go.
The Verge
Nintendo shares Switch 2 details: a 7.9", 120fps, 1080p display, larger Joy-Con controllers, 256GB of storage, 4K at 60fps when docked, and a new Pro Controller
Finally, some specs. … The device has a 7.9-inch screen, but it's still 13.99mm thick, like the first Switch.
Two months ago, I went rather controversially viral for saying out loud that $80 premium games were probably nearby, and the industry was hoping/betting GTA6 would go even higher. Here we go.
The Verge
Nintendo says the Switch 2 will cost $450 for the console or $500 for a Mario Kart World bundle on its June 5 launch; preorders in North America open on April 9
Nintendo is finally sharing some real details about its next console. … After a reveal that was light on details …
2025-02-19
Niantic, the company behind the 2016 hit Pokémon Go, is in talks to sell its video-game business to Saudi-controlled Scopely. https://www.bloomberg.com/... via @business
Bloomberg
Sources: Niantic is in talks to sell its video games unit to Saudi Arabia-owned Scopely for ~$3.5B; the deal would include Pokémon Go and its other mobile games
A deal could be announced in coming weeks. The price being discussed is about $3.5 billion, according to one of the people.
2025-01-31
Interesting heat check on Silicon Valley/X perception and active consumer choices The Meta Quest line has probably outsold the Meta Ray-Bans by 5x (or a good bit more) since the latter debuted in late 2023 (I wear my RBMs 10-20x a week, fwiw, I also main the Quest Pro for MR!)
Business Insider
In a leaked recording of an all-hands meeting, Mark Zuckerberg said Meta was slow to respond to TikTok's rise because “we didn't think TikTok was social”
- Mark Zuckerberg addressed several recent policy changes in a company all-hands meeting on Thursday.
Interesting heat check on Silicon Valley/X perception and active consumer choices The Meta Quest line has probably outsold the Meta Ray-Bans by 5x (or a good bit more) since the latter debuted in late 2023 (I wear my RBMs 10-20x a week, fwiw, I also main the Quest Pro for MR!)
The Verge
Leaked all-hands: Mark Zuckerberg said Meta sold more than 1M Ray-Ban smart glasses in 2024, revealing sales figures for the first time
targets 5M this year Hamish Hector / TechRadar : Mark Zuckerberg just teased next-gen Ray-Ban smart glasses - here are 4 things I want to see Threads: Tarun / @noise.in.vacuum : 1 ...