Mid-market acquisitions drive recovery, according to investment bank's latest report
Image credit: Radission US via Unsplash News by Sophie McEvoy Staff Writer Published on July 14, 2026 Follow Aream & Co Games industry mergers and acquisitions reached $2.3 billion with 54 transactions during Q2 of 2026, the highest level since 2022, according to a new report from investment bank Aream & Co.
The company's latest Video Game Market Update identified the mid-market, defined as gaming content acquisitions over $100 million, as the main driver of this revenue growth.
This segment reached its highest level since the pandemic boom, driven by PC gaming (Playstack, Fenris Creations/CCP) and mobile studios.
Notable transactions include Scopely's $1 billion acquisition of Loom and Wemade founder Park Kwan-ho's plan to sell his 35% stake to Chinese investor NeoPulse.
Mobile gaming in-app purchase spending decreased 4% year-on-year, while installs declined 12% to multi-year lows. Established titles continued to dominate, with 65% of the top 20 grossing mobile games being at least four years old.
PC gaming grew 13% year-on-year, driven by franchise sequels and new IP releases such as Forza Horizon 6, Subnautica 2, 007: First Light, Pragmata, Mecha Chameleon, and Windrose.
The console market remained stable, while Nintendo revenue rose 90% year-on-year due to strong Switch 2 hardware and software sales.
These gains offset declines from PlayStation and Xbox. PlayStation revenue fell 5% due to "hardware weakness", partially balanced by growth in PSN services and digital software.
Xbox revenue declined 7%, reflecting a 33% drop in hardware and a 5% decrease in content and services.
Public market fundraising increased 67% year-on-year, supported by Liftoff's $0.5 billion IPO, PlaySimple's $0.35 billion listing plan, and Fellowship Entertainment's planned spin-off from Embracer.
Private investment value increased sixfold year-on-year to $3.1 billion, with significant growth in AdTech (AppsFlyer at $1 billion, with investments from MoldCo, DeepMind, Meta, and Unity) and AI technology (General Intuition, Odyssey, Decart).