2025 Wrapped: A year in the games industry through the Pocket Gamer Connects lens

• A 2025 summary of the global games industry conference series Pocket Gamer Connects.
• In 2025, we gathered a total of 10,800 attendees and 4,245 companies from more than 80 countries across nine global events - including four new locations.

From global companies to indie developers looking to sharpen strategies, share insight, gain visibility or seek collaborations, Pocket Gamer Connects remains a crucial runway for a wide range of industry delegates.

Beyond their cultural and sentimental value, the case for games industry events revolving around unity, knowledge sharing, and collaboration is a deeper one. When done well, they serve as the engine of the entire industry.

Case in point: in 2025, Pocket Gamer Connects’ conferences and partner events Beyond Games: Transmedia Summit, Big Screen Gaming Summit, and AI Gamechangers Summit, gathered a total of 4,245 companies and 10,800 attendees from more than 80 countries across nine global events. 

845 expert speakers contributed with 462 hours of content, 573 talks, 191 panels, and 80 workshops. Not that we’re counting, but that’s a combined 19+ days of knowledge. Additionally, we facilitated around 11,000 meetings and presented 53 awards - with 195 outstanding companies recognised across our various top company lists. 

We also hosted the ultimate celebration gala in Cologne with the much anticipated Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2025.

Connections remained our north star

After our Dubai GameExpo Summit in May, Ajay Kumar Srinivasan from Digitalconfex commented: “The event was a powerhouse of inspiration, innovation, and meaningful connections. From insightful sessions on the future of gaming to thrilling interactions with global creators, every moment was pure value.”

Providing value is our mission, and in 2025 - a year of continued financial caution - but with a continued revival of overall industry growth, -and emerging potential in newer markets, we gathered and connected local, regional and global game sectors. We launched two new summits in Shanghai and Korea, and debuted our main conferences in two other new locations, including Barcelona and Aqaba.

While Shanghai was our first-ever bilingual edition, Barcelona hit the highest ever interest in a new PG Connects event. Yet again, the reception and feedback we received emphasised the value of focused games industry gatherings like ours.

“Barcelona had the privilege of hosting, organised by Steel Media, a major event for the gaming industry," commented one of the participating companies, Gameloft Barcelona, following the event.

"It’s a fantastic opportunity for cities like Barcelona to host such conferences, bringing together leaders and fostering innovation within both the local and international tech scenes."

Another attendee, Super Banana Game Producer Olha Semykina, said: “Pocket Gamer Connects was amazing - full of inspiring conversations, familiar faces, and new connections.”

2025 focal points

In terms of those conversations, the focus for 2025 was a mixed bag of discoverability, operational demands and solutions, the integration of AI technology, changing player behaviour, and sustainability, to mention a few. On a macro level, growth potentials continued to shift from established to emerging markets, with studios increasingly adapting their localisation and regional strategies.

As we’re anticipating different market shifts in the new year, it’s as clear as day that our global games industry event series is in high demand, and continues to fill an imperative role to the worldwide industry. 

So in 2026, we’re shooting higher than ever in our twelve-year history. Touring the world, we’re hitting no less than three brand new destinations - Malmö, Bangkok and the Canary Islands - in addition to returning to Barcelona and Shanghai, as well as landing our flagship events across London, San Francisco, Dubai, Helsinki, and Aqaba.

Reflecting on our 2025 momentum, where PG Connects London saw the highest company attendance on record, San Francisco was our largest US indie gathering to date, the new Beyond Games: Transmedia Summit at PG Connects Helsinki reached max capacity, and Aqaba broke the record of votes for the Big Indie Zone Audience Choice Award, we want to express our gratitude to everyone who attended, spoke, shared, supported and connected with us in some manner.

Seeing that we create value to you is of immense importance and inspiration to us. Here’s to another year of connecting, building and growing together.

In the meantime, we wish you Happy Holidays!

Pocket Gamer Connects London takes place January 19th-20th. For a limited time, you can get a 10% discount on tickets using promo code ‘BIZHAPPYHOLIDAYS’ at checkout. Offer ends January 2nd.