Gaming VC deals rose 35% in Q1 2025 to $373m

Venture capital funding totalled $373 million across 77 deals to mark a rise of 35% from the previous quarter.

That's according to Konvoy's Q1 2025 report, which shows that while there was a quarter-on-quarter rise, the value of VC deals was still down 41% compared to the same period last year.

Private market investment in games reached $700m last quarter, reflecting a 23% increase from Q4 2024. This growth is primarily driven by a 125% increase in growth-stage funding. 

Investment disparities 

In Q1 2025, Africa, Australia, and South America all recorded no gaming venture deals, highlighting a stark slowdown in early-year investment activity across these regions. 

Africa saw no funding for the third consecutive quarter, continuing a dry spell that began after a notable $46m peak in Q1 2022. 

Similarly, South America has experienced declining activity since its own high point of $34m in Q1 2022, with zero deals recorded in Q1 2025. 

Australia, which once led with $219m in Q1 2022, also saw no deals during the last quarter despite some modest activity in 2024. 

Gaming ETFs on the rise 

Konvoy's report further highlights that Gaming ETFs have shown resilience, with funds like ESPO and HERO outperforming the S&P 500 year-to-date, rising 4.8% and 6.2% respectively, compared to the index’s 5.4% decline. 

The US accounts for 26% of gaming revenue, spending over three times more per gamer than their Chinese counterparts. Moreover, US-based gaming startups raised 7.6 times more capital than those in China. 

Elsewhere on player counts, the Asia-Pacific region leads with 3.4bn gamers, 53% of the global gaming population. In second place is the Middle East & Africa (16%), Europe (13%), Latin America (10%), and North America (7%). 

On the hardware front, expectations for Nintendo’s upcoming Switch 2 are tempered, Konvoy projected it could underperform the original Switch by 25% to 40%.

You can read the full report here.