Mobile Mavens on the biggest games industry trends of 2025 and 2026 predictions: Cross-platform future, smarter monetisation, and the path to recovery
- “A huge trend in the mobile space has been Apple finally allowing developers to direct users to external payment methods and direct-to-consumer web shops." - Louise Wooldridge
- “If we are on the path to recovery, fingers crossed it doesn’t get derailed with something like a global conflict or the AI bubble bursting hard.” - Will Luton
- “We will see more sophisticated publishers placing greater weight on ad quality when testing new ad partners and optimising existing ones.” - Božo Janković
The past year has brought with it plenty of disruption and opportunity to the games industry, with China's expanding global dominance, the continued direct-to-consumer shift and increasing emergence of AI tech in development some of the key trends defining 2025.
To highlight the developments that defined much of the year and those likely to shape 2026, we asked industry leaders to share their perspectives on 2025 and predictions for the year ahead.
Stay tuned for more trends and predictions in the coming weeks.
Božo Janković
It's no secret that ad quality in mobile games has been deteriorating not only in 2025 but for years now. It's been a race to the bottom - advertising contributing with inappropriate creatives and ad networks pushing the boundaries with disruptive and hostile ad templates. Neither of the two is showing any signs of slowing down, on the contrary.
However, publishers are getting more and more concerned about ad quality (check any conference lecture agenda!) and some tools in the market are trying to give publishers more control, including certain mediation providers. We will see more sophisticated publishers placing greater weight on ad quality when testing new ad partners and optimising existing ones.
And if advertisers and networks take it too far, they may just provoke Google and Apple to interfere and define more clearly and enforce more consistently their policies around player (un)friendly ad experiences across their stores.
Louise Wooldridge
Post-COVID, we are in a lower growth era. The US gaming audience is 9% smaller than it was during the pandemic peak, but it is beginning to grow again. Still, there is no major growth driver on the horizon. VR, esports, subscriptions and cloud gaming have all carved out their respective niches – some larger than others – but none has offered the next big thing in games.
“Brand collaborations and crossovers have also been trending, but specifically between high-profile IPs, and Roblox is at the epicentre of this.”Louise Wooldridge
As a result, companies are looking for smaller pockets of opportunity to exploit, and this is something that will continue into 2026. Young, female gamers are chronically underrepresented in terms of games content, whilst older gamers are a rapidly growing cohort in an ageing population.
These are just two of the demographics we see as underserved, and we expect to see more initiatives targeting these groups in the coming months and years.
Brand collaborations and crossovers have also been trending, but specifically between high-profile IPs, and Roblox is at the epicentre of this. It has featured partnerships with the likes of Mattel, Netflix, and a host of other top music artists and film IPs.
I think the next step is to see more collaborations across gaming IP, as a way of engaging Gen Z and Alpha, so they can then age up into the standalone content. This will range from indie content right up to triple-A IP.
A huge trend in the mobile space has been Apple finally allowing developers to direct users to external payment methods and direct-to-consumer web shops for in-game purchases, bypassing Apple's payment system and its associated commissions.
The same is also currently true for Android – although the change came later in the year – as a result of increasing regulatory pressure from governments and lawsuits. Although it is obviously potentially very powerful for game developers, there are a few challenges – one being the increased friction third-party billing introduces.
Another issue may be the sizable operational costs of setting up alternative payment methods, and there is also a question around security – consumers may feel that Apple and Google offer more secure and trustworthy systems. So, whilst it is certainly a step in the right direction, there are some trade-offs, and I think we will get a better idea of how developers are navigating these new circumstances in 2026.
Whilst there has been a lot of talk around AI on the development side of gaming, heading into 2026, I think we will start to see more innovative usage of AI as part of the gameplay experience. Examples of this will include smarter NPCs, dynamic questing and narratives, real-time in-game conversations, and more personalised challenges. We have already seen hints of this in 2025, but I think there is definitely more to come.
Kian Hozouri
In 2025, we not only saw a wave of studios reclaiming ownership over their purchase revenues through new DTC storefronts, but also an erosion of control and transparency in the ad stack.
Looking ahead to 2026, the same drive that accelerated the shift towards reclaiming purchases will evolve into a renewed focus on transparency and control over publisher ad revenue, making technology that provides new levers of control foundational for growth strategies in the new year.
Adam Smart
2025 was the year gaming finally became truly platform-agnostic. Cloud and cross-platform play reached a tipping point, with players expecting their experiences to travel effortlessly across mobile, PC, console, web and streaming surfaces.
“2025 was the year gaming finally became truly platform-agnostic. Cloud and cross-platform play reached a tipping point.”Adam Smart
Steam announced the Steam Machine to compete for the living room arena while Sony reinforced its dominance on the TV screen with massive PS5 momentum by expanding streaming capabilities, making the PS Portal come alive, while deep AI integration began reshaping both game creation and in-game experiences, from smarter NPCs to more adaptive storytelling.
At the same time, mobile-born live-service and seasonal models continued to influence PC and console, driven by the global success of titles like Fortnite, Marvel Rivals, Once Human, Zenless Zone Zero, Infinity Nikki, and more recently Where Winds Meet.
Looking ahead to 2026, these shifts will accelerate. Cross platform will evolve into cross-ecosystem engagement driven by ad networks getting to grips with targeting people over devices.
AI will power entirely new forms of interactivity, and hybrid monetisation models will further blur the lines between mobile and PC/console economies. With new tooling and new expectations, mid-sized studios will increasingly be able to build at a scale that once required triple-A teams, while premium gaming will continue expanding across more devices and surfaces through more sophisticated streaming technologies.
Beth Berger
2026 will be the year marketers stop chasing installs and start protecting the users they already have. New Moloco data shows that nearly half of all app installs disappear within 30 days.
The real growth story next year won’t be about acquisition; it will be about keeping users from slipping away.
Re-engagement will become a new form of asset protection, driven by AI, deeper performance visibility, and smarter cross-team collaboration.
Will Luton
For me, the big trend of 2025 is “how bad is it?”
With all the failed projects, pulled funding, layoffs, cancellations, and studio closures, it's felt like a constant cycle of bad news. But getting a true grasp of why and how bad things are seemed completely impossible. People are still playing games and money is still being spent and new games are breaking through.
“I think what we’ve experienced over the last two years is generally a correction. A correction of overemployment in the industry. A correction from the battle for talent and wild salaries.”Will Luton
I’ve seen some green shoots towards the latter half of the year. New companies getting funded, more jobs opening up, fewer people out of work.
So I suspect the question for 2026 will be “how much better does it get?”
I think what we’ve experienced over the last two years is generally a correction. A correction of overemployment in the industry. A correction from the battle for talent and wild salaries. A correction from all the cheap money. It all got a bit frothy post-COVID.
And if we are on the path to recovery, fingers crossed it doesn’t get derailed with something like a global conflict or the AI bubble bursting hard.
People