2025 New Zealand Video Game Consumer Sales Results

24
Jun

2025 consumer sales results of video games in New Zealand demonstrate strong growth, reflecting the enduring popularity of playing video games among Kiwis. Total consumer spending reached NZ$649million, an increase of 9% over the previous year.

Within the digital sales category, New Zealanders spent just over $267 million on games. Mobile continues its upward trajectory, accounting for $246.9 million.

Traditional retail sales remain an important channel and key contributor to the market with New Zealanders spending NZ$134.7 million full game software, hardware and first party peripherals. Console hardware again recorded growth compared to 2024 and is a key driver within this category.

According to Newzoo, digital games revenues in New Zealand were underpinned by a broad mix of premium titles and a wealth of mid and lower priced releases. Looking ahead, Newzoo forecast that total games revenues in the country will expand at a 5.3% CAGR between 2025 and 2028, closely mirroring global growth trends.

Game Sales Data (GSD), confirmed that the New Zealand video games traditional retail market delivered noteworthy results in 2025, driven by the successful launch of the Nintendo Switch 2 and continued consumer spending across both hardware and software on leading platforms such as the PlayStation 5.

Despite challenging economic times, sales of video games remain a popular, resilient and growing entertainment consumer category. Kiwis turn to games for fun, connection and to de-stress.

Beyond consumer sales, the broader game development industry is also thriving. Recent figures from the New Zealand Game Development Association show that local game developers generated over NZ$1 billion in revenue, highlighting the sector’s growing importance as a cornerstone of the country’s digital economy.

About the data we use

IGEA reports on New Zealand consumer video game sales using data sourced from trusted third-party providers to ensure accuracy and reliability.

  • Digital and mobile sales data is drawn from the Newzoo Global Games Market Report
  • Physical retail data is provided by Game Sales Data (GSD), operated by Sparkers

 

When comparing 2025 results to 2024 figures, it is important to note that 2024 data has been revised from originally published figures. These updates reflect improved methodologies introduced by our data partners.

Since the release of the 2024 sales report in June 2025, both Newzoo and Game Sales Data (GSD) have refined their approaches to data collection and modelling. As a result, all 2024 figures presented alongside 2025 data, including those in infographics, have been updated to ensure consistency and accuracy.

IGEA and its partners remain committed to continuously improving data quality, with revisions forming a standard part of this process.

Newzoo continues to advance its data capabilities. In February 2025, it introduced significant improvements aligning its top-down market forecasts with bottom-up performance tracking through its Game Performance Monitor.

Similarly, GSD figures remain subject to revision, reflecting updates to supplier inputs and refinements to extrapolation methodologies. These adjustments help ensure the most accurate representation of Australia’s physical games market over time.

*Game Sales Data (GSD) – Calendar year 2025.

**Newzoo Global Games Market Report May 2026. Note the dollar amounts are in NZD and converted from the USD average for 2025.