The 72% drop refers to global gaming startup venture-capital funding falling from $14.6 billion in 2022 to $4.1 billion in 2023, according to PitchBook figures reported by GamesBeat on February 14, 2024. The “new plateau” was a description of activity settling into a lower range—not a claim that funding had reached a permanent floor. Later reports showed further declines and sharp quarterly swings, while the latest comparable PitchBook figures covered here run only through June 30, 2025.
What the 72% decline measures
GamesBeat reported PitchBook’s global gaming-startup figures as $14.6 billion raised across 1,083 deals in 2022 and $4.1 billion across 572 deals in 2023. That is a 72% year-over-year decline in funding and a 47% decline in deal count. The headline refers to the funding comparison, not to a 72% fall in the number of deals.
The figures describe a retreat from exceptionally strong investment years. PitchBook’s report, as quoted by GamesBeat, said the lower activity likely represented a more realistic level of investment than the 2020–2022 peak, when Web3 and metaverse enthusiasm drew non-endemic, or “tourist,” investors. That is the report’s characterization of the cycle, not proof that any one factor caused the decline. GamesBeat’s report of PitchBook’s 2023 figures.
What “new plateau” meant in 2023
In the February 2024 account, the plateau referred to a five-quarter stretch in which gaming investment ranged from $900 million to $1.3 billion per quarter, with fewer than 200 deals in each quarter. It was a description of the then-recent quarterly run rate after the peak—not a measured minimum, forecast, or assurance that future quarters would stay within that range.
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Deal value and deal count also tell different stories. A few large financings can lift total dollars even when relatively few companies raise money. Conversely, a falling deal count may point to fewer funded companies even if median deal sizes rise. The headline aggregate alone does not show how funding was distributed across stages or companies.
What later reports showed
2024: another annual decline
Konvoy’s Q4 2024 report put gaming venture funding at $286 million for the quarter, down 47% from Q3. It reported annual gaming VC funding down 15% from 2023 to 2024. Q4 had 83 deals, 25% fewer than the previous quarter; the annual deal count fell 14%. These are Konvoy’s figures and classifications. Konvoy’s Q4 2024 report.
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Earlier in 2024, a GamesBeat account of Konvoy’s Q2 report put disclosed games VC at $492 million for Q2, down 20% from Q1 and 7% from Q2 2023. Disclosed VC funding for the first half was $1.093 billion, 20% below the first half of 2023. The same account gave a broader first-half private-funding figure of $2.886 billion that included Disney’s $1.5 billion investment in Epic Games; excluding that investment, the figure was $1.39 billion, 9% below H1 2023. That broader private-funding measure is not comparable to VC-only funding. GamesBeat’s account of Konvoy’s Q2 2024 figures.
Q2 2025: weak totals, volatile comparisons
PitchBook’s global Q2 2025 preview, using data through June 30, 2025, reported $904.6 million in gaming VC for the quarter, down 47.6% year over year and 83.3% quarter over quarter. The quarter-over-quarter fall narrows to 27.2% when the unusually large Q1 raise by Infinite Reality is excluded. Q2 had 113 rounds, down 42.1% from Q2 2024. PitchBook’s Q2 2025 preview hosted by InvestGame.
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For the year to date, PitchBook reported a $5 million median deal size, 19% above 2024, and a $29.9 million median pre-money valuation, compared with $21.1 million in 2024. The report said deal value was concentrated in a handful of larger transactions. These medians and concentration help explain why aggregate dollars can move differently from deal counts; they do not establish that typical companies broadly received more capital.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why totals from different reports do not line up
Gaming investment reports can measure different things. Before comparing a headline number with another, check the scope and time period:
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- Capital type: VC-only funding is not the same as all private funding, which may include strategic investments, or a count combining private-equity mergers and acquisitions with financing rounds.
- Period and geography: A quarter, half-year, and full year are different windows; confirm whether the report is global or limited to a market.
- Disclosure and classification: Some reports count disclosed rounds or use their own definitions of gaming companies and transactions. Do not assume every publisher classifies activity identically.
- Value versus volume: Total dollars measure deal value; deal counts measure transaction volume. A small number of large rounds can dominate value.
- Outliers: Large transactions can make quarter-to-quarter changes look more dramatic. PitchBook’s adjusted Q2 2025 comparison illustrates how excluding one unusually large Q1 raise changes the reported decline.
For example, S&P Global Market Intelligence counted 208 global video-game private-equity M&A and funding transactions in 2025, down 45% year over year, in an article published March 19, 2026. That is a transaction count combining PE M&A and financing rounds—not a VC funding total—and should not be compared directly with PitchBook’s VC dollars. S&P attributed capital competition partly to AI and weaker consumer demand, and quoted Morgan Lewis counsel Brian Slough saying, “The largest venture rounds in the world are all going to mega-sized AI rounds.” That is an attributed market participant’s view, not evidence that AI competition alone explains gaming’s funding decline. S&P Global Market Intelligence’s 2025 transaction analysis.
What the funding data does—and does not—say
The reports point to reduced funding and fewer deals after the 2020–2022 peak, followed by a weaker 2024 and volatile activity in the first half of 2025. Konvoy also reported that 11.5% of gaming startups that raised a seed round went on to raise a Series A within two years, compared with 20–30% for startups overall. This is Konvoy’s reported stage-conversion comparison; it suggests that progressing from seed to a Series A may be especially challenging for gaming startups, but does not predict the outcome for any individual company.
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Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →The available figures do not establish a comparable global VC-only total for full-year 2025 or a 2026 funding plateau. S&P’s broader 2025 transaction count cannot fill that gap because it includes PE M&A as well as financing rounds. The defensible conclusion is narrower: the 72% figure describes the sharp 2022-to-2023 correction, while subsequent reports show continued pressure and uneven quarter-to-quarter results—not a verified permanent floor.
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