G2A.COM reported a 64% year-on-year increase in gaming gift-card purchases on its marketplace during the first half of 2026, a faster rate than the 25% growth it recorded across gaming-related items overall. The comparison identifies prepaid gaming value as a particularly active part of its own marketplace, while leaving the wider industry's growth rate unmeasured. [S01]
The company said worldwide gaming gift-card purchases rose from more than one million to over 1.7 million. In the UK, purchases of gaming gift cards and vouchers increased 92%, from more than 85,000 to over 160,000. Those totals are rounded; the reported growth percentages should not be reconstructed as if the published endpoints were exact.
Gift cards outpaced G2A’s global gaming category
G2A sells digital entertainment products, with gift cards sitting alongside games, subscriptions and downloadable content. Its broader gaming-related measure includes games, vouchers, downloadable content and gaming gift cards. The 64% and 25% growth rates therefore compare a gift-card category with a wider group of products on the same marketplace. [S01]
Global gift-card purchases grew faster
G2A-reported purchase-count growth in its global marketplace, first half of 2026 compared with first half of 2025.
%
Tap or hover for details. All values are also available in the data table.
Source
The wider category includes gift cards and vouchers as well as games and downloadable content. These overlapping categories are growth comparisons, not additive market shares. Figures describe G2A purchases, not industry-wide spending, loaded value or operator revenue; no audit or cohort controls are disclosed.
Show data tableHide data table
| Category | Year-on-year purchase growth |
|---|---|
| Gaming gift cards and vouchers | 64% |
| All gaming-related items | 25% |
For distributors and gaming brands, the results indicate where activity is growing within this sales channel. They do not show gift cards' share of global gaming expenditure, the value loaded onto those cards or the revenue earned from selling them. A count of purchases can rise without an equivalent increase in value if the mix of denominations or products changes; G2A did not publish that mix.
Razer Gold, PlayStation Network and Steam remained among G2A's most popular gaming gift cards during the period. The company reported increased activity around platform promotions, including Steam Sales and Steam's Medieval Fest, alongside major releases. It did not provide a ranking by purchase value or quantify the contribution of each event to the half-year increase. [S01]
Platform credit can fund more than one type of purchase. Steam’s own gift-card page, checked October 19, describes gift value that can be redeemed for games, software, hardware and other items sold on Steam. That confirms the flexibility of one named platform’s product; it does not independently verify G2A’s transaction counts or establish that all products sold by G2A have identical regional or redemption rules. [S02]
G2A chief business officer Katarzyna Jakubiec interpreted the growth as evidence that players were planning spending across a wider mix of releases, subscriptions and additional content. She said gift cards gave customers control over budgets and when to spend. That is the company's explanation of the observed purchases. The announcement does not describe a customer survey or other evidence that directly measures buyers' motives. [S01]
The UK showed a larger category gap
The UK showed a similar difference. Total gaming-related purchases there increased 39%, from more than 550,000 to almost 800,000, against the 92% increase in gaming gift cards and vouchers. Germany's broader gaming-related purchases grew 40%, from more than 650,000 to over 900,000. The release does not provide a corresponding German gift-card growth figure.
UK gift-card purchases grew faster
G2A-reported purchase-count growth in the UK, first half of 2026 compared with first half of 2025.
%
Tap or hover for details. All values are also available in the data table.
Source
The wider category includes gift cards and vouchers as well as games and downloadable content. These overlapping categories are growth comparisons, not additive market shares. Figures describe G2A purchases, not industry-wide spending, loaded value or operator revenue; no audit or cohort controls are disclosed.
Show data tableHide data table
| Category | Year-on-year purchase growth |
|---|---|
| Gaming gift cards and vouchers | 92% |
| All gaming-related items | 39% |
Germany’s 40% increase concerns the broader gaming-related category. The release does not give a German gift-card growth rate, so the evidence does not support a country ranking for gift-card growth or an assumption that the UK result represents other markets.
The disclosed numbers cover the first six months of 2026 and comparisons with the same period a year earlier. The company does not report how much growth came from additional buyers, more frequent purchases by existing buyers or changes in the products available. It also supplies no gift-card denomination data, redemption timing or independent market benchmark.
G2A also expects major releases, Black Friday and Christmas to sustain activity later in 2026. That statement is an outlook, not an observed half-year result. Its account of budgeting motives is management’s interpretation of marketplace activity, rather than a disclosed consumer survey.
The clearest finding is consequently the difference between categories within G2A: gaming gift-card purchases grew substantially faster than its wider gaming-related activity, with an especially large reported increase in the UK. Establishing whether that reflects a broader change across the gaming gift-card market would require comparable evidence from other channels.
In this article
Oliver Reed
Oliver Reed covers industry acquisitions, investment and market research for Gift Card News.