Cyprus game sector reaches Europe’s top 10 as July tourist arrivals decline

Nicosia, Cyprus. Cyprus entered Europe’s 10 largest video game industries by revenue, according to the first report by the Cyprus Game Makers Association, while tourist arrivals declined by 1.1 per cent in July compared with the same month of 2025.

Gaming industry

More than 400 gaming companies on the island generated estimated revenue of €3.2 billion from games in 2025, placing Cyprus among Europe’s 10 largest video game industries by revenue.

The findings were published in the first industry report by the Cyprus Game Makers Association (CYGMA), which sought to measure a sector that has expanded rapidly but has largely remained absent from official statistics.

According to the report, 415 game studios and related companies operated from Cyprus last year.

Cyprus-based publishers released 571 new mobile games, recording around 615 million downloads. This placed Cyprus third worldwide, behind China and Vietnam and ahead of the United States.

The mobile gaming segment generated an estimated €1.8 billion. A further 36 PC and console titles were released, selling around 1.5 million copies and generating estimated revenue of €1.4 billion.

Tourist arrivals

Tourist arrivals in Cyprus fell by 1.1 per cent in July, although a 55.8 per cent increase in visitors from Israel limited the overall decline as nearly every other major market weakened.

A total of 582,754 tourists arrived during the month, compared with 589,116 in July 2025, according to figures released on Tuesday by the statistical service, Cystat.

Despite the annual decline, July arrivals were 5.7 per cent higher than in July 2024, when Cyprus received 551,229 visitors.

For the January-to-July period, arrivals totalled 2,238,769, down 8 per cent from 2,432,129 during the corresponding period of 2025. Cyprus received 193,360 fewer tourists in the first seven months of the year.

The gap continued to narrow from the end of June, when arrivals for the year were 10.1 per cent below 2025 levels and the monthly decline stood at 1.7 per cent.