Tencent still on top, in latest list of top game companies by revenue

Half a year on from its initial ranking, analyst firm Newzoo has ranked public companies with game revenues based on the data for the first half of 2015 -- and that data sees Chinese internet firm Tencent continue to lead the pack. It saw 23 percent revenue growth this year.

Sony's revenues have shot up 12 percent, meanwhile, according to Newzoo's estimates. Yet Microsoft edges it out for the number-two slot in the rankings, despite the fact that the PlayStation 4 is beating the Xbox One.

Revenue growth for the top companies overall hit 16 percent in 2015 -- a sizable leap for the game industry.

Newzoo also says that Apple's App Store revenues have shot up 28 percent this year, primarily thanks to gains in China (which makes sense -- its phone sales in China have dramatically increased of late.)

Newcomers to the top 25 include Mixi (thanks to the performance of Monster Strike) and Warner Bros. (which has seen a number of hits of late, like Batman: Arkham Knight and Shadow of Mordor.) On the other hand, Ubisoft and Gree slid out of the list -- Gree has been facing trouble, of late, and Ubisoft has so far this year lacked a major new hit.

It's also worth noting two things: the charts include only public companies for which revenue data is available; and some data is estimated, as the companies in question do not break out their exact revenue from their game businesses.

You can read more at Newzoo's site; we've embedded the latest chart below.