Global consumer spending for PC and console gaming fell by 2% to $80.2 billion last year, but is expected to rise to $85.2 billion in 2025.
This is according to Newzoo, which today published its PC and console gaming report 2025.
The market intelligence firm forecasts that overall market growth to 2027 will reach $92.7 billion and will be “driven predominantly by console.”
Console took the main market share at $42.8 billion, with premium titles making up 46% of console revenue at $19.9 billion, down 14% year-on-year.
Free-to-play games comprised 32% of revenue at $13.9 billion, up 4.5% YoY. Subscriptions saw a 16% share at $6.9 billion, an increase of 14.1% YoY.
As for PC, it contributed $37.3 billion with free-to-play games making up 58% of total PC revenue at $24.billion – up 1.4% year-on-year. Premium games comprised 28% of revenue at $10.7 billion, down 2.6% YoY.
“Console growth is expected to return in 2025 by key pay-to-play titles,” said Newzoo, noting it will be driven by the eagerly-awaited Grand Theft Auto 6 and the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2 on June 5, 2025.
Looking at playtime, it grew by 6% YoY with the fourth quarter of 2024 setting the record for highest quarterly playtime.
According to Newzoo, this increase was driven by pay-to-play games and Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.
New releases represented 12% of total playtime in 2024, with Fortnite remaining the most played game carrying 9.3% of total playtime in 2024 (compared to 9.1% in 2023).
“Overall, playtime hours are growing but concentrated in AAA and at times cannibalistic,” Newzoo noted. “The battle for audience hours is fierce and nearly zero sum.”
“PC skews heavily towards older, free-to-play titles while console is slate dependent.”