The Latest PC Gaming Statistics (2025)

With over 3 billion gamers worldwide, it is no surprise that the PC gaming market continues to go from strength to strength.

Below, we’ll dive into the latest data surrounding PC gaming and other relevant statistics:

Contents

• Top PC Gaming Statistics 2025 (Editor’s Picks)
• How Many PC Gamers Are There?
• Games-As-A-Service And Pay-To-Play Stats
• PC Vs Other Platforms
• PC Gaming Market And Revenue Stats
• Gaming PC Software & Hardware Stats

Top PC Gaming Statistics 2025 (Editor’s Picks)

• Globally, there are around 1.86 billion PC gamers
• 64% of game developers have a preference for PC titles
• F2P PC games market revenue is estimated to be $25.22 billion in 2024
• The gaming PC graphics hardware market is worth approximately $38 billion

How Many PC Gamers Are There?

According to the latest available data, there are an estimated 1.86 billion PC gamers worldwide.

Source: DFC Intelligence

Number of PC Gamers Over Time

Between 2008 and 2018, the number of global PC gamers rose by 41.27%.

Here’s a breakdown of the number of PC gamers since 2008:

*Predicted figures.

Source: DFC Intelligence

Games-as-a-Service and Pay-to-Play Stats

There are several ways in which gamers can access PC titles aside from one-time purchases.

Games-as-a-Service (GaaS) PC Gaming

One such method is the continuing revenue model known as GaaS. This model was first popularised by hugely lucrative titles such as RuneScape (2001) and World of Warcraft (2004).

In 2024, an estimated 1.8 billion gamers opted for low-end GaaS PC gaming. That’s an increase of around 800 million since 2008.

The premium GaaS category has the next-highest number of participants with approximately 381.4 million people.

Pay-to-Play PC Gaming

Increasingly popular pay-to-play PC games have also seen significant growth in recent years.

Low-end pay-to-play PC games have gained over 100 million players since 2008, reaching 297.6 million this year.

Likewise, premium pay-to-play gaming has seen an increase of almost 80 million players since 2008 (179.5 million in 2024).

Here’s a breakdown of the most popular PC gaming categories since 2008:

Source: DFC Intelligence

PC vs Other Platforms

Overall, game developers have a clear preference for PC as a platform.

A 2023 survey found that around 2 in 3 (65%) game developers were currently working on a PC game.

By comparison, the two most popular game consoles had approximately half as many game developers working on titles for those platforms in 2023.

Around 1 in 3 (33%) of developers were working on a PlayStation 5 game. While 3 in 10 (30%) were working on an Xbox Series X/S title.

Here’s a full breakdown of the platforms game developers were focussing on in 2023:

Rank	Platform	Share of Game Developers That Worked on Game Projects
1	PC	65%
2	PlayStation 5	33%
3	Xbox Series X/S	30%
4	Android	27%
5	iOS	26%
6	Xbox One (or One X0)	19%
=7	Nintendo Switch	18%
=7	PlayStation 4 (or Pro)	18%
=7	Mac	18%
10	VR Headsets	12%
11	Web Browser	11%
12	Linux	9%
13	Xbox Cloud Gaming	6%
14	AR Hardware	4%
15	PlayStation Plus (Extra and Premium)	3%
=16	Tabletop Games	2%
=16	Media Platforms (Netflix, TikTok, etc.)	2%
=18	Google Stadia	1%
=18	UGC Platforms (Roblox, Minecraft, etc.)	1%
=18	Virtual Tabletop	1%
=18	Amazon Luna	1%
=18	Playdate	1%
-	Other	4%

The number of major PC video games released/planned for release between late 2022 and the end of 2024 backs up the above figures.

Once again, PC leads the way with a total of 156 releases. That’s at least 35% more than the PlayStation 5 (115) or the Xbox Series X/S (113).

Here’s a closer look at the most popular gaming platforms in terms of major game releases:

Rank	Platform	Number of Major Video Game Releases
1	PC	156
2	PlayStation 5	115
3	Xbox Series X/S	113
4	PlayStation 4	78
5	Xbox One	76
6	Switch	73
7	Switch Only	33
8	Xbox, not PlayStation	26
9	PlayStation, not Xbox	22

And when it comes to personal preference, game developers also opt for PC as their platform of choice.

Here’s a full list of gaming platforms ranked in order of preference by game developers:

Rank	Platform	Most Interesting Gaming Platforms According to Developers
1	PC	64%
2	PlayStation 5	46%
3	Nintendo Switch	35%
4	Xbox Series X/S	33%
=5	iOS	23%
=5	VR Headsets	23%
7	Android	22%
8	Mac	14%
9	Xbox One (or One X)	13%
10	AR Hardware	12%
=11	PlayStation 4 (or 4 Pro)	11%
=11	Web Browser	11%
13	Xbox Cloud Gaming	10%
14	Linux	9%
15	Tabletop Games	8%
16	PlayStation Plus (Extra or Premium)	7%
17	Media Platforms (Netflix, TikTok, etc.)	6%
18	Virtual Tabletop	5%
=19	Playdate	4%
=19	UGC Platforms (Roblox, Minecraft, etc.)	4%
20	Amazon Luna	2%
21	Google Stadia	1%
-	Other	3%

Sources: Game Developers Conference, DFC Intelligence, Game Developers Conference (2)

PC Gaming Market and Revenue Stats

The free-to-play (F2P) PC gaming market has seen its revenue grow year-over-year since 2018.

Annual market revenue for F2P PC games was projected to hit $25.22 billion in 2024.

Below, is a breakdown of F2P PC games market revenue over time:

Similarly, premium PC games revenue continues to increase, climbing from $5.38 billion in 2008 to an estimated $26.33 billion in 2024.

Here’s a breakdown of revenue from the premium PC gaming market over time:

Since 2011, the online PC gaming market has grown from $21.1 billion to an estimated $41.6 billion – an increase of around 98.1%.

Here are the detailed figures:

*Predicted figures.

Sources: SuperData Research, DFC Intelligence, Capcom

Gaming PC Software & Hardware Stats

In the space of a decade, the gaming PC graphics hardware market has doubled in value.

In 2012, the market was worth $18.37 billion. By 2022, that figure had more than doubled to an estimated $37 billion.

As of 2024, the graphics hardware market for gaming PC graphics stands at approximately $38 billion.

Here’s a breakdown of the gaming PC graphics hardware market since 2012:

Gaming PC graphics software sales revenue has also seen a steady rise for over a decade.

In fact, sales revenue has increased by almost 4x since 2008 ($9.29 billion), reaching an estimated $39.45 billion in 2025.

Here’s a look at how sales revenue from gaming PC graphics software has progressed over time:

Sources: Jon Peddie Research, DFC Intelligence

Key Takeaways

The PC gaming market is booming.

And interest from game developers suggests that it will continue to do so in the foreseeable future.

If you found these stats interesting, take a look at some of our other related content: Amazing Video Game Industry Statistics, How Many Gamers Are There?, and Huge Gaming Industry Trends.