Newzoo: In 2024, gamers spent more time on console and PC games but spent less money
The analytics company Newzoo has released a comprehensive report dedicated to the state of the console and PC games market in 2024. Below are the key highlights.
- According to Newzoo's calculations, console and PC games collectively generated $80.2 billion in 2024, a decrease of 2%.
- Focusing solely on the PC games segment, its revenue amounted to $37.3 billion, up by 0.1%. Slightly more than half of this sum came from microtransactions—$24.4 billion, reflecting a 1.4% increase. Paid game sales followed with $10.7 billion, a decline of 2.6%, and DLC sales brought in $5.3 billion, a rise of 0.8%.
- The console game segment earned $42.8 billion, a decline of 3.9%. The main source of revenue was paid game sales, generating $19.9 billion, which is a decrease of 14%. Microtransactions came in second at $13.9 billion, up by 4.5%. Subscriptions followed with $6.9 billion, reflecting a 14.1% increase, and DLC sales brought in $2.2 billion, up by 2.5%.
- Analysts anticipate that overall revenue in the console and PC games market will continue to grow over the next three years, reaching $92.7 billion by 2027. Drivers of this growth include the release of GTA VI and the Nintendo Switch 2 in 2025.
- In 2024, gamers spent 6% more time playing games compared to 2023.
- The annual playtime growth was particularly strong on PlayStation, with Sony console owners spending 21% more time on games. In contrast, Xbox saw only a 3% increase, while on PC, it actually decreased by 1%.
- 57% of all playtime in 2024 was attributed to games older than six years. 32% was spent on games three to five years old, and 12% on new releases.
- The most popular game remained Fortnite, accounting for 9.3% of the annual playtime. Among new releases, the leaders were Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (2.7%), EA SPORTS FC 25 (1.1%), and Helldivers 2 (0.9%).
- In 2024, Steam users played an average of 10 games each—two more than the previous year. PlayStation owners launched the same number of games, marking an increase of two games as well. Xbox owners averaged nine games for the year, one less than in 2023.
- A third of the Steam, PlayStation, and Xbox audience in 2024 tried no more than three games. In 2021, these gamers made up about a quarter.
You can view the full report here. It contains 94 pages of detailed descriptions of the state of affairs on different platforms.