According to Newzoo, revenue from PC and console gaming is set to decrease by 2%, reaching $80.2 billion in 2024

Last year, spending on PC and console games globally fell by 2% to $80.2 billion. However, projections indicate a rise to $85.2 billion by the year 2025, as per Newzoo's newly released report on PC and console gaming.

The market research company expects continued growth until 2027, eventually reaching $92.7 billion, with consoles playing a leading role in this expansion.

Consoles secured the largest portion of the market, generating $42.8 billion. Premium titles were responsible for 46% of this revenue, amounting to $19.9 billion, which represents a 14% drop from the previous year.

Free-to-play games on consoles generated $13.9 billion, constituting 32% of the total revenue and marking a 4.5% increase from the prior year. Subscription services accounted for $6.9 billion or 16% of the market, experiencing a growth of 14.1% year-on-year.

In the PC segment, total revenue was $37.3 billion. Free-to-play games dominated, contributing 58% or $24 billion to the revenue, a 1.4% increase compared to the previous year. Premium games made up 28% of revenue at $10.7 billion, with a decrease of 2.6% from the previous year.

"Console growth is anticipated to rebound in 2025 due to highly anticipated pay-to-play titles," Newzoo stated, citing Grand Theft Auto 6 and the release of the Nintendo Switch 2 on June 5, 2025 as key factors.

Playtime increased by 6% year-on-year with the last quarter of 2024 achieving the highest recorded quarterly playtime.

Newzoo attributes this rise to pay-to-play games and Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. During 2024, new releases constituted 12% of the overall playtime, while Fortnite maintained its position as the most played game, representing 9.3% of the total playtime compared to 9.1% in 2023.

"Despite growth in playtime hours, they are heavily focused on AAA titles and exhibit cannibalistic tendencies," Newzoo pointed out. "The competition for players' time is intense and practically zero-sum."

"PC gaming leans predominantly towards older, free-to-play models, while the console segment depends heavily on upcoming releases."