Since the beginning of 2025, the total number of PC and console game downloads has exceeded 1 billion, including purchases and free-to-play models
This was reported by the analytics company Sensor Tower, citing information from its subsidiary service VG Insights.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
The analysts' data covers the period from January 1 to August 3, 2025. It includes both sales of paid games and downloads of free-to-play titles on Steam, PlayStation, and Xbox. The statistics also include games that gamers completed through subscriptions like Game Pass.
It is reported that games on Steam were in the highest demand — their total sales and downloads reached 409 million copies. On PlayStation consoles, gamers purchased and downloaded games 376 million times, and on Xbox consoles — 283 million times.
Analysts predict that by the end of the year, Steam will set a record for gross revenue from paid games. Last year, paid games on Valve's store earned a total of $10.6 billion, and this year their income is expected to reach $12.2 billion. Sensor Tower did not share forecasts for PlayStation and Xbox.
Here are a few more data points from the report:
- Action games are the most popular genre in 2025 (262 million copies sold);
- Indie games accounted for 60% of downloads and sales on Steam, 35% on Xbox, and 34% on PlayStation;
- The top 3 best-selling paid games are EA Sports FC 25 (12 million copies), Monster Hunter Wilds (11.7 million copies), and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (8.5 million copies);
- Marvel Rivals is the most downloaded free-to-play game, but its audience numbers are not disclosed;
- The top 3 games by MAU are Counter-Strike 2 (39.3 million people), Fortnite (38.7 million people), and Minecraft (28.2 million people).