Estimated 1.83 billion people worldwide play PC games, which is more than half of all gamers in the world. So, is PC gaming really dying?
Learn the answer to the question and also:
- How many PC gamers are in different world regions
- How old are they?
- How profitable is PC gaming compared to consoles and mobile?
PC Gaming Statistics
- Out of 3.03 billion gamers worldwide, an estimated 1.83 billion are PC gamers.
- Most PC gamers come from Asia (687.6 million), but North America has the highest share compared to all gamers in the region (77.8%).
- Gamers of all types and ages are the least keen on playing offline PC games.
- Despite the PC gaming industry earning “only” $38.2 billion in 2022, much less than the console and mobile gaming market, up to 63% of developers still develop games for PC.
- Up to 31% of PC gamers in the US are between 30 to 39 years old compared to younger PlayStation gamers from the 25-to-35 age group and Xbox users with an average of 33 years.
How Many PC Gamers are There?
- There are estimated 1.83 billion PC gamers in the world in 2023.
The data was last updated in 2022; however, Statista also reports a decrease in overall gamer count from 3.2 billion to 3.03 billion by the end of 2022.
Meaning that the real number of PC gamers in 2023 can be lower than expected.
The table shows the estimated number of PC gamers worldwide from 2016 to 2023:
| Year | Number of PC gamers worldwide | Number of gamers worldwide | Share of PC gamers compared to all gamers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 1.828 billion (estimated) | 3.26 billion (estimated) | 56.1% |
| 2022 | 1.799 billion (estimated) | 3.03 billion | 59.4% |
| 2021 | 1.774 billion | 3.21 billion | 55.3% |
| 2020 | 1.746 billion | 3.05 billion | 57.2% |
| 2019 | 1.553 billion | 2.62 billion | 59.3% |
| 2018 | 1.497 billion | 2.49 billion | 60.1% |
| 2017 | 1.449 billion | 2.39 billion | 60.6% |
Number of PC Gamers per Region
- Unsurprisingly, Asia held the biggest number of PC gamers at 687.6 million in 2021.
That represented 48.5% of all gamers in Asia that year.
Here are the numbers of PC gamers in different regions and their percentage based on all gamers in that region:
| World region | Number of PC gamers | Number of all gamers | Share of PC gamers compared to all gamers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asia | 687.6 million | 1417.2 million | 48.5% |
| Europe | 468.4 million | 667.8 million | 70.1% |
| Latin America | 258.7 million | 382.8 million | 67.6% |
| North America | 203.2 million | 261.3 million | 77.8% |
| MENA | 62.3 million | 161.6 million | 38.5% |
| Sub-Sahara Africa | 47.3 million | 134.3 million | 35.2% |
| Oceania | 20.7 million | 35.6 million | 58.1% |
Is PC Gaming Dying?
The idea that PC gaming is dying dates back to (at least) 2008. It’s brought up anytime the PC video game industry shrinks its revenue, loses some players, or when next-gen consoles come out.
Right now, the main reason is the astronomical prices of PC hardware, while next-gen consoles like PS5 or Xbox Series X offer beautiful graphics and smooth framerates for under $600.
Moreover, gamers of all interests and age groups are less likely to play games on PC than on consoles or mobile.
Here’s a more detailed view of how gamers like to play their games based on type:
| Gamer type | Prefer playing on mobile | Consoles | PC online | PC offline |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gamer (in general) | 72% | 41% | 29% | 20% |
| Enthusiastic gamer | 73% | 53% | 42% | 26% |
| Casual gamer | 70% | 31% | 18% | 15% |
And here, you can see how gamers like to play their games based on age:
| Gamer age | Prefer playing on mobile | Consoles | PC online | PC offline |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18-34 years | 74% | 61% | 38% | 24% |
| 35-44 years | 79% | 55% | 32% | 23% |
| 45-64 years | 73% | 23% | 17% | 14% |
| 65+ years | 51% | 8% | 25% | 21% |
- Despite that, Steam data shows that the number of active weekly users (on the platform and in-game) is steadily growing.
| Month | All weekly Steam users | In-game Steam users |
|---|---|---|
| March 2023 (current peak) | 33.6 million | 10.1 million |
| January 2023 | 33.1 million | 10.3 million |
| January 2022 | 28.7 million | 8.2 million |
| January 2021 | 25.4 million | 7.1 million |
| January 2020 | 18.1 million | 5.6 million |
- Another proof that PC games will keep coming is that up to 63% of developers make games for PC.
That’s twice as much as for PlayStation 5 and still more when you combine PS5 and PS4.
Here are the percentages of developers that make games based on different platforms:
| Gaming platform | Percentage of developers creating games |
|---|---|
| PC | 63% |
| PS5 | 31% |
| Android | 30% |
| iOS | 30% |
| Xbox Series X/S | 29% |
| Xbox One/One X | 22% |
| PS4 (and Pro) | 21% |
| Nintendo Switch | 20% |
| Mac | 18% |
| Web browser games | 10% |
| VR | 7% |
| Linux | 3% |
| Stadia (already dead service) | 3% |
Nonetheless, PC gaming isn’t dying which video game addiction statistics clearly show.
PC Gamers vs. Console Gamers
- The average monthly PC gamer’s playtime is around 7.5 hours.
That’s much less compared to the 17 hours per week that people spend playing Xbox.
Here are the average playtime compared to other video gaming platforms:
| Gaming platform | Average weekly playtime |
|---|---|
| PC | 7.5 hours |
| PS5 | 13 hours |
| Xbox | 17.1 hours |
| Mobile | 9.8 hours |
| Nintendo Switch | 6.4 hours |
- There were 132 million monthly active PC users on Steam only in 2021.
That’s much more than on PlayStation and Xbox.
Unfortunately, Steam didn’t provide a refreshed monthly count for 2022 in its yearly report.
Here’s the table showing the average monthly players for different gaming consoles:
| Year | PC (Steam) | PlayStation | Xbox |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | n/a | 108 million | n/a |
| 2021 | 132 million | 106.6 million | 46 million |
| 2020 | 120 million | 111.25 million | n/a |
PC vs. Console Market Share
- Proof that gaming isn’t dying is the fact that its revenue, while the lowest of the three major gaming platforms, is still growing year by year.
Here’s a breakdown of PC vs. mobile vs. console market revenues:
| Year | Global PC revenue share | Mobile | Console |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | $38.2 billion | $92.2 billion | $51.8 billion |
| 2021 | $36.7 billion | $93.2 billion | $50.4 billion |
| 2020 | $36.9 billion | $77.2 billion | $45.2 billion |
| 2019 | $35.3 billion | $68.2 billion | $45.3 billion |
PC Gaming Market Share
- The PC gaming industry only held the 5th highest market share in 2022.
On the other hand, mobile games dominate the market at 50% share.
Here’s a more detailed view of the gaming revenue market share:
| Year | PC gaming market share | Mobile | Console |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 21% | 50% | 28% |
| 2021 | 20% | 52% | 28% |
| 2020 | 23% | 48% | 28% |
| 2019 | 24% | 46% | 30% |
How much do PC gamers spend per region?
- PC gamers in Western Europe will spend an estimated $16.7 billion on PC hardware in 2024.
That’s $300 million more than Chinese PC gamers.
| World region | Estimated spending among PC gamers |
|---|---|
| Western Europe | $16.7 billion |
| China | $16.4 billion |
| Eastern Europe/ MENA | $14.3 billion |
| North America | $12.5 billion |
| Asia/ROW | $10.9 billion |
| Latin America | $2.8 billion |
PC Gamer Demographics
- The majority, up to 31% of American PC gamers, are between 30 and 39 years old.
Surprisingly, 8% of PC gamers are between 60 to 64 years old.
| Age group | Percentage of PC gamers |
|---|---|
| 18-19 years | 6% |
| 20-29 years | 22% |
| 30-39 years | 31% |
| 40-49 years | 19% |
| 50-59 years | 14% |
| 60-64 years | 8% |
- In 2020, out of all millennial gamers, 56% were playing PC games.
At the time, that represented gamers aged 23-38.
| Age generation | Percent of PC gamers in generation |
|---|---|
| Gen Z (age 10-22) | 51% |
| Millennials (age 23-38) | 56% |
| Gen X (age 39-50) | 51% |
- The average age of PC gamers worldwide in 2014 was 38.
The average age in 2011 was 37, which could indicate PC gamers might be getting older.
Especially compared to PlayStation users, most of them between 25 and 36 years, and Xbox users, with an average age of 33.
| Average PC gamer age | Average PlayStation gamer age | Average Xbox gamer age |
|---|---|---|
| 38 years | 25-36 years | 33 years |
- Up to 41% of PC gamers in the US are females.
That leaves the other 59% to males. This is the exact ratio between PS4/PS5 gamers in 2021 (Sony).
The ratio was much more even in 2014, when US female gamers represented 50.1% of PC video gamers.
| Year | Share of US female PC gamers | Share of US male PC gamers |
|---|---|---|
| April 2022 | 41% | 59% |
| 2017 | 42% | 58% |
| 2014 | 50.1% | 49.9% |
- Taiwan had the highest global PC gaming reach of 46% in 2020.
| Country | Percentage of PC gaming reach in 2020 |
|---|---|
| Taiwan | 46% |
| China | 45% |
| Philippines | 44% |
For how long have PC players played games?
- Most PC gamers have been playing video games for over 14 years.
Most passionate hardcore PC gamers play games in such a way for an average of 10 years.
On the other hand, “casual customizers”, as Lenovo calls them, play games only occasionally and like building and customizing their PCs on their own, games for 24 years on average.
Also, hardcore gamers are less likely to play offline, single-player games.
| Type of PC gamer | Average time they’ve been playing PC games |
|---|---|
| Hardcore | 10 years |
| Avid | 9 years |
| Moderate | 15 years |
| Casual | 16 years |
| Casual customizer | 24 years |
When do PC gamers play games?
- Up to 69% of PC gamers prefer to start gaming once the sun goes down.
Here’s when PC gamers prefer to play video games:
| When the sun goes down | In the evening | At night |
|---|---|---|
| 69% | 46% | 23% |
- 67% of PC gamers see work as the main reason they don’t play more games.
Here are other reasons that keep PC gamers away from spending more time gaming:
| Reasons why PC gamers don’t play as much games | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Work | 67% |
| No data or computer access | 56% |
| Family | 56% |
| House chores | 45% |
PC Gaming Hardware Statistics
- Intel remains the king of CPUs, holding almost 71% of the global revenue share by vendors in 2022.
However, AMD saw an 8.1% jump in revenue from 2021 and 2022, going from 11.74% to 19.84%.
| CPU brand | Market share in 2022 | Market share in 2021 |
|---|---|---|
| Intel | 70.77% | 80.71% |
| AMD | 19.84% | 11.74% |
| AWS | 3.16% | 1.82% |
| Ampere | 1.52% | / |
| Others | 4.71% | 4.62% |
Even when it comes to ownership of CPUs, Intel had a comfortable 62.8% distribution share compared to AMDs 35.2% in Q4 2022.
However, Intel lost 20% of its share compared to the golden years in 2016.
| Quarter of the year | Intel | AMD |
|---|---|---|
| Q4 2022 | 62.8% | 35.2% |
| Q4 2021 | 62.1% | 34.3% |
| Q4 2020 | 61.5% | 38.5% |
| Q4 2019 | 68.4% | 31.5% |
| Q4 2018 | 77.1% | 22.9% |
| Q4 2017 | 78.9% | 21% |
| Q4 2016 | 82.2% | 17.8% |
| Q4 2015 | 79.6% | 20.4% |
| Q4 2014 | 76.6% | 23.4% |
| Q4 2013 | 74.8% | 25.2% |
| Q4 2012 | 70.8% | 29.2% |
Graphics card market share
- Interestingly, Intel has the biggest GPU market share of 71% in Q4 2022.
Though, that’s due to integrated GPUs inside their CPUs, many of which are used in Ultrabooks without discrete graphics cards.
| GPU brand | GPU market share in Q4 2022 |
|---|---|
| Intel | 71% |
| Nvidia | 17% |
| AMD | 12% |
- Up to 90% of PC gamers own a gaming PC rather than a standard one.
Also, the top 3 things gamers are most likely to change to enhance performance are GPU, CPU, and RAM.
The survey was done in 2018 and published in 2019 by Lenovo.
(Lenovo)
Nvidia vs. AMD revenue
- Nvidia’s revenue for the 2023 fiscal year is $26.97 billion.
That’s just around $600 million more compared to 2022. While this is still a record revenue, it may indicate some stagnation over poor reception of the expensive RTX 4000 generation of GPUs.
Nonetheless, the year-on-year quarterly growth in Q4 2022 was down by -20.83%.
| Fiscal year | Nvidia’s revenue | AMD’s revenue |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | $26.97 billion | $23.6 billion |
| 2022 | $26.91 billion | $16.43 billion |
| 2021 | $16.68 billion | $9.76 billion |
| 2020 | $10.92 billion | $6.73 billion |
| 2019 | $11.72 billion | $6.47 billion |
| 2018 | $9.71 billion | $5.25 billion |
| 2017 | $6.91 billion | $4.32 billion |
| 2016 | $5.01 billion | $4 billion |
Conclusion
These were some of the latest and most interesting PC gaming statistics. As you can see, PC gaming is far from dying, with small but steady yearly growth in players and revenue.
What do you think is the future of gaming? Do you prefer PC or console gaming? Let us know in the comments below.
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