Players are still very much focused on a handful of live-service games, as over 70 percent of PS5 and Xbox Series X/S players in the US played at least one of the top 10 live-service games in January.
Further, more than 40 percent of all playtime in the US in January across those consoles was spent on those same 10 live-service games.
That’s according to Circana analyst Mat Piscatella, based on Circana’s Player Engagement Tracker. “Used to be that players would jump from big game to big game to some other games but they were most often moving to something new that they purchased,” he surmised. “Now, the live-service games suck out a ton of available time, and it’s hard to beat free if it’s good.”
He continued: “Really could use some positive surprises this year, and for a bunch of things to go right in 2025. So a lot is riding on the new products coming to market this year to hopefully combat or reverse some of these trends.”
Namely, he’s referring to the launch of Nintendo’s Switch 2 and its subsequent new games, as well as the hotly anticipated GTA 6.
Piscatella’s analysis speaks to the dominance of live-service games in the industry, including the likes of Fortnite, Minecraft, League of Legends and Roblox. And while other studios have attempted to cash in on the live service trend, they’ve struggled to compete with established franchises.
Over 70 percent of US active PS5/Xbox players played at least one of the top 10 live-service games of the month during January.
More than 40 percent of all time spent playing on PS5/XBS in the US during January went to those same top 10 live service games.
Source: Circana Player Engagement Tracker— Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) 26 February 2025 at 01:22
Last year, a survey from the Game Developer Collective found 70 percent of developers had concerns about the sustainability of live-service games. The biggest concern was players losing interest, with competition from other live service games a close second.
A further report last year from Newzoo found games at least six years old accounted for more than 60 percent of playtime in 2023, with Fortnite the top game across all platforms that year. The top five games alone accounted for over 25 percent of all playtime: that was Fortnite, Roblox, League of Legends, Minecraft, and GTA 5.
Sony in particular has struggled with live service projects – last month it cancelled two in-development games from Sony Bend and Bluepoint. That followed the high profile shutdown of Concord just two weeks after it launched.
And even live service successes like Marvel Rivals aren’t immune to layoffs, as Chinese publisher Netease laid off a number of the game’s developers in the US.
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