PC Gamers Reportedly Play Old Games Most of the Time

PC gaming is gaining popularity, but it seems that many PC gamers are also most interested in older games than new releases. This information comes from a videogame market intelligence company’s report, which shared some key statistics on PC gamers and their habits.

PC gamers on Steam may be aware of the fact that the non-console variety of gaming is rapidly gaining popularity. Steam has broken multiple records over 2024, and earlier in March 2025, Steam reached a new player milestone, passing 40 million concurrent users on the platform. While hot new releases can help to propel these numbers up temporarily, this new report indicates that many gamers tend to stick with older titles.

Related

Why Now is The Perfect Time to Get a Steam Deck

The Steam Deck is one of the best handheld consoles out there, and there’s never been a better time to pick one up than right now.

Ben Porter, director of Newzoo, has shared a report with PC Gamer that gaming on PC is increasing in popularity, but that gamers on the platform are primarily sticking with popular older games. Porter indicates that it’s believed that there were 907.5 million PC gamers in 2024, up from 873.5 million in 2023. Meanwhile, console gaming was estimated to be at 653 million in 2024. A survey of 73,000 players indicates that 67% of player hours were spent on games that were at least six years old, while 25% of game time was dedicated to titles between two and five years old, while a mere 8% of playtime was dedicated to newer video games under two years old.

What Older Games are PC Gamers Gravitating To?

According to the report, the 67% of PC game player hours spent on old games saw a number of headlining games that were popular. Fortnite took about 5.4% of those hours, with Dota 2 taking up 5.8%. Roblox and League of Legends were both over 6%. However, it’s worth pointing out that this study surveyed 73,000 players and looked at data from 10,000 games. In other words, the survey participants only make up 0.008% of all PC gamers, so the actual percentage of time spent may differ if one were able to look at every single PC gamer’s habits.

With PC gaming continuing to gain in popularity, it’s not hard to imagine that PC gaming could soon reach a billion players in the near future. While PC gaming can be quite expensive, potentially costing hundreds of dollars more to get started than a gaming console, powerful PCs aren’t necessary to enjoy many games. Older games tend to have lower system requirements, and massive indie hits like Stardew Valley don’t require powerful systems to play. With tariffs potentially impacting the cost of games and PC components in the US, the trend of PC gamers playing older, less graphically demanding titles may continue to dominate.