A new Newzoo survey reveals that the PC gaming community continues to grow, reaching 907.5 million players by 2024. Interestingly, most of these players still prefer older games over new releases.
The data, presented by Newzoo’s Intelligence Director Ben Porter during a panel at GDC 2025, was gathered from 73,000 player interviews covering 10,000 games. The findings show that the PC market remains stable, growing from 873.5 million players in 2023 to 907.5 million in 2024.
For comparison, console gaming had 653 million players by the end of 2024, reinforcing PC gaming’s dominance in player numbers. The trend suggests that despite new releases, many PC gamers are sticking to tried-and-true classics, emphasizing the lasting appeal of older titles.
Most played by PC Gamers
According to Newzoo’s latest survey, 67% of PC players spend most of their time on games that are six years or older. Among these, the most played titles are:
- Counter-Strike: Global Offensive / CS2 – 7.1% of total hours played
- League of Legends – 6.4%
- Roblox – 6.2%
- Dota 2 – 5.8%
- Fortnite – 5.4%
Meanwhile, 25% of PC gamers focus on titles released in the past 2 to 5 years, while only 8% spend most of their gaming time on newer releases (under two years old).
The research highlights a clear preference for live-service and online multiplayer games, which regularly receive updates and new content to keep players engaged. Notably, all the top-ranked games in the survey are free-to-play, making them widely accessible.
Steam’s most-played list shows that CS2 and Dota 2 consistently dominate the top spots. Monster Hunter Wilds and Split Fiction have gained traction among the newer hits, but the charts remain filled with free online games like Apex Legends, Naraka: BladePoint, Marvel Rivals, and War Thunder. Some older paid games, such as Rust and GTA V, maintain strong player bases.
This data reinforces that PC gamers favor established, long-supported titles over newer releases, with free-to-play and online experiences leading the way.
