The Rise of the Virtual Empire: Video Game Industry Statistics

Video games have taken the world by storm. A once fledgling industry consisting of visionaries living in their tiny offices and sleeping on floors now casts its shadow over the entire entertainment landscape.

This may have come as a shock to some. But to others all the signs throughout the years pointed to a massive shift in consumer behavior.

Today, the TV and Hollywood industries are struggling to stay relevant, while video game industry shows nothing but continued growth and expansion.

League of Legends artwork. Image credit: igdb.com press kit

Key Video Gaming Industry Statistics for 2025 - Editor’s Choice

• More than 57% of all game developers reside in the US.
• Revenue from Free to Play games amounts to over 85% of all game revenue.
• Some 84% of game developers in 2024 raised ethical concerns about the use of Generative AI.
• Esports audience grew to 640.8 million in 2025.
• US video game market revenue will reach $141.80 billion in 2025.

The video game industry is constantly evolving and inspiring innovation. From simple one-time purchases and single player experiences to full-priced and free-to-play games, the gaming industry has been completely reshaped throughout the last decade.

Some 57% of developers in 2024 believed that the entire industry should unionize.

(Game Developer)

This sentiment has gained steam in recent years, with younger developers 157% more likely to support unionization last year alone.

84% of game developers in 2024 had ethical concerns about Generative AI.

(Game Developers Conference)

AI is highly impacting the video game industry, as more than 30% of game developers are now using Generative AI tools on the job, increasing worries about layoffs due to job automation.

The online microtransaction market is valued at $86.51 billion in 2025.

(The Business Research Company)

The market is expected to continue growing at a steady 11.2% CAGR until 2029, and is projected to reach $129.76 billion in value that year.

Revenue in the US video game market will reach $141.80 billion in 2025.

(Statista)

The average revenue per user in the US is expected to be $1,385.

77% of game developers expect to see the industry grow in 2025.

(Metaplay)

This year is looking to be a much bigger one for games compared to 2024, with some 90% of developers planning to release at least one game on the market.

More than 85% of total gaming industry revenue comes from free-to-play games.

(Visual Capitalist)

Many games have launched or switched to the free-to-play model in recent years, generating massive revenues from in-game transactions instead of game sales.

61% of Americans play video games at least once a week.

(ESA)

This amounts to a whopping 190.6 million people, with the average player age now growing to 36.

Esports Numbers

To most people, the idea of a career in gaming has long sounded like nothing more than a childish fantasy. However, a growing number of gamers are turning virtual fun into fortunes.

Some of the most successful ones have even acquired celebrity status, especially in Asia. Video game popularity has soared to unprecedented heights and major Esports events are drawing far larger audiences than NBA finals and other big sports events, while the money from sponsors and advertising keeps rolling in.

Professional Dota 2 player N0tail is the top prize-winning Esports talent with $7.17 million amassed throughout his career.

(Esports Earnings)

The two-time winner of The International tournament is still leading the all-time earners in 2025, even after not playing professionally since 2021.

The global Esports industry revenue is $4.8 billion in 2025.

(Statista)

The world of Esports has significantly slowed down in recent years, and the majority of revenue now comes through betting, which accounts for $2.8 billion. The market is expected to grow at a 5.5% rate in the coming years.

Dota 2 (Image credit: igdb.com press kit)

Dota 2 holds the record for the highest prize pool in Esports history, with $40 million awarded to players competing at the International 11 in 2021.

(Esports Earnings)

This was the last year that The International had its prize pool boosted by the game's playerbase, and has easily remained the biggest tournament in terms of prizes since then.

Esports audience grew to 640.8 million in 2025.

(Statista)

Out of the total number, 318.1 million are Esports enthusiasts who watch tournaments regularly, while 322.7 million of people tune in occasionally.

PC Gaming Data

PCs are jokingly referred to as the “master race”. The term refers to the supposed superiority of the PC platform in the world of gaming, which still continues to be an imposing force on the market.

The PC gaming market was worth $60.84 billion in 2024.

(Research Nester)

The market is also expected to grow at a 12.7% CAGR in the next decade.

54% of Gen Alpha/Gen Z gamers play games on PCs in 2024.

(Entertainment Software Association)

This makes the youngest population ahead of every other generation, as 48% of millennials play on PCs today.

The free-to-play PC game market revenue worldwide rose to $54.51 billion in 2024.

(Research and Markets)

The F2P market is huge when it comes to PC gaming, and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 17.02%.

Some 65% of all game studios are currently creating games for the PC platform.

(Game Developers Conference)

The numbers show that developers themselves prefer working on PC games, with 64% of them claiming so.

VR/AR Industry Numbers

Virtual and augmented reality are gaming’s next frontier. The level of immersion and the pure sense of awe can’t be matched by any other gaming platform, and this market has shown great potential for growth in recent years.

The global VR gaming market size is worth over $36.14 billion in 2025.

(Technavio)

This market is experiencing huge growth, and is expected to continue growing rapidly, at a 38.19% CAGR.

The AR gaming market was worth $14.2 billion in 2024.

(IMARC)

While many experts believe that the augmented reality solutions will surprass VR, the revenue is still laging far behind, and the expected growth rate of 25.9% in the coming years is also slower. 

80.6% million Americans in 2025 user VR devices.

(Oberlo)

More and more US consumers own virtual reality devices, but the rate of adoption has been slowing down since the boom in early 2020s. This year, the projections see a 4.7% increase in VR ownership across the country.

In 2024, some 34% of game developers were working on VR/AR games for the Meta Quest store.

(Statista)

The Oculus Quest device is still holding the largest market share in the space, as is evident by the sheer number of developers making games for Meta's store last year.

Mobile Video Game Market

The way mobile games exploded onto the scene is unlike anything we’ve seen so far. Smartphones are now so powerful and universally used that mobile gaming is becoming the central focus of the biggest AAA gaming companies.

The mobile gaming market was worth $100.54 billion in 2024.

(Research and Markets)

This is the true giant of the gaming world, even though the mobile market's growth has slowed down, and is expected to continue at a 10.39% CAGR.

$36.64 billion in mobile gaming revenue will be generated in the United States in 2025.

(Statista)

The same research showed that the number of mobile game users in the US is expected to reach 193.8 million by 2029.

The total expenditure on mobile game ads will reach $130.9 billion in 2025.

(Statista)

This is a massive increase from $46.7 billion in 2021, as advertising spending in the mobile gaming world continues to skyrocket. 

The number of mobile game downloads decreased by 4.9% in 2024.

(Gamigion)

While revenue increased by 5.3% last year, the amount of games downloaded dropped another year in a row, from 3.9% in 2023.

Console Video Game Market

In the past two decades, the video gaming console market has been defined by an ongoing power struggle between three major companies: Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft.

From one generation of hardware to another, these giants battled for every single percentage point of the video game market share. But it has never been less obvious who the frontrunner is.

This is due to the shift in focus towards paid subscription models similar to Netflix rather than on pure console sales.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Image credit: igdb.com press kit)

The gaming console market is worth $56 billion in 2025.

(Research and Markets)

The market is also expected to grow at a 10.12% CAGR, and is expected to reach $90.68 billion by 2030.

41% of gamers played on consoles in 2024.

(Newzoo)

While the number is almost equal between PC and console gamers, there are more and more players who play on multiple platforms today, almost half of those surveyed last year.

There will be 664 million console gamers by 2026.

(Newzoo)

Console gaming is growing at a faster pace than PC gaming, and is expected to see 3.1% growth in players this year.

PlayStation held a 45% of the console market share in 2024.

(Market.us)

Nintendo followed second at 27%, while Xbox now holds just 23% of the global market share.

There will be 61.72 million new consoles produced in 2025.

(Market.us)

More and more consoles are being produced each year, as the growth is expected to continue in the future as well, reaching 64.11 million units by 2029.