Posted on 11:37am, Wednesday 4th July, 2023

As of mid-2023, according to Statista, there are approximately 1.827.7 billion, to be exact that's 1,827,700,000 PC gamers worldwide that approximation is expected to grow to 1.855,700,000 by the end of 2023. Back in 2009, The number of PC gamers was around 1.1 billion, later growing by 35-45 million per year but it wasn't until 2020 when a global pandemic shut down the entire world, literally, that over 200 million people joined the PC master race and every year after that, 25-35 million people have joined.

Key PC Gaming Statistics

• 90% of all avid gamers have their own PC gaming rig
• There are approximately 1,827,700,000 billion PC gamers globally.
• If 9.4% of all gamers were subscribed to a monthly $10 USD service, it would total $1,718,038,000 per month / $20,616,456,000 per year
• 45% of all PC gamers watch other players playing games
• There will be approximately 1,855,700,000 billion PC gamers by 2024.
• Counter Strike Global Offensive is the most popular online game with over a million daily players.
• Asia dominates the video game industry with over 687,600,000 million PC players.
• Taiwan leads the majority of PC gamers with 46%, China by 45%, and the Philippines by 44% (Statista)
• If you add in mobile players, Asia would still lead with over 1.5 billion players.
• Europeans are 2nd with over 464,400,000 million PC players or a bit over 50% of all Europeans.
• Russia leads the majority of PC gamers with 65 million players, Germany with 46 million, and France with 38 million
• The United States alone has over 203,500,000 million PC players.
• Over 40% of US gamers are female gamers. Yes, actual real girls.
• Over 56% of PC gamers are Millennials (the age range is 23 to 38).
• Supposedly by 2030, the PC gaming industry will grow upwards of $546 billion (Yahoo! Finance)
• The average gamer plays around 7.5 hours per week, globally speaking.
• The average European PC player spends around 9.5 hours per week playing games.
• The average American PC player spends around 3-6 hours per week playing games.
• In the US, 71% of gamers are White. 10% are Hispanic. African Americans 8%, and Asians 7% (Exploding Topics)
• Over 46 million of those American players have a disability of some kind.
• The average age for a pro eSports player is around 24 years old with most professional eSports players retiring at age 23.
• The most popular video game of all time (as of 2023) is ROBLOX. 2nd is Minecraft, 3rd is the Sims 4, 4th is Fortnite, and 5th is CSGO.

5 Best Known PC Game Development Studios

These are just some of the notable video game studios that primarily develop for the PC gaming space:

• Valve, the creators of Half-Life, Counter-Strike, and DOTA 2.
• CD Projekt Red, the creators of The Witcher, Thronebreaker, and Cyberpunk 2077.
• Blizzard Entertainment, from classics like Warcraft 3, the Diablo series, the Starcraft series, Overwatch, and World of Warcraft.
• Bethesda Softworks, from DOOM to the Fallout series, and of course, the Elder Scrolls.
• Paradox Interactive, from the popular Crusader Kings series, Europa Universalis, Victoria, and Cities Skylines.

What is the growth of PC gaming?

In terms of market value, the PC gaming industry grows by an average of 13 billion USD per year but in terms of PC players, the growth rate is over 30 million people per year. This growth is driven primarily by the increasing market size, players love PC because they have control over their hardware, and the broadening player base with the inclusion of a diverse range of players i.e. more game genres. Content creation is at the heart of the industry today with more and more streamers getting notoriety, amassing legions of loyal followers that put their wallet where their loyalty or attention is.

You have the ever-rising popularity of eSports across the globe, an increase in very niche gaming tournaments and gaming communities e.g. Mario Golf or Megaman Battle Network, the advancements in technology from Virtual Reality to AR, more digital distribution platforms, and of course, indie game successes where the world of indie games feels like you're living the modern-day version of the PlayStation 2 era of video games.

3 Reasons Why Players Love PC Gaming

• PCs have access to more powerful hardware, and software, and even offer a wider selection of video games compared to other gaming platforms.
• PCs are cheaper over the long term, and changing or upgrading parts is much more affordable compared to consoles.
• PCs offer a sense of personal control when it comes to their gaming experience from graphical settings to customization and more.

Simplified History of How PC Gaming Got So Popular

The video game industry itself is divided into 3 distinct categories. Console gaming, PC gaming, and Mobile. Here's a quick 30-year history of it all. Starting way back in the 1990s and 2000s, most people could not afford computers or even dial-up internet and most cell phones just weren't powerful enough. The most exciting games back then were Snake, Brick, and Tetris.

Most people's first experience with video games was either in the arcades or with Flash games. It wasn't until the mid-2000s that computers though still relatively expensive could be bought by the average person and the very first Android phone i.e. HTC Dream was released in 2009. It was a very exciting time for technology. Even if you couldn't afford any of them, the coming years of new and better PC hardware were an incredible experience to have compared to what we have today, of predictable "new" devices that are more just upgrades rather than something exciting.

During this time, the gaming industry was dominated by console giants from Xbox, to Playstation, to Nintendo from games like Uncharted, Resident Evil 4, Halo, BioShock, God of War, Metal Gear Solid, Super Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime, Gears of War, and Call of Duty. The growth of PC gaming started when games like Max Payne, Red Alert, The Sims, Grand Theft Auto, Medal of Honor, Diablo 2, Enemy Territory, Quake, Warcraft 3, Half-Life, Portal, Assassin's Creed, Age of Empire, Crysis, COD Modern Warfare, Starcraft grew in popularity; these are the games that help influenced game developers to shift their focus to PC. And let's not forget about the incredible impact that World of Warcraft had on all future MMOs.

But what truly transformed the video game industry is eSports. Though originally disdained by mainstream media has grown to be worth over $1.5 billion (Statista), this phenomenon similar to the NBA, FIFA, Golf, Wimbledon, F1, and the UFC has sold out stadiums with prizes in the millions. It may surprise you but this is a sport where players train, every single day, from improving their gaming IQ, to their diet, exercise, sleep, and much more. The most popular eSports is Mobile Legends. 2nd is Legend of Legends. 3rd is Counter-Strike. Prize pools at in the literal millions.

PC Gamer Demographics

Below are the biggest PC gaming markets based on revenue produced within their countries and regions.

China is the Biggest Gaming Market in Asia

• China has over 680 million players with a market value of $50 billion above.
• South Korea has over 38 million players with a market value of $10 billion above.
• Indonesia has over 185 million PC gamers with a market value of $1.83 billion above.
• The Philippines has over 43 million PC gamers with a market value of $1.48 billion above.
• Thailand has over 32 million PC games with a market value of $520 million or above.
• Vietnam has over 36 million PC gamers with a market value of $280 million or above.
• Singapore has over 3.8 million PC gamers with a market value of $210 million above.

Europe is the 2nd Largest Gaming Market Globally

• Europe has over 464 million players with a market value of $25 billion above.
• Germany has over 46 million players with a market value of $46 million above.
• The United Kingdom has over 36 million players with a market value of $5 billion above.
• France has over 38 million players with a market value of $4 billion above.
• Italy has over 36 million players with a market value of $3 billion above.
• Spain has over 29 million players with a market value of $2 billion above.
• Russia has over 65 million players with a market value of over $2 billion above

The United States is the 2nd Largest Market Value Globally

• The United States has over 203 million players with a market value of $45 billion above.
• Canada has over 21 million players with a market value of $3 billion above.

Central and South America (Latin America) Countries

• Brazil has over 25.6 million players with a market value of $2.3 billion above
• Mexico has over 76.7 million players with a market value of $1.8 billion above
• Argentina has over 23 million players with a market value of $495 million above
• Chile has over 7 million players with a market value of $739 million above
• Colombia has 5 over million players with a market value of $500 million above
• Peru has over 10 million players with a market value of $150 million or above.

The Popularity of Online Games in Asian Countries

Without a doubt, China has the biggest video game market with over 680 million players and a market value of $50 billion plus. Online gaming is very popular in this country. In fact, in South-East Asian countries, internet cafes are very popular, with over 70% of the urban population having had or still playing video games. Another factor is eSports, which has always been big in Asia. Starting in 1999 with Starcraft tournaments being broadcast nationwide in South Korea. Today, multiple Asian countries, host some of the world's most popular eSports titles from DOTA, League of Legends, Mobile Legends, PUBG, CSGO, and many more.

How many PC gamers are there compared to consoles?

With better graphics, gameplay, and overall experience. There are approximately 489 million more PC gamers compared to consoles. Globally speaking, there are over 1.8 billion PC players, about 151 million PlayStation players, over 63 million Xbox gamers, and a little over 87 million Nintendo players. Add in about 2 billion-plus for mobile gamers which would give a total of over 3.6 billion players globally.

Gamer Preferences

According to a study by the ESA (Entertainment Software Association), on a global scale, gamer preferences are:

• 63% prefer Casual Games, that's about 1.95 billion players
• 39% prefer Action Games, that's about 1.21 billion players
• 39% prefer Shooter Games, that's about 1.21 billion players
• 37% prefer Racing Games, that's about 1.14 billion players
• 33% prefer Family Games, that's about 1.02 billion players
• 31% prefer Adventure Games, that's about 960 million players

Gamer Subscriptions

According to recently available data for Xbox subscriptions, it is safe to estimate that over 74% of console gamers are subscribed to their monthly service. Sony has a little under 50 million monthly subscribers. Now Statista states, as of mid-2023, over 9.4% of gamers (excluding mobile gamers) are subscribed to at least 1 monthly subscription, and by next year that number will grow by 13.7% which means if you combine the total number of plays across PC, consoles, and handheld that would equal to roughly 2,101,000,000 billion players which if 9.4% of them are subscribed to a monthly service would total 197,494,000 million people.

Please note that the following are merely rough estimates to give you an overall idea of how much value is being generated. Nothing is certain.

Rough Estimates for Subscriptions (*price varies per country/continent) based on the Grand Total of Players:

• Xbox Gamepass is $10 USD per month x 197,494,000 = $1,974,940,000 billion USD
• Sony Plus Essentials is $10 USD per month x 197,494,000 = $1,974,940,000 billion USD
• Nintendo Switch Online Plus Expansion Pack is $50 USD per year x 197,494,000 = $9,874,700,000 billion USD

Rough Estimates for Subscriptions (*prices will vary per country/continent) based on PC or per console:

• 1.8 billion divided by 9.4% is equal to 169,200,000 multiplied by Xbox Gamepass $10 USD per month = $1,692,000,000 billion USD
• 151 million PS players divided by 9.4% is equal to 14,194,000 multiplied by Sony Plus Essentials $10 USD per month = $141,940,000 million USD
• 63 million Xbox players divided by 9.4% is equal to 5,922,000 multiplied by Xbox Gameplay $10 USD per month = $59,2220,000 million USD
• 87 million Nintendo players divided by 9.4% is equal to 8,178,000 multiplied by Nintendo Online Plus $50 USD per year = $408,900,000 USD

What is the average age of PC Gamers?

• The average European PC gamer is 31 years old.
• The average American PC gamer is 33 years old.
• The average Australian PC gamer is 34 years old.
• The average Asian PC gamer is 21 years old.

Famous people that play video games

• Mila Kunins absolutely plays World of Warcraft.
• Samuel L. Jackson, the man plays GTA, Fallout, and Call of Duty.
• Henry Cavil is a big fantasy guy, who loves everything from World of Warcraft, the Witcher, and Warhammer 40k.
• Michelle Rodriguez is a big FPS girl, who loves classic shooters from old-school Doom to the latest shooters.
• Zac Efron loves Halo. Absolutely loves it, and even marketed the first copies of Halo 3.
• Daniel Craig plays GTA, particularly Vice City. From Halo, and to many lore-heavy games.
• Tom Holland from Uncharted to Spider-man, The Last of Us, and Skyrim.
• Elon Musk loves BioShock and Mass Effect 2.
• Brie Larson loves 3d Super Mario, Animal Crossing, and Legend of Zelda.
• Matthew Perry loves the Fallout series. He's even voiced Benny, in Fallout: New Vegas.
• Zachary Levi loves FPS games from Call of Duty to Destiny, you name it.
• Vin Diesel loves Dungeon and Dragons and Call of Duty.
  
  

How much is the PC Gaming Industry worth?

Statista states that by 2024, the PC gaming industry will be worth around $40 billion. This seems unlikely as Roblox alone dominates a large majority of young gamers. The next is Fortnite which targets more teens. A more realistic study would be the one from Grand View Research which says that the PC gaming industry will be worth over $129 billion by 2030. This is more likely as evident by mega-corporations like Amazon wanting some of that $129 billion pie with their recent release New World, though bombing at launch. The game is getting some traction.

The biggest advantage of PC Gaming is that you don't necessarily need to have the highest specs to play the greatest games. Most games even the latest triple AAA can be played with a modest $300 to $500 computer. Of course, you can't expect 60 fps 4k ultra graphics with a budget like that but you can definitely play 60fps 1080p high graphics on most of the very best video games of all time.

If you want to see this as a reality, contact us. We are Vibox, we have been building computers since 2009. Having built thousands of computers, from a budget-friendly PC gaming rig for just under £400 to our higher top-tier ones that are over £1,000 - We are Europe's #1 most trusted PC retailer - we have everything you could ever want and need.