5 ms·

What I find funny is the whole "PC gaming is growing" kind of speech, as some generations abandon consoles for PCs. I and most of my peers have been playing ho

by pjmlp 7d ago

What I find funny is the whole "PC gaming is growing" kind of speech, as some generations abandon consoles for PCs. I and most of my peers have been playing home computers, since the 8 bit days, eventually moved into PC gaming with a 386SX in 1991. While I owned a few consoles, the PC remained the main gaming platform. Do agree that younger generations are mostly playing mobile games.

SideQuark 7d ago
PC sales peaked 15 years ago, and have been declining ever since. Most of the best selling PC games are from 15-30 years ago.
- pjmlp 7d ago
  Laptops are also PCs. Yeah, that is why no one uses Steam, only old games there.
  - SideQuark 6d ago
    Laptops are already counted in PC sales, since they are PCs.
- gilbetron 6d ago
  PC game revenue hasn't been declining: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/video-game-industry-revenues-by-platform/ https://www.visualcapitalist.com/video-game-industry-revenue...
  - SideQuark 6d ago
    Games doubling in price hides less copies bought, much like movies selling far less tickets yet having higher revenues. No matter how you count it, PC gaming has been in decline for a long time.
    - gilbetron 5d ago
      I think your maybe counting just physical sales? 15 years ago was the start of the shift to digital sales, which have greatly grown. Just steam (which is the bulk of digital PC sales): Steam units sold: 402M (2019) → 704M (2024), up 21% in 2024 alone. Steam peak concurrent users: 3.52M in January 2011 → 42,042,778 on January 11, 2026. Roughly twelvefold, directly measured from Valve's API. Valve's own disclosed number, which isn't an estimate by anyone: between August 2024 and August 2025, Steam averaged 109,000 people making their first ever purchase every day. That's about 40 million brand-new paying customers in one year. Games released on Steam: ~8,100 in 2019 → 20,282 in 2025. Steam gross revenue: $4.5B (2019) → roughly $16.9B (2025). Some of the best selling games did come out roughly 15 years ago, but that's because they've been selling consistently ever since. Like Minecraft, the Witcher, etc.

by pjmlp 7d ago

SideQuark 7d ago

PC sales peaked 15 years ago, and have been declining ever since. Most of the best selling PC games are from 15-30 years ago.

pjmlp 7d ago
Laptops are also PCs. Yeah, that is why no one uses Steam, only old games there.
- SideQuark 6d ago
  Laptops are already counted in PC sales, since they are PCs.
gilbetron 6d ago
PC game revenue hasn't been declining: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/video-game-industry-revenues-by-platform/ https://www.visualcapitalist.com/video-game-industry-revenue...
- SideQuark 6d ago
  Games doubling in price hides less copies bought, much like movies selling far less tickets yet having higher revenues. No matter how you count it, PC gaming has been in decline for a long time.
  - gilbetron 5d ago
    I think your maybe counting just physical sales? 15 years ago was the start of the shift to digital sales, which have greatly grown. Just steam (which is the bulk of digital PC sales): Steam units sold: 402M (2019) → 704M (2024), up 21% in 2024 alone. Steam peak concurrent users: 3.52M in January 2011 → 42,042,778 on January 11, 2026. Roughly twelvefold, directly measured from Valve's API. Valve's own disclosed number, which isn't an estimate by anyone: between August 2024 and August 2025, Steam averaged 109,000 people making their first ever purchase every day. That's about 40 million brand-new paying customers in one year. Games released on Steam: ~8,100 in 2019 → 20,282 in 2025. Steam gross revenue: $4.5B (2019) → roughly $16.9B (2025). Some of the best selling games did come out roughly 15 years ago, but that's because they've been selling consistently ever since. Like Minecraft, the Witcher, etc.