Shocking Report: Majority of PC Gaming Revenue from Microtransactions, not Game Sales

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Summary

  • Microtransactions dominated PC gaming revenue in 2024, totaling $24.4 billion.
  • Spending on “premium” games dropped by 2.6% to $10.7 billion in 2024.
  • PC gamers prefer older titles with microtransactions, spending most of their playtime on them.

It appears that PC gaming is thriving, yet it seems PC gamers are investing more funds on microtransactions rather than purchasing games directly. An intriguing report discloses some noteworthy figures about what PC gamers are currently spending the most on and how this trend might evolve in the upcoming period.

For quite some time, PC gaming has coexisted with consoles, but in recent periods, it has experienced an unprecedented surge in popularity. Exclusive games on consoles sometimes prevent PC gamers from accessing certain titles temporarily, yet the exceptional performance a well-equipped PC gaming setup can offer often makes PC enthusiasts tolerant of such delays.

In 2024, it’s been projected that microtransactions accounted for nearly six out of every ten dollars earned from PC games, totaling approximately $24.4 billion. Notably, “Call of Duty: Black Ops 6”, “Roblox”, and “Fortnite” were the top earners from in-game purchases that year. It’s important to note that this figure does not encompass additional revenue generated through DLC sales, which saw a slight increase of 0.8% compared to 2023, amounting to $5.3 billion for the year. This represented about 14% of the overall PC gaming revenue in 2024. The total PC gaming revenue for that year was just slightly over $37.3 billion, with spending anticipated to continue growing through at least 2027.

Not All PC Gaming Spending Was Up

2024 saw a decline in spending on “premium” or pay-to-play games, with revenue dropping by 2.6% to reach $10.7 billion. This suggests that PC gamers are shifting their focus from paying for games upfront to playing free-to-play games and making purchases within them. Despite this decrease, the total revenue of $10.7 billion is still a substantial amount.

It might be shocking for some PC gamers, yet these statistics align with a past report from the same source about PC gaming. According to Newzoo’s director, about 67% of gaming time is spent on games that are six years old or more, while just 8% of time is invested in games less than two years old. It appears that PC gamers tend to favor older titles, and they may be drawn to those incorporating microtransactions, such as “Grand Theft Auto Online”, “Fortnite”, and “Roblox”, which were all launched over a decade ago. Although new game launches are enticing, it seems many PC gamers prefer the familiar, but aren’t shy about spending money.

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2025-04-12 03:43