Adult gamers are playing less and less. Even hardcore players prefer to spend their free time in a different way

A noteworthy section in the latest Epyllion report, which offers insights into the gaming market’s current status, is the one that delves into the declining duration individuals are dedicating to gaming.

  1. In the first quarter of 2021, adult gamers from the 37 largest markets (excluding China and India) spent 35 billion hours playing on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox.
  2. Such record results were of course due to the pandemic, during which people spent time at home and simply played more. It was only natural for them to decline once players stopped working and studying remotely. So, no one was surprised, when the time spent on gaming fell by 7% in the third quarter of 2022.
  3. It appeared that it would conclude there, as the numbers stayed the same for a year afterward. However, something changed in the third quarter of 2023. By the third quarter of 2024, the time spent on gaming had fallen by another 10%.
  4. In total, players in these markets currently spend 32% less time playing than during the pandemic. For PC players, the decline was 21%, while for Xbox and PlayStation gamers, it was as much as 43%. What’s worse, analyses show that even hardcore gamers are spending less and less time playing.

This new innovation is causing a stir in the gaming sector, which has been consistently expanding since the early ’90s. However, recently, the growth engine seems to be faltering. In 2020, game spending reached its zenith, but since then, declines have been observed, and only last year did we manage to approach the figures from four years back.

The gaming market on mobile devices isn’t growing anymore, which suggests that players aren’t just moving to other platforms. Instead, experts believe that social media platforms like TikTok are playing a major role in the decline, as they consume more and more of users’ time, leaving less for gameplay.

In simpler terms, the gaming industry has grown so much that there aren’t many new markets left to explore. This means that competition for gamers’ attention and their wallets is likely to get tougher as more companies vie for the same audience.

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2025-01-21 16:31