Key facts
- Newzoo predicts the combined PC player base will surpass 1 billion players by 2028, fueled by adoption in developing regions and sustained investment in premium PC gaming experiences.
- Minecraft drew 15 million PC players in January, compared with 8.2 million on PlayStation and 5.5 million on Xbox, demonstrating PC's competitive strength in active-player counts.
- Investment strategy firm Epyllion reports that console growth has stagnated since 2021, while the PC gaming market has grown roughly 20% in revenue over the same span.
- PCs command 53% of non-mobile gaming revenue compared with 47% for consoles, and total PC gaming spending reached $30 billion between 2011 and 2024, according to Epyllion.
Newslocker reported Oct. 30, 2026 that PC gaming is driving much of the industry’s annual growth as console markets mature. PC regularly surfaces a more diverse lineup of top games. The platform draws greater developer investment, particularly from Asian studios.
Newzoo forecasts PC revenue will grow at an annual rate of 6.6% from 2025 through 2028. Newzoo projects console revenue will grow at 4.4% over the same period. The outlook puts PC games revenue on track to exceed console sales by 2028.
The combined PC player base will surpass 1 billion players by 2028. Newzoo says adoption in developing regions fuels the figure. Sustained investment in premium PC gaming experiences also drives the figure.
Newzoo ties PC’s strength to lower hardware entry costs and greater accessibility. Those factors give PC an advantage in emerging markets. Established Western console markets exhibit signs of maturation.
Epyllion reports that console growth has stagnated since 2021 while the PC gaming market grew roughly 20% in revenue over the same span. The investment strategy firm draws on data from Circana and Newzoo to present a combined industry outlook.
Epyllion attributes PC’s growth to a larger game library, multitasking capabilities, and a lower cost of entry for players. PCs command 53% of non-mobile gaming revenue compared with 47% for consoles.
Total PC gaming spending reached $30 billion between 2011 and 2024, according to Epyllion. Epyllion points to PC’s larger game library, multitasking abilities and lower entry cost as structural advantages over consoles, while Newzoo ties PC’s strength in emerging markets to lower hardware costs and easier access.
Minecraft drew 15 million PC players in January. The figure compares with 8.2 million on PlayStation and 5.5 million on Xbox. The numbers show PC’s competitive strength in active-player counts for a title available across platforms.
Sony’s PC publishing strategy began in 2020. Microsoft’s push to bring Xbox games to PlayStation launched in 2024. The two cross-platform campaigns have operated for different lengths of time.
Alinea Analytics reports that PlayStation has generated nearly double the revenue from PC ports that Xbox has earned from bringing its games to PS5. Sony has published roughly 20 PC titles versus about 13 Xbox games on PS5.
As of November 2025, Sony had generated approximately $1.2 billion in net revenue from PC ports out of $1.5 billion gross, after Valve’s 30% platform cut. Helldivers 2 contributed roughly $400 million in gross revenue from over 12 million Steam copies sold.
Helldivers 2 was the standout performer on Sony’s PC slate. Xbox’s PS5 ports have generated roughly $667 million in revenue. Forza Horizon 5 alone accounted for about $323 million from 5.8 million copies sold on PlayStation. Multiple PlayStation PC ports launched with technical issues.
The mandatory PSN account requirement for Helldivers 2 sparked significant backlash. PSN is available in roughly 70 countries, while Steam operates in about 190 countries, a disparity that complicated the PC launch.
Other forecasters dispute the growth forecast. They see consoles expanding at much faster rates, citing exclusive games and coming hardware releases as the main drivers. Variables such as regional economic conditions and currency fluctuations could reshape all projections.
Upcoming product launches are also capable of reshaping the projections. Newzoo also warns that its PC revenue growth forecast could be rendered irrelevant by a worsening memory and storage supply crisis.
The crisis threatens the PC hardware market and the broader consumer electronics industry. The warning applies to the firm’s 2028 projection.
Epyllion said the era of platform exclusivity is essentially over as hardware lines blur. The change removes what had been consoles’ biggest competitive edge over PC. The blurring of hardware boundaries means console makers can no longer rely on exclusivity as their primary competitive advantage.
Incoming console hardware, including a Nintendo Switch 2 and a rumored next-generation Xbox expected within two years, could disrupt the current PC-advantage narrative and reshape platform competition.
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