40 Online Gaming Statistics You Need to Know

Once upon a time, gaming was seen as the ultimate time-waster.

With the titan industry that it’s recently become, gamers seem to have said “GG” to the rest of the entertainment business. 

If you’re looking for some of the most significant online gaming statistics, we’ve curated a list of 40 that are sure to aid in your quest!

But before that, here’s an infographic we put together to visualize some of the more commonly referenced statistics.

Since this is about online gaming, we decided to make the infographic a little fun instead of just displaying the numbers for you.

If you prefer to just read the data yourself, just scroll past the infographic and you’ll find the 40 stats we promised.

Enjoy!

40 Online Gaming Statistics

Top Gaming Statistics

1. Video games have a whopping $175.7 billion projected revenue worldwide for 2021. (Source)
2. Close to 40% of the global population plays video games, at nearly 3.1 billion gamers and counting. (Source)
3. There are an estimated 1 billion online gamers worldwide. (Source)
4. The world spent an estimated $159.3 billion on games in 2020, and the market is expected to reach $200 billion by 2023. (Source)
5. An estimated 1.3 billion players are PC gamers. (Source)
6. The Asia-Pacific region generates the most video game revenue globally, representing 49.2% of the market, followed by North America at 25.1% and Europe at 18.6%. (Source)
7. The leading region for gaming is Asia with 1.42 billion consumers, followed by Europe and its 668 million consumers, Latin America with 383 million consumers, while North America comes in with 261 million consumers. (Source)
8. The average amount of money spent on gaming-related content per person is $123 over three months. (Source)
9. The number of gamers worldwide will rise to 4 billion by 2023. (Source)
10. The global gaming market will reach $314.40 billion by 2026, at a CAGR of 9.64% over the next five years. (Source)

Gaming Statistics by Age

What once was a young person’s choice of entertainment has since become a favorite hobby for people of all walks of life. The video game market has seen massive changes in terms of its customers’ ages in recent years. Here are some age-related gaming statistics.

11. 41% of gamers in the U.S. are 34 or older. (Source)
12. Gamers under 40 prefer to play competitive games. (Source)
13. Gamers aged 18-24 make the most in-game purchases, at 16% of the entire age demographic. (Source) 
14. 73% of all gamers over 50 prefer to play video games on their mobile devices. (Source)
15. On average, gamers aged 26-35 spend 7.5 hours a week playing video games, compared to gamers 60 or older, who play 4.7 hours per week. (Source)
16. The most popular genre of video games for gamers 65 and older is puzzle games. (Source)
17. 44% of all gamers 50 or older play video games at least once a month. (Source)

Gaming Statistics by Gender

With more women becoming gamers, the gender gap in gaming is slowly closing, leading to a more equal distribution of gaming time. Here are some gender-based online gaming statistics to note:

18. 59% of all men play video games, compared to 41% of all women. (Source)
19. The average age of a male gamer is 32, while the average age of a female gamer is 34. (Source)
20. 78% of female gamers aged 35-54 play on a smartphone, while 70% of men in the same age group play on a console. (Source)
21. 63% of female gamers age 65+ have been playing games for fewer than 10 years. (Source)
22. Male gamers are more likely to engage in excessive video game playing. (Source)
23. God of War, Madden NFL, and Fortnite are favorites for male gamers, and female gamers prefer Candy Crush, Assassin’s Creed, and Tomb Raider. (Source)
24. Both genders are equally as likely to engage in toxic gaming culture when playing massively multiplayer role-playing games (MMORPGs), multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA), and real-time strategy (RTS) games. (Source)
25. 68% of all male gamers aged 18-34 prefer to play with friends, compared to 58% of all female gamers aged 18-34. (Source)
26. 17% of all female gamers and 20% of all male gamers engage in cloud gaming. (Source)
27. The most popular game genre for both men and women is action-adventure games at 26.9%, followed by shooter games at 20.9%, and RPGs at 11.3%. (Source)

Gaming Statistics by Device

From PCs and laptops to mobiles and consoles, various gaming devices are available on the market for gamers to enjoy. In comparison to two decades ago, the tides have shifted on the most popular gaming devices.

28. The mobile gaming industry has surpassed the PC gaming monopoly in revenue, with the former bringing in $77.2 billion compared to the latter’s $36.9 billion in 2020. (Source)
29. As of June 2021, the highest-selling gaming console is the PlayStation 2, with over 158 million units sold globally. (Source)
30. The PC game market is the slowest growing market, with an average annual increase of 4% since 2018. (Source)
31. There are over 84.9 million PlayStation 4 users in comparison to 39.4 million Xbox One users worldwide. (Source)
32. Console gaming was the most affected by the pandemic, increasing roughly 21% to $51.2 billion in 2020, double the increase initially forecast. (Source)
33. In 2020, the most popular console device was the Nintendo Switch with nearly 87.8 million users, compared to Sony’s PlayStation 5 console’s 9.54 million users and Microsoft’s Xbox One with 5.71 million users. (Source)
34. Immersive gaming, or virtual reality (VR gaming, has generated its biggest revenue to date in 2020 with over $4.5 million. (Source)

Gaming Statistics by Sales

There’s no denying there are many video games on the market, and that number grows larger every year. Here are some interesting online gaming statistics based on video game sales alone.

35. The Sims is the highest-selling video game franchise of all time on the PC, with over 200 million copies sold worldwide. (Source)
36. The most popular game on Twitch is Grand Theft Auto V, with 170.3 million total hours. The game was released in 2013. (Source)
37. The most popular PC game in mid-2021 was Minecraft. (Source)
38. The best-selling console game of all time is Nintendo’s Wii Sports with approximately 82 million units sold. (Source)
39. The highest-earning mobile game of 2020 was Honor of Kings at over $7.1 billion in revenue. (Source)
40. Pokemon GO has averaged $1 billion in sales every year since its release in 2016. (Source)

Final Thoughts

These online gaming statistics showcase some essential facts about the world of gaming and the enormous industry behind it. While still somewhat stigmatized, video games are slowly creeping closer to taking over the entertainment business for good.

If you’re going to be gaming online regularly, be sure to check out our list of the best gaming VPNs to help protect you from things like DDoS attacks and swatting, help reduce your lag and ping, and can give you unrestricted server access.