PC games revenue will outgrow consoles by 2028, analyst predicts

PC games revenue will outgrow consoles by 2028, analyst predicts | PC Gamer Skip to main content Open menu Close main menu PC Gamer THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES US Edition UK US Canada Australia Subscribe Sign in View Profile Sign out Search Search PC Gamer Games Hardware News Reviews Guides Video Forum More PC Gaming Show PC Gamer Clips Software Codes Coupons Movies & TV Magazine Newsletter Affiliate links Meet the team Community guidelines About PC Gamer PC Gamer Magazine SubscriptionWhy subscribe?Subscribe to the world’s #1 PC gaming magTry a single issue or save on a subscriptionIssues delivered straight to your door or device From$1Subscribe now Don’t miss these Hardware Valve quickly updates its own Steam Machine update, recommitting to a 2026 launch despite AI woes: ‘Nothing’s really changed on our end’ Gaming Industry Valve says Steam users downloaded 100 exabytes of games in 2025, and are averaging 274 petabytes of installs and updates every day Hardware In the battle for our living rooms, Xbox Project Helix and the Steam Machine make for unlikely rivals on paper—but Microsoft’s new PC gaming-capable console might be raising some eyebrows at Valve Games The best PC games to play right now Hardware Valve nixes less confident Steam Machine language, recommits to 2026 release Hardware Gamers are buying fewer graphics cards according to a new research report, although Nvidia looks to be sitting pretty with roughly 94% of the market share to AMD’s 5% Gaming Industry Valve says almost 6,000 games made over $100K on Steam last year Gaming Industry Kiss goodbye to Ghost of Yotei on PC: Sony is U-turning on its ‘let’s put our games on PC’ strategy and bunkering back down with console exclusives, says Bloomberg Gaming Industry Capcom makes the majority of its sales on PC, and it expects the ‘ratio to continue increasing’ Memory Explainer: The RAMpocalypse is making memory, SSDs, and even GPUs much more expensive, and it’s all down to AI Gaming Industry Videogames are ‘losing in the War for Attention’: Analyst says many of the industry’s biggest markets are spending less time on gaming Gaming Laptops As if PC hardware news couldn’t get any gloomier, one research report suggests mainstream laptop prices could rise by as much as 40% Platforms Bluepoint tech boss suggests Sony’s scared of Valve, not Microsoft, and that’s why it’s pulling back from PC: ‘It would be quite ironic if Valve ultimately ended up winning the console war’ Gaming Industry Steam reportedly raked in a record-breaking $1.6 billion in December with Arc Raiders alone moving over a million copies Hardware Here’s what we think the Steam Machine will cost now that Valve’s admitted ‘limited availability and growing prices’ have forced it to change plans PopularNEW: PC Gamer Clips!MarathonArc RaidersBest PC gearQuizzes Gaming Industry PC games revenue will outgrow consoles by 2028, analyst predicts News By Lincoln Carpenter published 12 March 2026 That’s assuming the RAMpocalypse doesn’t revise those estimates in the meantime. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Valve, YouTuber Mora Madness) Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter PC Gamer Get the PC Gamer Newsletter Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Want to add more newsletters? Every Friday GamesRadar+ Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you’re going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them. Signup + Every Thursday GTA 6 O’clock Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O’clock experts. Signup + Every Friday Knowledge From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what’s on the horizon. Signup + Every Thursday The Setup Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more. Signup + Every Wednesday Switch 2 Spotlight Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo’s new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play. Signup + Every Saturday The Watchlist Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we’ve got you covered. Signup + Once a month SFX Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month! Signup + An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletter According to games industry market research firm Newzoo (PC Gamer’s official data partner), PC games revenue has trailed console software sales for over a decade. That, however, is changing. In its 2026 PC and Console report, Newzoo says that PC revenue growth outperformed consoles in 2025 as the industry began to emerge from its “post-2020 plateau.”That’s a trend it predicts will continue in the years ahead. Newzoo forecasts that PC revenue will continue at a 6.6% annual growth rate between 2025 and 2028 compared with an expected 4.4% for consoles, projecting that continuing PC games revenue growth will outstrip console sales by 2028.Newzoo’s data, which incorporates sales metrics and user statistics from storefronts across PC and console platforms, indicates PC revenue growth in recent years is being driven by a growing player base—particularly in China, where the number of PC gamers grew 11.7% in 2025.Article continues below You may like Analyst firm says the games market is expected to reach a record-breaking $197 billion by the end of 2025, ‘driven primarily by stronger-than-expected performance on PC and mobile’ Top analyst firm Gartner predicts the ‘sub-$500 entry-level PC segment will disappear by 2028’, along with worldwide PC shipment decline of 10.4% in 2026 PC shipments grew in 2025 but the market ‘will be far different in 12 months given how quickly the memory situation is evolving’ Newzoo also reports that younger generations are shifting to PC in growing numbers, as its data shows increasing shares of Gen Z and Gen Alpha players on PC. As a result of those regional and generational expansions, Newzoo predicts that the combined PC player base will exceed 1 billi