Did you know that the Video Game industry is the biggest form of entertainment in the world? The video game industry is bigger than the movie, music, and sports industries combined. While that sounds insane and untrue, it is not as crazy as you think when you look at everything it entails. This article will explore how many people play video games and more; let’s get into it!
@ Krafton
To get the exact number of how many people playing video games would be difficult, although it’s estimated that about 3 billion people play video games worldwide. But how can we tell if that number is accurate?
Luckily for us, thanks to the internet and how far video games have evolved, we can track the player base of gamers across all the available platforms and get enough data to give us a very close estimate of how many players are in the industry.
First, we need to lay out the platforms and their active users. All data in the player count will be all the recorded active users till November of 2023.
- PlayStation Player Count: According to sciatica.com, PlayStation had an active player count of 108 million in November 2023. This would be from both the combination of the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. It is worth knowing that this number does not cover offline players who do not connect to the PlayStation network.
- Xbox Player Count: Despite selling significantly fewer consoles than its biggest competitor, Xbox still has over 100 million active users. It is also worth knowing that the Xbox is the most accessible console for gamers, which could contribute to its high number of active players.
- PC Gamers Player Count: Although PC gaming is arguably the most expensive way to get into gaming, it caps at around 1.7 Billion players across its store platforms. This can also be due to most professional esports players playing and practicing primarily on PC. The League of Legends and TFT player count alone greatly influences the number of esports players.
- Nintendo Gamers: One of the most casual options for gaming, Nintendo offers mostly family-friendly and indie titles for those who are more into casual games. That said, the Nintendo Switch sold over 128 million units, making it the second-best-selling handheld and the third-best-selling console of all time. Nintendo has reported having an active 116 million active users, so it is safe to say many of its users are active.
- Mobile Gamers Player count: Arguably the most populated and most successful platform in the gaming industry, mobile gaming has a whopping 2.5 billion active users, which is more than the console and PC player count combined. This is largely due to mobile being the most accessible form of gaming, as almost everyone has a smartphone. Mobile gaming also has a large esports scene that contributes to these games: Checking just Clash Royale player counts, and not even counting big performers like Call of Duty Mobile, PUBG, and many more, we are witnessing whopping numbers of players across the board.
All of these platforms have tournaments and esports events that contribute to the gaming scene.
With all these numbers, one can say the estimated number of 3 billion people playing video games seems fairly accurate. Keep in mind that most gamers play on multiple platforms, therefore, a player can play on both Xbox and Playstation or both Nintendo and Mobile.
New estimates also put the total gamer count to exceed 75% of the global population by 2028.
Three critical components that uphold the video game industry, and these are:
- The Hardware: These are all consoles, handhelds, PCs, smart devices, controllers, and other accessories that make gaming accessible to the players. Companies like Microsoft, Sony, Razer, Meta, and more all manufacture various accessories to sell in the gaming market.
- The Games: The main content of the video game industry is the games themselves. Players can live their wildest fantasies, challenge themselves, or enjoy the art that has been developed for them to enjoy. From emulators to story-driven and new challenges, there is always something for everyone.
- The Players: Arguably, they are the most important part of the gaming industry, as it would not exist or thrive without them. As movies and sports have viewers, and music has listeners, video games have players. They come in all age groups, all genders, and with diverse sets of interests. With how big and successful the video game industry is, you could ask, “How many people play video games?” That gave it its massive success.
All three pillars are multi-billion dollar businesses and have seen steady growth YoY for the past three decades. This growth is not going to stop in the following decades either.
The number of gamers is a substantial portion of the population, but will likely increase even further as interest in video games continues to gain momentum and becomes more accessible to everyone.
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