It might look quite bleak to be stepping into the world of PC gaming right now. Prices of components are rising like crazy, and so you're going to spend at least double the price of a console to get a PC that can run the latest and greatest games today. However, even with that outlook, the PC market continues to grow, and its revenue is expected to overtake that of console gaming by 2028.
This comes from data in a new NewZoo report, which picks apart why PC has seen such explosive growth once more. Interestingly, we reported that the numbers of gamers was dwindling a few weeks back, but even if that may be the case, new monetisation models mean that overall industry revenue seems to be stabilising to pre-pandemic levels. This is working well on PC especially, where we see an evolving business model that matches how games best extract cash from our wallets these days.
PC monetisation is mainly microtransaction led, with 48% of the platform's revenue being accounted for by microtransactions. Premium game sales represented 29%. One billion PC players are expected to be around by 2028, with regional momentum being the main driving force behind this. China's PC gaming population grew 11.7% year-on-year in 2025, and as the PC ecosystem expands, so does its userbase. NewZoo also reports that PC is seeing a continued interest from the Gen Z and Gen Alpha markets.
Console revenue and player base is expected to grow, too, just at a slower rate. North America and Japan continue to show a higher spend rate per player, and subscription revenues are growing across the board, too. However, this is noted to likely be a result of increased prices and tier upgrades rather than an expanded subscriber base.
Do you play your games on console or PC?