The global number of users in the 'Games' segment of the media market was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2029 by in total 0.4 billion users (+15.5 percent). After the seventh consecutive increasing year, the number of users is estimated to reach 3.02 billion users and therefore a new peak in 2029. Find more information concerning Brazil and the United States. The Statista Market Insights cover a broad range of additional markets.

Video gaming is a hobby enjoyed by young and old across the globe. In 2025, there were over 1.5 billion gamers across Asia Pacific, making it the largest market for video gaming worldwide, with Europe coming in second place with a gaming audience of 352 million. In total, there were an estimated 2.87 billion gamers across the globe.

According to a survey of global internet audiences in the third quarter of 2024, 83.6 percent of internet users played video games on any device. The Philippines had the highest video gaming usage reach, ranking first with a gaming penetration of 96.6 percent. Indonesia ranked second, with 96.4 percent of responding internet users stating that they played video games. The United Kingdom and Japan ranked last, with 71.1 and 64.4 percent of internet users, respectively, reporting their participation in video gaming. The impact of mobile gaming The global gaming penetration among online users was over 83 percent, highlighting how much of a mainstream hobby gaming has become. Additionally, as shown by the many mobile-first digital markets with strong gaming reach, the impact of readily available mobile gaming devices cannot be overstated. A survey from the third quarter of 2024 found that smartphones were the most popular way to play video games worldwide, with more than 67 percent of respondents stating to play video games in such a way. This usage rate was miles ahead of second-ranked laptop or desktop PCs, which only 34 percent of global gamers stated to use. Who are the global gaming audiences? A survey conducted in the third quarter of 2023 found that 89.6 percent of female internet users aged 16 to 24 years worldwide played video games on any kind of device. During the survey period, 92.6 percent of male respondents in the same age group stated that they played video games. Gaming is a more popular activity among younger age groups, but even seven in ten respondents between 55 and 64 years old stated that they were gamers. Gaming genre preferences vary by age group, but overall, shooters and action-adventure games rank first in terms of popularity among users. Other popular gaming genres were simulation and sports games.

A survey conducted in the third quarter of 2024 found that over 92 percent of female internet users aged 16 to 24 years worldwide played video games on any kind of device. During the survey period, 93 percent of male respondents in the same age group stated that they played video games. Worldwide, over 83 percent of internet users were gamers.

The global number of users in the 'Video Games' segment of the digital media market was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2027 by in total 0.2 billion users (+15.27 percent). After the fifth consecutive increasing year, the indicator is estimated to reach 1.47 billion users and therefore a new peak in 2027. Find more information concerning Canada and Brazil. The Statista Market Insights cover a broad range of additional markets.

Significant fluctuations are estimated for all segments over the forecast period for the number of users. In general, the indicator appears to exhibit a positive trend, with more segments showing increasing values rather than decreasing values until 2027. Among them, the segment Mobile Games attains the highest value throughout the entire period, reaching 1.85 billion users. Find other insights concerning similar markets and segments, such as a comparison of number of users in Austria and a comparison of countries or regions regarding revenue. The Statista Market Insights cover a broad range of additional markets.

As of 2021, Asia accounted for over 1.29 billion mobile gaming users, more than a 48 percent of global mobile gaming audiences. Europe was ranked second with about 551.7 million mobile gaming users. Mobile gaming is the top-grossing gaming segment worldwide.

The global number of users in the 'Mobile Games' segment of the digital media market was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2027 by in total 137 million users (+8 percent). After the fifth consecutive increasing year, the indicator is estimated to reach 1.9 billion users and therefore a new peak in 2027. Find more information concerning Peru and Asia. The Statista Market Insights cover a broad range of additional markets.

In 2020, there were an estimated 1.75 billion PC gamers worldwide, up from 1.5 billion PC gaming users in the previous year. Despite slowing revenue growth, PC gaming remains very popular and digital storefronts like Steam or the Epic Games Store making PC gaming titles accessible for gamers worldwide.

In 2025, the Asia-Pacific region accounted for over 53 percent of global gaming audiences. Europe was ranked second with a 12 percent share, same as Latin America.

A global gamer survey during the third quarter of 2024 found that 51.9 percent of respondents had played the shooter games, making it the most popular gaming genre. In second place were action adventure games, with 48.9 percent of respondents stating they had played an action adventure game in the past year.

China, the world’s second-largest economy, is already home to one of the largest gaming populations in the world, a number reaching 674 million in 2024. However, the growth rate of gamers in China was expected to stagnate over the coming few years, given the existing challenges of improving internet access in rural regions. Online gaming in China China has become one of the world’s largest and most rapidly growing online gaming markets. Forecasts indicate that the annual average revenue per user (ARPU) in video games would pass the 73 U.S. dollar mark by 2028. As of October 2024, over 75 percent of Chinese internet users had engaged in online gaming. With an internet user base of 1.1 billion in China, online gaming still possesses a massive market potential that is yet to be unlocked. Mobile gaming on the rise Mobile games have overtaken PC-online games as the largest sector in the Chinese online gaming market. Driven mainly by smartphone and other handheld device sales, the Chinese mobile game market has grown exponentially. In 2024, the mobile gaming market in China reach 238 billion yuan with a year-over-year growth rate at 5.01 percent. Tencent, one of the leading Chinese internet players, has been dominating the online gaming market in China. Other major online game companies in China include NetEase, miHoYo, and 37 Interactive Entertainment.

Over the forecast period until 2029, the number of users is forecast to exhibit fluctuations among the nine segments. Overall, the number of users appears to follow a positive trend, as there are more increasing values than decreasing values expected in the individual segments until 2029. Among them, the segment Digital Video Games achieves the relatively highest value throughout the entire period, reaching 3.02 billion users. Find further statistics on other topics such as a comparison of the revenue in Sweden and a comparison of the average revenue per radio listener in the United Kingdom. The Statista Market Insights cover a broad range of additional markets.

The statistic presents information on the number of players of selected eSports games worldwide as of August 2017. According to the data, League of Legends was a leader based on number of eSports players. In the presented period the game had a player base of 100 million, while World of Tanks ranked fifth with 12.3 million players in the measured period. eSports players – additional information eSports is profitable, not only for the industry as a whole, but also for individual players. As of March 2017, the highest earnings were those of an American professional gamer, Saahil Arora, better known among his peers as "UNiVeRsE". He started his adventure with eSports as part of a team Evil Geniuses in 2012 playing DOTA 2, but truly kicked-off his career as an offlaner in team Dignitas during the International 3 in 2013. Later in the year he agreed to a contract buyout settlement which allowed him to rejoin Evil Geniuses. Throughout his recorded gaming career, UNiVeRsE has earned 2.72 million U.S. dollars. Among female players, the profits are significantly smaller. To date, the highest earning woman in eSports, Sasha Hostyn from Canada, who goes by "Scarlett" in the gaming industry, has made 171 thousand U.S. dollars in the course of her eSports career. Hostyn began her professional eSports journey with StarCraft II in 2012 and her skills were awarded with nicknames such as "the queen of StarCraft II". In 2015 Scarlett started a transition to DOTA 2 but eventually in late 2016 returned to StarCraft as a member of Team Expert. Based on social media presence and engagement, it is evident that eSports players are among the celebrities of the online world. For example, in January 2016, Lee Sang-hyeok, a player from South Korea, was the leading player, by number of fans on Facebook, with 806 thousand people following his profile. This figure falls roughly somewhere between the Facebook fan base of Colorado Avalanche and San Jose Sharks NHL teams.

The eSports market has boomed in recent years with more and more viewers tuning in to watch their favorite games being played by some of the best gamers in the world. By 2025, there are expected to be over 318 million eSports enthusiasts worldwide, a significant increase from the 215.2 million in 2020. Additionally, some 322.7 million people are forecast to be occasional viewers of eSports by 2025.

Leading eSports tournaments The most watched eSports event of all time is the 2021 Free Fire World Series, a Garena Free Fire tournament hosted by Singapore. With millions of viewers tuning in to watch expert gamers battle it out, it is unsurprising that large sums of money are at stake. The International 2021, which was the tenth edition of the annual DOTA 2 world championship, had a combined prize pool of over 40 million U.S. dollars. In addition, the cumulative prize pool for DOTA 2 tournaments around the world in 2021 stood at a huge 47.8 million U.S. dollars.

In 2020, low-end Games-as-a-Service (GaaS) PC gaming had the biggest audience, reaching nearly 1.7 million users during the the period. The second-largest PC gaming category based on audience size was premium GaaS with about 359.6 million users. The Games-as-a-Service (GaaS) business model refers to live service games that are continuously monetized post-purchase via in-game features such as premium passes, extra online content, and special gaming modes in order to encourage players to keep playing. For example, live services accounted for the majority of video game publisher Electric Arts' quarterly net bookings.

In total, there were 1.75 billion PC gamers worldwide in 2020.

A May 2024 survey of gamers in select global markets found that nearly eight in 10 respondents had played a user-generated content game. Additionally, 16 percent of respondents had made content for video games.

A January 2021 survey found that gamers in China spent the most time playing games per week, averaging about 12.39 weekly hours of gaming time. Vietnamese gamers were ranked second with about 10.16 hours of gaming time per week. The global average was 8.45 weekly hours of gaming.

As of 2021, North America accounted for over 106 million console gaming users, more than a 42 percent of global console gaming audiences. Europe was ranked second with about 99.6 million console gaming users.

The statistic presents the number of active mobile gamers worldwide in 2020. It was estimated that 72 percent of active mobile gamers were millennials aged between 23 and 38 and 68 percent of gamers were Gen X aged between 39 and 50 worldwide.