Video gaming is no longer just a hobby of teenagers - thanks to developments in gaming technology and the accessibility of many games, the activity has become very popular among both genders and young and old alike. During a June 2021 survey in the United States, 89 percent of respondents stated that they had made friends through playing video games.

Video gaming is no longer a hobby exclusively enjoyed by the young. As generations have grown up with video games a normal part of life, the age of the average gamer also increases. During a 2023 survey, 25 percent of video game players still come from the 27 to 42 years age demographic, and 19 percent are 59 years and older. Time spent gaming In 2023, Americans aged between 15 to 19 years spent 98.4 minutes on gaming or leisurely computer use during an average day. The age demographic which devoted the least amount of time to gaming was the 55 to 64 years category. Members of this age demographic spent an average of just 17.4 minutes playing on the computer during an average day.

Number of Businesses statistics on the Video Games industry in United States

Video gaming is a popular way for gamers to connect with friends and family and many gamers have formed relationships through video games. During an October 2023 survey, 82 percent of responding gamers in the United States agreed that playing games can introduce people to new friends.

In 2023, the Video Gaming Market reached a value of USD 229.70 billion, and it is projected to surge to USD 460.33 billion by 2030.

In 2023, total U.S. consumer spending on video game content amounted to 48 billion U.S. dollars, a slight increase from 47.5 billion U.S. dollars in the preceding year. Video game spending surged in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In March 2025, total video games sales in the United States amounted to 4.69 billion U.S. dollars, representing a six percent year-over-year decrease. Generally speaking, the video game industry has its most important months in November and December, as video game software and hardware make very popular Christmas gifts. In December 2024, total U.S. video game sales surpassed 7.54 billion U.S. dollars. Birth of the video game industry Although the largest regional market in terms of sales, as well as number of gamers, is Asia Pacific, the United States is also an important player within the global video games industry. In fact, many consider the United States as the birthplace of gaming as we know it today, fueled by the arcade game fever in the ’60s and the introduction of the first personal computers and home gaming consoles in the ‘70s. Furthermore, the children of those eras are the game developers and game players of today, the ones who have driven the movement for better software solutions, better graphics, better sound and more advanced interaction not only for video games, but also for computers and communication technologies of today. An ever-changing market However, the video game industry in the United States is not only growing, it is also changing in many ways. Due to increased internet accessibility and development of technologies, more and more players are switching from single-player console or PC video games towards multiplayer games, as well as social networking games and last, but not least, mobile games, which are gaining tremendous popularity around the world. This can be evidenced in the fact that mobile games accounted for 51 percent of the revenue of the games market worldwide, ahead of both console games and downloaded or boxed PC games.

Market Size statistics on the Video Games industry in United States

According to a survey conducted in March 2024, 76 percent of adults in the United States played video games on at least one platform. In comparison, 24 percent of U.S. adults did not play video games at all.

In 2022, the average price for a video game sold in the United States at the year of release was 69.99 U.S. dollars, the first time this level of pricing had been reached. Games for the latest console platforms, PlayStation 5 and Xbox X/S, are more expensive than their predecessors. This has many reasons, such as increased production costs as well as other economic factors, such as inflation.

As well as being one of the leading gaming market in terms of revenue in 2020, the United States is also considered by many as the birthplace of gaming as we know it today. In 2023, the number of employees in the video gaming industry in the United States reached over 268 thousand.

Released in April 2025, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was the highest rated video game of the year based on aggregate critic score. The role-playing video game was developed by Sandfall Interactive and published by Kepler Interactive and generated a Metascore of 92. In second place, also with a Metascore of 94, was puzzle adventure Blue Prince.

In March 2025, Assassin's Creed Shadows was the top-selling video game in the United States based on dollar sales. MLB: The Show 25 ranked second. The video game sales charts that month were dominated by blockbuster franchise games.

Video gaming is no longer just a hobby of teenagers - thanks to developments in gaming technology and the accessibility of many games, the activity has become very popular among both genders and young and old alike. Despite its popularity, the anonymous nature of online gaming leaves some gamers open to harassment and negative experiences. During an August 2023 survey in the United States, 67 percent of respondents stated that they had been called offensive names while playing video games. Overall, 76 percent of responding gamers had encountered online harassment, down from 83 percent two years prior.

According to a 2024 survey, adults in Germany spend around 37 minutes a day playing video games. This was a slight decrease compared to the previous year. 2021 saw a spike in game playing, probably because people were spending more time inside and alone due to the lockdowns. Video game market The worldwide gaming market is currently valued at around 455.27 billion U.S. dollars and is predicted to continue to grow by over 200 billion U.S. dollars by 2029. In Germany, the gaming market saw some rapid growth from 2016 to 2021, with revenue tripling, and although the increase has slowed in the last few years, it is still going up. This increase is probably due to the fact that it is now easier than ever to play video games because they can be played not just on consoles, but also on smartphones and PCs. Playing on a smartphone was how most Germans preferred to play video games in 2024, however, not all games can be played on all devices, so sometimes a more traditional gaming console is still needed if gamers want to play certain games. Gamers in Germany Although the stereotype suggests that teenagers are the demographic most interested in gaming, figures confirm that it is people aged 30 to 39 and 50 to 59 who are the biggest gamers. But what are gamers playing? The most popular games include EA Sports FC 2024, Hogwarts Legacy, based on the Harry Potter series, and Diablo IV.

A July 2022 survey of U.S. gamers aged 50-plus found that puzzle and logic games were the most popular video game genre among respondents in that age bracket. Card and tile games ranked second, with 69 percent of respondents stating that they typically played video games like that.

The online gaming platform, Steam, was first released by the Valve Corporation in 2003. What started off as a small platform for Valve to provide updates to its games has turned into the largest computer gaming platform in the world. The platform initially released just 65 games in 2004, but this number has progressively risen in the ensuing years, reaching a staggering 15,422 in 2024, up from 9,204 in 2020. Steam’s PC dominance When you think of PC gaming, you automatically think of Steam. With such a wide range of games on offer, from traditional online multiplayer shooters to farming simulators, there is something for every gaming taste on the platform. As a result, gamers flock to Steam in their millions, with the platform registering over 132 million monthly active users in 2021. The global nature of the platform can be seen by the wide range of languages spoken by its users. Whilst English was the most spoken language for most of the platform's history, this changed as over 33 percent of users in October 2024 claimed Chinese as their platform language. Steam’s biggest games Counter Strike 2 was the most popular game on Steam during 2024. The first-person shooter averaged almost 685,000 players per hour, a significant lead over its successor, Counter-Strike 2. The game was also third among the 2024 list for peak number of concurrent players — CS2 reached over 1.74 million players in a single hour in its peak, with Black Myth: Wukong claiming first place with over 2.4 million peak concurrent players.

The graph shows the distribution of U.S. video game sales by genre. In 2018, 11.1 percent of all video games sold in the United States were sports games.

The COVID-19 pandemic that spread across the world at the beginning of 2020 was not only a big threat to public health, but also to the entire entertainment industry. While cinemas and theaters closed their doors to try to stem the spread of the disease, many people turned to home entertainment during periods of self-isolation. In April 2020, during the height of the lockdown, sales of video gaming hardware in the United States increased by 163 percent compared to the previous year.

As of June 2024, 21 percent of U.S. adults aged 18 to 29 years spent six to ten hours per week playing video games. Overall, respondents from this age group were also more likely than others to be heavy gamers - a total of eight percent played video games more than 20 hours in an average week. In total, weekly gaming usage was more likely among younger adults in the United States.