In 2024, total U.S. consumer spending on video game content amounted to **** billion U.S. dollars, a significant increase from ***** billion U.S. dollars in the preceding year. Video game spending surged in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2023, gaming audiences in the United States spent an average of ***** U.S. dollars on video games per month, down from ***** U.S. dollars per month in 2022. In November 2023, the retail gaming revenue in the United States amounted to **** billion U.S. dollars.

After overtaking video game purchases, in-game consumer spending accounts for the biggest share of the video gaming market. In 2020, global gaming audiences spent an approximate ** billion U.S. dollars on additional in-game content. In 2025, the market value of in-game purchases is projected to surpass **** billion U.S. dollars.

Global video game purchase revenue is projected to amount to **** billion U.S. dollars in 2021. The market size of video game purchases is set to decline to **** billion U.S. dollars per year by 2025 as free-to-play titles and in-game purchases are set to account for the majority of market revenues. Many major game publishers have started to include mobile and F2P titles in their content lineups, with Activision's Call of Duty Mobile being a current, commercially successful example.

In the first quarter of 2023, U.S. consumer spending on gaming content decreased four percent compared to the previous year. Hardware spending saw a 21 percent year-over-year increase, while accessories spend saw now change compared to the previous period.

In the calendar week ending *************, U.S. consumer spending on video games was up ** percent compared to the corresponding period in 2019 but only up by ** percent when compared to 2020. In 2020, video game spending boomed due to coronavirus-related stay-at-home mandates.

In April 2025, total video games sales in the United States amounted to **** billion U.S. dollars, representing a one percent year-over-year increase. 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 **** 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 ** percent of the revenue of the games market worldwide, ahead of both console games and downloaded or boxed PC games.

A survey between March and April 2021 found that video game consumers in the United Kingdom spent an average of 22 British pounds per month on individual game downloads via app stores and digital gaming storefronts for PC and consoles. Respondents spend approximately 11 British pounds on video game streaming services such as a PlayStation Now subscription or the now defunct Google Stadia per month.

In 2022, video game software expenditure amounted to ***** U.S. dollars per consumer unit in the United States, up from ***** U.S. dollars in 2019. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the consumer spending on video games, and expenditure on online gaming services showed the most dramatic year-over-year growth.

In May 2025, the retail gaming revenue in the United States amounted to **** billion U.S. dollars. When examining specific segment revenues, accessories were the lowest-performing segment at retail overall, while video gaming content accounted for the majority of consumer spending. Video game spending habits in the United States More than four in ten U.S. gamers across all platforms were willing to spend a maximum of ** to ** U.S. dollars on a video game. A November 2022 survey found that more than four in ten PC and console gamers stated so, while over three in ten mobile-only gamers said they only played free games. Console gamers were most comfortable spending money on their hobby at this price point. In 2023, total U.S. consumer spending on video game content amounted to **** billion U.S. dollars, a one percent increase from **** billion U.S. dollars in the preceding year. Game releases are planned around the holiday season What is very specific to the industry at large is that the highest monthly revenues occur around the holiday season in November and December of each year. The entire market revolves around maximizing sales during the season, and most new game releases of high-budget, high-profile titles (so-called AAA games) are planned shortly before the winter holidays. Many of these annual blockbuster releases see releases from late Q3 onwards: EA Sports FC usually releases in late September, and new games in Activision Blizzard’s Call of Duty series are launched between late October and early November.For the holiday season 2023, blockbusters Baldur’s Gate 3 and Starfield had already started the season of major video game releases. Other AAA titles that are also taking advantage of the Christmas shopping release window are the Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty DLC, Assassin’s Creed Mirage, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 as well as the Nintendo Switch release of Hogwarts Legacy and the PS5 port of mobile gaming title Honkai Star Rail by Genshin Impact publisher MiHoYo.

The world of video gaming is very diverse, ranging from mobile gaming to PC gaming and console gaming. The hobby is popular among children and adults, with avid gamers spending a lot of money to get their hands on their favorite games. During a 2020 survey, it was found that consumer spending on gaming consoles increased by 16 percent in 2020.

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.

In 2021, global video game purchase revenue is projected increase by merely 0.9 percent compared to the previous year and set to decline after this. The decline in game purchase revenues is offset by an increase in in-game player spending on loot boxes, digital currencies, battle packs, and DLC. Many major game publishers have started to include mobile and F2P titles in their content lineups, with Activision's Call of Duty Mobile being a current, commercially successful example.

With wider global releases and translations, Chinese video gaming content is becoming a hot commodity for non-Chinese gaming audiences. As of 2024, 15 percent of non-Chinese video game content spending was on Chinese games. Non-Chinese games still accounted for 53 percent of the overall gaming content market.

In 2022, video game spending in Italy increased by *** percent to almost * billion euros. In 2026, expenditure in the gaming segment is projected to increase to **** billion euros annually.

In 2022, video game advertising spending in the United States amounted to five billion U.S. dollars and remained flat, compared to the figure reported a year earlier.

According to an August 2021 study, eSports viewers and fans recorded a higher average expenditure on gaming than core gamers in the selected countries worldwide. While the average spending of core gamers in the United States was estimated at roughly *** U.S. dollars, this figure rose to nearly *** U.S. dollars among eSports fans. Meanwhile, the average gaming expenditure among eSports fans in Brazil amounted to just above *** U.S. dollars.

This graph depicts the video game retail sales value in the United States from 2000 to 2015. At the end of 2015, the total market value was expected to be ***** billion U.S. dollars.Market growth is being fueled by video, console and computer games, with the industry also benefiting from a growing adult consumer base as this group takes a greater interest in games as a popular leisure pursuit.

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. During an April 2020 survey in the United States, 40 percent of Hispanic respondents stated that they expected to spend more on video games due to the coronavirus.

According to an April 2021 survey, mobile gaming spenders in the United States spent an average of ** U.S. dollars on smartphone or tablet in-game content in the past 12 months. Consoler gamers were ranked first, spending an average of ** U.S. dollars annually on additional in-game content.