Big AAA game releases come and go, but according to a new report, PC gamers are spending more time playing older free-to-play online titles. It’s no wonder that game publishers have invested so heavily in trying to create the next big thing for the online gaming sector. Still, a trail of essentially recently deceased titles shows that task is easier to greenlight than to strike gold and sustain. Meanwhile, according to industry reporting platform Newzoo, which lists CAPCOM, Bandai Namco, Activision-Blizzard, Krafton, Take-Two Interactive, Microsoft, Google, and more among its game developer/publisher users, gamers are committing more of their time playing older titles than recent releases.
The data (via VGC) from the 2024 report indicates that PC gamers committed 67% of their time playing games that are at least six years old. Counter-Strike 2 and Global Offensive lead the pack at 7.1%. This shouldn’t come as a surprise given that CS2 has had well over a million players, sometimes approaching the two million mark in recent weeks. However that lead, in terms of popularity, is only marginally ahead of its closest competitors who are also neck and neck with each other. ESports giant League of Legends and Roblox rank at 6.4% and 6.2% respectively. Trailing behind but also within arms reach of each other are DOTA 2 at 5.8% and Fortnite at 5.4%.
There could be a variety of reasons drawing gamers to these older games. From YouTubers attempting to generate revenue to the appeal of mass player engagement, there is a social element involved. Generally speaking, it’s also much easier to play such games on either mobile devices/laptops or older hardware which allows more income towards in-game purchases, something publishers are keen to reap rewards from. A decent CPU and internet connection tend to be the greater need for these types of games. Newzoo states another factor for the dip in AAA game time for 2024 vs 2023 was a lack of strong releases last year.
Console players are a bit more evenly split with their time playing either AAA or online games. According to the report sports games NBA 2K25, EA Sports FC25 along with Call of Duty: Back Ops 6 were the most popular but players still only spent half their time with these titles. The numbers varied slightly between Xbox and PlayStation but were still close to the same.
It will be interesting to see how the 2025 AAA release schedule fares with Doom: The Dark Ages arriving on May 15, Death Stranding 2 on June 26, and Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater on August 28, to name a few. Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, Monster Hunter Wilds and Assassin’s Creed Shadows have all recently launched, and Spider-Man 2 at the beginning of the year as well, adding to a more diverse release of genres for gamers. Collectively these and a number of other upcoming new IP releases could see player habits shifting towards newer games this year.