Old games take most of players' time
Most time spent playing goes to games that have been out for years. A new game competes with everything already installed, including older games on discount. That is why a publisher can report record back-catalog earnings in the same quarter a new release disappoints.
Where it stands
About one hour in seven on Steam goes to a game released that year. The share was 9%, 15% and 14% in the last three years. Playtime is also concentrated: fewer than a hundred games take 80% of it on each platform. That grip loosened slightly in 2025, but the time leaving the biggest games is not going to new ones. Of everything Steam earned in the first eight months of 2026, the hundred best-selling new games made up about a sixth.
- Released that year
- One to seven years old
- Eight years or older
About one hour in seven on Steam goes to a game released that year. The rest goes to older games.
SourceValve, Steam Replay (the yearly figure for all Steam users, as the press reported it each December)
| Year | Released that year | One to seven years old | Eight years or older |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 9% | 52% | 38% |
| 2024 | 15% | 47% | 37% |
| 2025 | 14% | 44% | 40% |
Timeline
2023
Older games take 61% of playtime
Newzoo's playtime data, as read by GameDiscoverCo: games six years old or more took 61% of playtime in 2023, up from 45% in 2021. Five giants (Fortnite, Roblox, League of Legends, Minecraft, and GTA V) took 27% on their own. Games less than two years old took 23%, and about 60% of that went to yearly series such as sports games. The five biggest brand-new games of the year, including Diablo IV, Hogwarts Legacy, and Baldur's Gate 3, added up to 3.5%.
New releases fall to 9% of Steam playtime
On Steam, games released in 2023 took 9% of the year's playtime, the lowest in the four years Valve has published the figure. Games one to seven years old took 52%, and games eight years old or more took 38%.
2024
New releases recover to 15%
Games released in 2024 took 15% of Steam playtime, a recovery that GameDev Reports credits to hits such as Palworld, Helldivers II, and Black Myth: Wukong. It came in a record year for new Steam releases, so far more games shared that 15%.
2025
Ten live-service games take 40% of US console time
In January, the ten biggest live-service games, the kind updated for years and often free to play, took more than 40% of all time played on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles in the US. More than 70% of active players on those consoles played at least one. Circana's Mat Piscatella said they take up a huge share of the time available, and free is hard to beat when the game is good.
PlayStation Universe, Michael Harradence, on Mat Piscatella's Circana figures (26 February 2025)
New releases hold at 14%
Games released in 2025 took 14% of Steam playtime. Games one to seven years old took 44%, and games eight years old or more took 40%, their highest share in three years.
GamingOnLinux, Liam Squires-Hand, on Steam Replay (17 December 2025)
New games hold 12 to 13% across PC and console
Newzoo's yearly PC and console report: new releases took 12 to 13% of total playtime in each of the past three years. Xbox was highest at 18%, helped by new games arriving on the Game Pass subscription. Just 79 games account for 80% of playtime on PC, 74 on PlayStation, and 91 on Xbox.
GameDev Reports, on Newzoo's PC and console report (6 April 2026)
Console money is in $50 games, PC money is spread
The same report on price: 76 to 79% of console revenue came from games priced above $50, while PC revenue split about evenly between games under $30, from $30 to $50, and above $50. PC revenue from games under $30 has grown 40% since 2022.
GameDev Reports, on Newzoo's PC and console report (6 April 2026)
2026
Older games make 79% of Steam revenue
Alinea Analytics on the first half of 2026: games on Steam made a record $11.1 billion, up 14.5% from a year earlier. Games released that year made 21% of it, down from 27% at the same point in 2025 and 29% in 2024. Older games made the other 79%. Alinea credits publishers getting better at selling their older games through discounts, bundles, and timed sales.
GameDev Reports, on Alinea Analytics' first-half report (16 July 2026)
The year's top 100 new games make 16% of Steam's revenue
Alinea Analytics estimates Steam took $15 billion in the first eight months of 2026. The six highest-grossing new releases made about $1 billion of that, or 6.6%, led by Forza Horizon 6 at $210.5 million, Crimson Desert at $203.3 million, and Resident Evil Requiem at $200.9 million. The top 100 new releases together made $2.4 billion, or 15.9%.
Eurogamer, Sherif Saed, on Alinea Analytics (7 September 2026)
Consequences
012023
Most new-game time goes to sequels
The time that does go to new games mostly goes to the next entry in a series players already know. In Newzoo's 2023 data, yearly franchises took about 60% of the playtime for games under two years old, and the five biggest brand-new games together took 3.5% of all playtime. A game with an unfamiliar name competes for what is left.
022025
More games, the same number of hours
Players do not have more time to give. Mat Piscatella notes that total spending, total players, and total hours in the US all peaked in 2021, while new games keep arriving at the same pace. More games are competing for the same hours, and most of those hours are already spoken for.
PlayStation Universe, Michael Harradence, on Mat Piscatella's Circana figures (26 February 2025)
032026
New games earn about what they are played
Money follows time. By Alinea's estimate, the 100 best-selling new games of 2026 made 15.9% of Steam's revenue in the first eight months. The other 84% went to older games, their add-ons, and thousands of smaller new releases. Of the top six new games, only two were not sequels.
Eurogamer, Sherif Saed, on Alinea Analytics (7 September 2026)
042026
A new game competes with cheaper old ones
A new game also competes on price with older games that keep getting cheaper. Alinea says publishers have gotten better at selling their older games through discounts, bundles, and timed sales, and the share of Steam revenue going to new releases has fallen from 29% to 21% in two years. Newzoo's price data points the same way: on PC, where sales are constant, revenue from games under $30 has grown 40% since 2022. On consoles, most of the money still comes from games above $50.
GameDev Reports, on Alinea Analytics' first-half report (16 July 2026)
Objections
Counterpoint2025
Playtime spread out in 2025
The biggest games loosened their grip in 2025. Newzoo found playtime less concentrated on all three platforms, and says all of the growth in PC playtime since 2022 has come from games outside the top 20. Time is moving away from the giants, even if it is not moving to brand-new games.
GameDev Reports, on Newzoo's PC and console report (6 April 2026)
Counterpoint2026
One hour in seven of a much bigger total
A steady share of a growing total is still growth. Valve says Steam's peak users are roughly double what they were five years ago, and 5,863 games earned more than $100,000 on Steam in 2025, nearly double the number in 2020. If new games hold one hour in seven while total hours rise, new games are being played more, not less.
Counterpoint2022
The 2022 numbers look nothing like the rest
Valve's first year of figures does not fit the others. As reported, Steam Replay for 2022 put 17% of playtime in new releases, 19% in games one to seven years old, and 64% in games eight years old or more, a split unlike the three years since. That is why the chart starts in 2023. Four years is a short record either way.
What to watch
2026
Whether 2026 releases pass 15%
Steam Replay for 2026, due in December. Forza Horizon 6, Crimson Desert and Resident Evil Requiem have all sold well, so new releases could pass 2024's 15%.
Valve, Steam Replay (the yearly figure for all Steam users, as the press reported it each December)
2027
Whether new games stay at 12 to 13%
Newzoo's next PC and console report, due in spring 2027. It will show whether new releases held at 12 to 13% of playtime for a fourth year, and whether playtime kept spreading beyond the top 20 games.
Further reading
- DataNewzoo: PC and Console Market in 2026gamedevreports.substack.com
- AnalysisWhy older games rule – and new games drool – in Discoverylandnewsletter.gamediscover.co
- ReportingValve has reportedly made £11bn from Steam already in 2026, and biggest earning new arrival is Forza Horizon 6eurogamer.net
Where to follow it Newzoo PC and Console Gaming Report (annual), GameDiscoverCo, Circana Player Engagement Tracker, Valve's Steam Replay
- Older players are a large audience the industry overlooks
- Campaigners are pressing to keep sold games playable
- Players are using review scores as a protest vote
- Regulators are age-gating loot boxes
- Governments are weighing legal caps on children's playtime
- Children's privacy rules are nudging games toward checking every player's age
- Problem-gaming research is shifting from hours to compulsion
- China is using game approvals as a policy dial