Quick Answer
How many gamers are there in the world in 2025?
There were approximately 3.09 billion gamers in the world in 2022. It is forecasted to increase to up to 3.22 billion by the end of 2023.
Video gaming has been the most preferred hobby and source of entertainment for many people worldwide during their vacant time and rest days.
The number of gamers in the world grew rapidly during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic since almost all people stayed in their homes and had nothing much to do all day.
A survey reveals that approximately 2.04 billion gamers played video games to relax, unwind, and decompress after a tiring day.
It is equivalent to around two-thirds or 66% of surveyed gamers.
Are you an active gamer and curious to know how many gamers there are in the world today? Let’s find out in this article.
How Many Gamers are there in the World in 2025?
The gaming industry worldwide grew exponentially over the past years since most newly developed games are highly interactive and have advanced graphics.
Billions of people worldwide have downloaded and played video games in their lifetime.
You and I are probably among the billions of active gamers worldwide.
The number of gamers in the world continues to grow every year.
According to the latest report, the number of people who play games using consoles, PCs, smartphones, and tablets have surpassed 3 billion in 2022.
There were approximately 3.09 billion gamers in the world in 2022, up from 2.03 billion in 2015. It is forecasted to increase to up to 3.22 billion by the end of 2023.
Let’s take a look at the number of gamers in the world from 2016 to 2024:
- In 2016, there were approximately 2.17 billion gamers in the world. It represents a 140 million increase from the previous year, equivalent to almost 6.5% growth.
- In 2017, there were approximately 2.33 billion gamers in the world. It represents a 160 million increase from the previous year, equivalent to almost 6.9% growth.
- In 2018, there were approximately 2.49 billion gamers in the world. It represents a 160 million increase from the previous year, equivalent to almost 6.5% growth.
- In 2019, there were approximately 2.64 billion gamers in the world. It represents a 150 million increase from the previous year, equivalent to almost 5.7% growth.
- In 2020, there were approximately 2.81 billion gamers in the world. It represents a 170 million increase from the previous year, equivalent to almost 6.1% growth.
- In 2021, there were approximately 2.96 billion gamers in the world. It represents a 150 million increase from the previous year, equivalent to almost 5.1% growth.
- In 2022, there were approximately 3.09 billion gamers in the world. It represents a 130 million increase from the previous year, equivalent to almost 4.3% growth.
- By the end of 2023, there will be approximately 3.22 billion gamers in the world. It represents a 130 million increase from the previous year, equivalent to almost 4.1% growth.
- By the end of 2025, there will be approximately 3.32 billion gamers in the world. It represents a 100 million increase from the previous year, equivalent to almost 3.1% growth.
Number of Gamers Per Region
Asia has the most number of gamers compared to other regions. It has two times more gamers than all regions.
The total number of active gamers in this region has more than the combined number of gamers in North America, Latin America, and Europe.
Here are the numbers of gamers per region:
- Asia has 1.48 billion gamers
- Europe has 715 million gamers
- Latin America has 420 million gamers
- North America has 285 million gamers
- MENA has 168 million gamers
- Sub-Saharan Africa has 144 million gamers
- Oceania has 32 million gamers
Gamers Using Different Devices
Global gamers who use different devices like smartphones, consoles, and PCs exceeded 3 billion in 2022.
It shows a 1 billion increase from seven years ago.
North America recorded the most number of console gamers in 2021, accounting for more than 106 million. Europe comes next with around 99.6 million console gamers.
Based on Newzoo’s report, there were an estimated 2.8 billion gamers worldwide in 2020.
2.5 billion people play games using smartphones and tablets, 1.3 billion gamers use PCs, and 0.8 billion gamers use consoles.
According to gaming statistics, approximately 2.29 billion console gamers are possibly subscribing to a gaming service, while 2.04 billion PC gamers are possibly doing the same.
Gamers in the US
The United States has more than 227 million gamers playing video games for at least one hour weekly, up from 201.7 million in 2021. 74% of households in the US have a minimum of one gamer.
According to Statista, gamers in the US are mostly from the younger generation. 60% of US gamers in 2022 were below 34 years old, while 40% were above 35 years old.
Here is the age distribution of gamers in the US in 2022:
- 24% of gamers in the US were below 18 years old in 2022
- 36% of gamers in the US were 18 to 34 years old in 2022
- 13% of gamers in the US were 35 to 44 years old in 2022
- 12% of gamers in the US were 45 to 54 years old in 2022
- 9% of gamers in the US were 55 to 64 years old in 2022
- 6% of gamers in the US were above 64 years old in 2022
Based on Statista Global Consumer Survey, 54% of gamers in the US spend less than 11 hours playing video games per week, 23% spend more than 11 hours, and 19% don’t play video games.
Here is the breakdown of hours spent playing video games in the US in 2022:
- 10% of gamers in the US spent less than an hour every week playing video games in 2022
- 26% of gamers in the US spent 1 to 5 hours every week playing video games in 2022
- 18% of gamers in the US spent 6 to 10 hours every week playing video games in 2022
- 10% of gamers in the US spent 11 to 15 hours every week playing video games in 2022
- 6% of gamers in the US spent 16 to 20 hours every week playing video games in 2022
- 7% of gamers in the US spent more than 20 hours every week playing video games in 2022
- 3% of gamers in the US don’t know how many hours every week they were playing video games in 2022
- 19% of gamers in the US didn’t play video games in 2022
Gamer Preferences
According to a survey, the most common reason why people play games is to relax.
66% of the respondents prefer relaxation, while 52% play games to fill time while commuting, waiting, and taking a break.
The most played games are “casual games”. Around 1.95 billion surveyed gamers play this type of game, equivalent to 63%.
Below is a list of the type of games preferred by gamers based on the survey:
- 1.95 billion gamers prefer casual games
- 1.21 billion gamers prefer action games
- 1.21 billion gamers prefer shooter games
- 1.14 billion gamers prefer racing games
- 1.02 billion gamers prefer family games
- 0.96 billion gamers prefer adventure games
Conclusion
The number of gamers in the world showed rampant growth during the COVID-19 outbreak.
According to statistics, gamers from the US spent 45% more time downloading and playing games during the first seven days of the outbreak, while gamers from France spent 38% more time.
The UK recorded similar growth at 29%, and Germany with 20%.
In 2021, 9.8% of US gamers played video games for more than 20 hours weekly, and only 7.6% played less than an hour weekly.
There are more than 3 billion gamers in the world, and it is projected to grow more in the coming years.
