If you purchase greater than two new video games a yr, you are within the minority, new report reveals

If you are studying this, then you definately’re in all probability one of many “hyper enthusiast, price-insensitive players” retaining the video games business going.

That’s as a result of, in line with analysis by analyst agency Circana, round a 3rd of online game gamers within the US purchase a brand new recreation lower than every year.

While this analysis is restricted to the US, it is definitely eye-opening for the state of the business throughout the globe. And with 12 % buying every year and 18 % buying as soon as each six months, it means a mixed 63 % of gamers purchase simply two video games or fewer annually.

The analysis is a part of Circana’s Q3 2025 Future of Games survey, as shared on social media by analyst Mat Piscatella.

“Hyper enthusiast, price-insensitive players are really keeping things going, especially in the non f2p gaming space,” he mentioned.

Hyper fanatic, price-insensitive gamers are actually retaining issues going, particularly within the non f2p gaming house.

According to Circana’s Q3 2025 Future of Games, solely 4% of US online game gamers purchase a brand new recreation extra typically than as soon as per 30 days, with a 3rd of gamers not shopping for any video games in any respect.

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— Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) 2 October 2025 at 17:54

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It’s attention-grabbing timing for the info following the current worth hike of Xbox Game Pass. If, on common, gamers are spending, say, £140 on two full worth video games (or much less) annually, is spending round £275 a yr (£22.99 for 12 months) on Game Pass Ultimate for entry to day one video games actually a very good deal?

Nowadays there are extra video games than ever being launched, but when gamers are solely shopping for a pair – and let’s face it, it will be the likes of EA FC, Call of Duty, and inevitably GTA 6 – how can smaller studios count on to outlive?

And that is exterior of free-to-play live-service video games, the place only a handful of video games proceed to dominate participant time.

It would appear the 14 % of gamers buying a minimum of one recreation every month are those retaining the business afloat at current, however that is on no account an infinite pool of cash for studios to goal for. It’s why development of the business has stagnated in recent times – it is these common gamers who must be reached.

For the “hyper enthusiast” gamers, then, subscriptions like Game Pass provide good worth – though not possession. But how can that be made extra engaging to the common client?

It definitely helps to clarify Microsoft’s “Everything is an Xbox” method, to decrease the barrier of entry for the common client. It’s additionally why Amazon is now seeking to increase its Luna cloud gaming service.

And what does this imply for the way forward for console gaming? Eurogamer requested the specialists, and it isn’t all doom and gloom.