Following the release of its new PC and Console Gaming Report, Newzoo has produced a further analysis focusing specifically on the free-to-play market. Although free-to-play playtime on PC, PlayStation and Xbox fell, revenue per hour played on PC rose by 10 per cent. However, it’s the exception.
In her analysis of the results in the free-to-play sector, Zoey Hunt, Market Analyst at Newzoo, draws some interesting conclusions: As playtime stabilizes, free-to-play becomes less about chasing scale and more about whether attention has been converted into durable revenue. These rates now look radically different by platform.”
In fact, the data shows that playtime for free-to-play games has been declining across all three platforms under consideration: PC, PlayStation and Xbox. This is one of the reasons why the analysis focuses on the metric of revenue per hour played. And this shows that, for PC free-to-play games, revenue per hour played has risen by around 10%, whilst it is falling for PlayStation and Xbox games. Revenue per hour played on PC is also twice as high as on PlayStation and three times as high as on Xbox. However, Newzoo did not provide exact figures.
It should also be borne in mind that this is a sub-market analysis. The data analysed covered the largest Western markets, namely the US, UK, Germany, France, Spain and Italy. Furthermore, multi-game subscriptions were not taken into account. On consoles in particular, however, such subscriptions often include content packs for free-to-play games.
The data is nonetheless interesting, as it provides an unusual insight into an otherwise rather opaque market. The full analysis is available free of charge on Newzoo.
The data is taken from Newzoo’s PC & Console Gaming Report 2026.
