Gaming hardware spans mobile devices, consoles, PCs, components, displays, accessories, and the semiconductor businesses behind them. The figures below define their populations and periods explicitly, separating U.S. survey estimates, Steam observations, industry spending, and company-reported fiscal-year revenue.
Key Gaming Hardware Statistics
The most useful broad measures are:
- In 2024, 190.6 million Americans ages 5–90 played video games at least one hour weekly.
- In 2024, 61% of the U.S. population ages 5–90 reported playing weekly.
- In 2024, 29% of U.S. players were age 50 or older.
- In 2024, 78% of U.S. households had played on at least one gaming device during the prior 12 months.
- In 2024, 78% of U.S. players reported playing on mobile devices.
- In 2024, 19% of U.S. players used mobile, PC, and console.
- In 2024, 54% of U.S. Gen Alpha and Gen Z players age 8+ used PC for gameplay.
- In 2024, 58% of U.S. Gen Alpha and Gen Z players age 8+ used console.
- In August 2026, Windows 11 64-bit represented 75.53% of Windows systems in the Steam survey.
- In August 2026, 16 GB of RAM was used by 41.07% of Windows Steam survey systems.
- In August 2026, 32 GB of RAM was used by 38.47% of Windows Steam survey systems.
- In September 2026, DirectX 12 GPUs represented 92.19% of Steam survey GPUs.
- In September 2026, the GeForce RTX 5070 represented 6.15% of listed Steam GPUs.
- In 2024, U.S. consumers spent $59.3 billion on video games.
- In 2024, U.S. video-game hardware spending was $4.9 billion.
- In 2024, U.S. video-game accessory spending was $3.2 billion.
- In fiscal 2025, AMD’s worldwide Gaming revenue was $3.91 billion.
- In fiscal 2025, NVIDIA’s worldwide Gaming revenue was $11.35 billion.
Contents
- Player scale and platform adoption
- PC components used on Steam
- Graphics cards and display capability
- Spending and industry economics
- Semiconductor-company gaming trends
Gaming Hardware Statistics: Player Scale and Platform Adoption
The Entertainment Software Association’s 2024 U.S. survey measures people who played at least one hour per week, so its results describe gaming participation rather than shipments or ownership of a particular device. It also reports household use and platform overlap, which helps show why gaming hardware demand includes several device types.
According to the 2024 Essential Facts About the U.S. Video Game Industry, 190.6 million Americans ages 5–90 played weekly in 2024, equal to 61% of the U.S. population in that age range. The survey’s average player age was 26, while 29% of players were 50 or older.
The same survey describes a broad household footprint:
- 78% of U.S. households had played on at least one gaming device in the prior 12 months in 2024; this is any gaming device, not PC-only ownership.
- 78% of U.S. players reported playing on mobile devices in 2024, compared with 33% in 2012; mobile play is not equivalent to dedicated gaming-hardware ownership.
- 19% of U.S. players used mobile, PC, and console in 2024, showing that the platform groups overlap rather than form exclusive segments.
Player identity measures were also reported for 2024. The survey recorded 53% identifying as male and 46% as female, while 6% identified as LGBTQ; these are self-identification categories and do not necessarily sum to 100%.
Among U.S. Gen Alpha and Gen Z players age 8 or older, 54% used PC for gameplay and 58% used console in 2024. These figures combine the two generations and allow overlapping platform use.
Gaming Hardware Data: PC Components Used on Steam
Steam’s monthly hardware survey is an optional, anonymous observation of participating Steam customers, not a census of PC gamers. The August 2026 operating-system and memory figures therefore indicate the configuration mix within that sample.
| Windows system category | Share of Windows Steam survey systems | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Windows 11 64-bit | 75.53% | August 2026 |
| Windows 10 64-bit | 24.37% | August 2026 |
| Windows 7 64-bit | 0.07% | August 2026 |
Source: Steam Hardware & Software Survey: August 2026. The displayed categories are Windows systems in the Steam survey, not all computers in use.
Memory capacity was concentrated in two categories. 16 GB was the most common reported amount at 41.07%, while 32 GB represented 38.47% of Windows Steam survey systems in August 2026.
Other reported RAM categories were 8 GB at 7.00%, 12 GB at 2.43%, 24 GB at 2.04%, 48 GB at 1.18%, and less than 4 GB at 0.02%. These are reported capacity categories, not benchmarks, measured frame rates, or a complete estimate of installed memory across all gaming PCs.
Gaming Hardware Statistics: Graphics Cards and Display Capability
Steam’s September 2026 GPU classification shows the technology categories present among surveyed Steam users. A DirectX category is not itself a performance score, and the figures should not be read as market-wide hardware shipments.
| Steam GPU classification | Share of surveyed GPUs | Period |
|---|---|---|
| DirectX 12 | 92.19% | September 2026 |
| DirectX 11 | 0.35% | September 2026 |
| DirectX 10 | 0.17% | September 2026 |
| DX9 Shader Model 2b/3.0 | 0.00% | September 2026 |
| DX8-and-below | 7.29% | September 2026 |
Source: Steam Hardware & Software Survey: August 2026. The source page labels the GPU model and classification values as September 2026.
The most common listed models in that September 2026 Steam sample included several GeForce generations:
- GeForce RTX 5070 represented 6.15% of listed Steam GPUs.
- GeForce RTX 5060 represented 4.40% of listed Steam GPUs.
- GeForce RTX 5060 Ti represented 4.06% of listed Steam GPUs.
- GeForce RTX 4060 represented 3.89% of listed Steam GPUs.
- GeForce RTX 3060 represented 3.66% of listed Steam GPUs.
- GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU represented 3.50% of listed Steam GPUs.
These model shares describe Steam survey respondents, with laptop and desktop models appearing in the same observed population. They do not establish total installed-base share outside Steam or isolate a single display resolution, refresh rate, or game workload.
Gaming Hardware Spending Statistics and Industry Economics
ESA reporting based on Circana and Sensor Tower put U.S. consumer video-game spending at $59.3 billion in 2024. The total combines multiple platforms and categories, so it is broader than gaming-PC revenue.
| U.S. video-game spending category | 2024 amount | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| Total consumer spending | $59.3 billion | Content, hardware, and accessories |
| Content | $51.3 billion | Excludes hardware and accessories |
| Hardware | $4.9 billion | Broader than gaming PCs |
| Accessories | $3.2 billion | Separate source category |
Source: Essential Facts 2024. The totals are U.S. figures for 2024 and include more than dedicated PC hardware.
The same release estimated mobile games at approximately $26 billion of 2024 content spending before app-store fees. Mobile is part of the content economy, not a measure of dedicated gaming hardware.
In the release’s initial comparison, total spending was described as down from $59.3 billion in 2023, while content spending rose from $49.8 billion in 2023 to $50.6 billion in 2024. The release also compared hardware and console sales falling from $6.5 billion to $4.9 billion, and accessory sales rising 6.7% from $3.0 billion to $3.2 billion; its notes distinguish initial comparisons from revised final figures.
The industry’s wider economic footprint is different from consumer sales. The ESA estimated that the U.S. video-game industry contributed nearly $66 billion to GDP in 2023 and generated or supported more than $101 billion in total economic impact in 2023; both are economic-impact estimates rather than direct hardware revenue.
Gaming Hardware Trends in Semiconductor-Company Revenue
Company segment reporting adds a supplier-side view, but it is not a shipment count or market-share measure. AMD’s Gaming segment includes semi-custom console system-on-chips and Radeon gaming GPUs, while NVIDIA’s Gaming segment includes its GeForce-related business without isolating PC-only hardware.
| Company measure | Earlier period | Later period | Reported change or scope |
|---|---|---|---|
| AMD Gaming revenue | $2.595B in fiscal 2024 | $3.91B in fiscal 2025 | Up 51% |
| AMD Client and Gaming revenue | $9.649B in fiscal 2024 | $14.55B in fiscal 2025 | Combined segment; up 51% |
| AMD Client and Gaming operating income | $1.2B in fiscal 2024 | $2.9B in fiscal 2025 | Combined segment |
| NVIDIA Gaming revenue | — | $11.35B in fiscal 2025 | Up 9% year over year |
Sources: AMD 2025 Form 10-K/A Annual Report and NVIDIA Q4FY25 CFO Commentary.
AMD reported $3.91 billion in worldwide Gaming revenue for fiscal 2025, up 51% from $2.595 billion in fiscal 2024. Its combined Client and Gaming segment reported $14.55 billion in fiscal 2025 versus $9.649 billion in fiscal 2024, also reported as a 51% increase.
AMD does not separately disclose gaming-only operating income in these figures. Client and Gaming operating income was $2.9 billion in fiscal 2025, compared with $1.2 billion in fiscal 2024; the combined measure should not be assigned wholly to gaming.
For client products, AMD reported processor unit shipments increasing 15% in 2025 and processor average selling price increasing 31% versus 2024. Those figures cover client-segment processors, not gaming-only CPU shipments.
NVIDIA reported $11.35 billion in worldwide Gaming revenue for fiscal 2025, up 9% year over year. Like AMD’s segment figure, this is company reporting rather than a count of consumer graphics cards or a complete measure of gaming-hardware market share.