PC Gaming hardware market has seen its biggest growth in years, aiming for a record 35% growth in 2025 & $44.5B in sales.
PC Gaming Is As Vibrant As Ever, Record Growth In 2025 & More Entry-Level Gamers Moving To Higher-Tier Hardware
In a new report published by Jon Peddie Research, the firm reports that the PC gaming hardware market is all set to hit a record 35% growth in 2025. This would net up to $44.5 billion in sales in the PC hardware segment alone from gamers, and is expected to retain the $40 Billion+ trend through 2028.
The research is based on the sales of PC gaming hardware, which includes desktop/notebook PCs, AIBs, and gaming peripherals. The main reason cited for this massive increase is Windows 11, which has set new hardware requirements, prompting gamers to either upgrade their existing PCs with new hardware or buy pre-built PCs based on newer hardware.
To me, it's not just Windows 11 but also the latest AAA gaming experiences that are pushing gamers to invest in newer hardware. As we have seen with the likes of Unreal Engine 5-based titles, there's a big incentive to invest in newer hardware such as GPUs, especially those with new upscaling and frame-gen techniques. These help users achieve stability in unoptimized games. Furthermore, the era of 8 GB GPUs is fast approaching its end, and with newer CPU options such as AMD's 3D V-Cache, gamers are more keen on purchasing newer 8-core+ chips, leading to entire platform upgrades.
“Never before in the history of the Microsoft Windows operating system has there been a forced hardware migration requirement. And this cannot be solved by swapping out a graphics card. It requires a CPU upgrade for over 100 million gamers, which, in turn, requires a motherboard upgrade and most likely RAM as well,” said Ted Pollak, JPR’s senior analyst of game tech.
“We are observing that most PC gamers are simply buying new prebuilt systems. The DIY gamers are also prepared for this transition, and many have been building new computers alongside their existing Windows 10 PCs, instead of trying to Frankenstein their current systems. This allows them to continue using their PC until their Windows 11 builds are complete.”
via Jon Peddie Research
The report also highlights that the entry-level PC gaming market is projected to shrink by 13% over the next five years. It is stated that around 10 million PC gamers are expected to migrate to other platforms such as consoles, handhelds, and mobile, which might be understandable from a cost point of view. But it looks like a healthy dose of entry-level PC gamers will stick to the PC platform itself, but move to a higher tier of PC hardware, such as mid-range or even high-end.
That's usually been the case with the PC hardware market, where lower tiers usually upgrade to better or even higher-tier hardware in a time period of 2-4 years. The entry-level market is big in terms of sales volume but not big in terms of revenue generated. With higher tiers, companies can achieve higher margins and higher revenues, which is why the PC gaming market should remain in a lively state for years to come.
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