Another Dying Industry? Gamers Spent 60% of Their 2023 Play Time on Games Older Than a Half Decade
A report from earlier this year gave an interesting glimpse at streaming audiences’ viewing habits.
According to the report, which came from Nielsen, the vast majority of viewers’ streaming time in 2023 was spent watching older shows that debuted, in most cases, years prior. Apparently, audiences prefer the classics to anything Hollywood is producing today.
Well, based on a new report — this one from market research firm Newzoo — video game audiences prefer older content to newer content as well.
“Players are spending more time on games that came out six or more years ago. The time spent on these accounts for over 60% of the time spent in games in 2023,” the report reads.
Over the past few years, this disparity has grown dramatically.
Older Games Share of Playtime Is Growing Year-by-Year
According to the report, from 2021 to 2022, games six years or older saw a dramatic uptick in the share of total gaming. However, at the time, this was attributed to the massively popular battle royale game “Fortnite” having just crossed the six-year mark.
While “Fortnite” might explain some of the increased disparity from 2021 to 2022, it does not at all explain the disparity growing again from 2022 to 2023.
In 2021, 45 percent of all playtime was spent on games six years or older. In 2022, that number grew to 57 percent, and in 2023, it hit 61 percent.
Five older games accounted for a sizable 25 percent of all playtime in 2023.
Those games were the aforementioned “Fortnite” which debuted in 2017, 2006’s “Roblox,” 2009’s “League of Legends,” 2011’s “Minecraft” and 2013’s “Grand Theft Auto V.”
Outside of COD and Sports, New Titles Are Losing Big
As for new titles (3 years old or newer), over 60 percent of playtime was spent on either “Call of Duty” or sports franchises, including “FIFA,” “NBA2K,” “Madden” and “The Show.”
Outside of those tried and true franchises with consistent annual releases, new games only made up a measly 8 percent of total playtime.
The top games among new titles — “Diablo IV,” “Hogwarts Legacy,” “Baldur’s Gate 3,” “Elden Ring” and “Starfield” — totaled 3.5 percent of all time played by 2023 gamers.
Game Developer Blames Wokeness
Many online attribute the lack of enthusiasm for new games to the industry’s increased politicization.
Mark Hern, a former developer for “World of Warcraft,” expressed as much on X.
60% of gameplay time was spend on games 6 years or older in 2023.
*newzoo industry report.Older TV shows dominate streaming networks as well.
This is not a coincidence, as streaming has prioritized wokeness over quality, and AAA have also prioritized profit and the narrative… pic.twitter.com/pX4bXjQs9u
— Grummz (@Grummz) April 9, 2024
“60% of gameplay time was [spent] on games 6 years or older in 2023. *newzoo industry report. Older TV shows dominate streaming networks as well. This is not a coincidence, as streaming has prioritized wokeness over quality, and AAA have also prioritized profit and the narrative over fun,” Kern wrote.
“This is why we fight. Nobody wants to play the new stuff if it means being preached at and scolded while they destroy our most memorable IPs and characters.”
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