Newzoo Says Free-to-Play Playtime Is Holding Steady as PC Gacha RPGs Grow

Free-to-play gaming on PC and console isn’t collapsing, according to a new Newzoo report released October 5, 2026. It’s shifting. Newzoo says free-to-play’s share of total playtime fell from 2021 to 2025, landing at 29.3%, but the actual number of hours played stayed broadly flat.

The report, based on Newzoo’s Game Performance Monitor across 37 markets, excludes China, India, and mobile. Newzoo points to growth in other parts of the market, including premium games and Roblox, as a major reason free-to-play’s share looks smaller even without a major drop in total hours.

PC and console are moving in different directions. Free-to-play hours grew on PC, even as the category’s overall share declined. On console, free-to-play hours fell, with Newzoo tying much of that drop to a small group of established live-service games losing time.

Fewer new free-to-play live-service games are also reaching PC and console. Newzoo says launches peaked at 36 titles in 2017, then dropped from an annual average of 21.3 games in 2020-2022 to 14.7 in 2023-2025. The report cites higher costs, bigger risk, and the difficulty of pulling players away from entrenched games.

Gacha RPGs are the clearest growth area, especially on PC. Newzoo counted 17 major gacha titles on PC and console in 2025, up from three in 2021. PC gacha playtime rose 92% over that span, adding 864 million hours. Console gacha added 85 million hours, though it shrank in two of the years measured.

RPG was the only free-to-play genre to gain share on both PC and console. Newzoo credits games like Honkai: Star Rail, Zenless Zone Zero, and Wuthering Waves for driving PC growth, while those same titles helped offset declines elsewhere on console. Still, the report says the extra playtime hasn’t turned into matching revenue growth, suggesting players are spending more time rotating between gacha games without spending at the same pace.