PC Gaming Big Five Dominance

- The "big five" consists of *Counter-Strike 2, Fortnite, Minecraft, League of Legends,* and *Roblox*. These established titles, ranging from five to 25 years old, represent a significant concentration of player time on the PC platform. - The data comes from a report by Epyllion's Matthew Ball, which highlights that new games released in 2025 accounted for only about 14% of total player hours on Steam. A similar 2024 report from market research firm Newzoo indicated that only 8% of PC gaming hours were spent on games released in that year. - *Roblox* stands out for its massive engagement, with its quarterly user hours rivaling that of Steam, PlayStation, and *Fortnite* combined. As of the third quarter of 2025, the platform reported 151.5 million daily active users. - The other games in the top five also maintain huge player bases. In early 2026, *Fortnite* reported approximately 110-120 million monthly active players. *League of Legends* has stabilized around 131 million monthly active users in 2025 and early 2026. - *Counter-Strike 2* sees daily player peaks of over 1.5 million and maintains a monthly active player base between 24 and 30 million. - This trend of players dedicating more time to fewer, older games is increasing. On Steam, the percentage of users playing three or fewer games a year grew from 22% in 2021 to 34% in 2024. - The dominance of these live-service games is partly attributed to "recursive nostalgia," where titles leverage their own history and updates to keep long-time players engaged. - According to a 2023 report, five games—*Fortnite, Roblox, League of Legends, Minecraft,* and *Grand Theft Auto V*—were responsible for 27% of all game playtime.