Newzoo Report Says Free-to-Play Playtime Is Flat as Gacha RPGs Gain on PC
The flat total hides a shift in composition: gacha RPGs are absorbing PC playtime while the broader free-to-play field stalls and new releases thin out, and Newzoo ties that growth to players moving between existing titles rather than to new players arriving.
Reporting from 1 source: Automaton.
Newzoo's "Free-to-play in 2026" report, published September 30, says free-to-play playtime is flat rather than declining, holding 29.3% of total playtime across 37 markets in 2025, down 2.9 points from 2021. PC playtime is rising while PlayStation and Xbox playtime falls. Three gacha RPGs, Wuthering Waves, Honkai: Star Rail, and Zenless Zone Zero, added 1.1 billion hours by 2025.
Free-to-play playtime held 29.3% of total playtime across the survey scope in 2025, down 2.9 percentage points from 2021. Newzoo reads that gap as relative: paid titles and Roblox, tallied separately, took up more time rather than free-to-play losing its audience.
The platform split runs the other way. PC playtime is climbing while PlayStation and Xbox playtime trends down, and Newzoo attributes the console decline to specific existing titles rather than the business model.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.