Mobile Dominates America's Favorite Gaming Platforms
People engage in gaming through a variety of formats, from consoles to mobile devices, driven by factors like convenience, cost, and immersive experiences.
This graphic, via Visual Capitalist's Kayla Zhu, visualizes the share of U.S. consumers that reported gaming on a specific device within the past month, using data from a Circana online survey of 5,100 active U.S. gamers conducted in May through June 2024.
The categories of gaming devices are as follows:
Mobile: iPhone, Android smartphone, iPad, and other smartphone or tablet devices
Computer: Desktop, laptop, Steam Deck, or other portable PC devices
Console: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 4 Pro, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, Xbox One X, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Wii U, Nintendo Wii
Other: Virtual reality (VR) headsets, plug-and-play devices, child-oriented devices
Which Gaming Devices Do Americans Use The Most?
Below, we show the share of U.S. consumers ages two and up that played on a qualifying device within the previous month of Circana’s survey.
About 71% of U.S. consumers played some form of video game in the month prior to Circana’s survey, with mobile gaming being the largest platform with 65% of U.S. consumers gaming on a mobile device in 2024.
Over half of gamers’ weekly playtime takes place on their phones, according to Circana. The main draw is convenience, as players already have their devices with them, along with the low cost and easy accessibility of mobile games.
PC and console gaming are almost evenly tied, with 36% and 35% of respondents gaming on these platforms respectively.
When looking these formats’ market shares, console gaming held a slight lead over PC gaming with 57% of the 2023 market share, or $53.1 billion revenue compared to PC’s $40.4 billion.
The “Other” gaming category grew by 2% since 2022 due to increased adoption of virtual reality (VR) gaming. VR usage and ownership among U.S. teens is on the rise, with weekly VR use increasing from 10% to 13% and headset ownership growing from 31% to 33% over the past six months, according to a survey by Piper.
Gaming preferences are also dependent on generation. Younger generations like Gen Alpha, Gen Z, and Millennials tend to play on PCs or console more often than older generations, according to Newzoo.
In terms of gaming genres, older generations like Gen X and Boomers tend to gravitate towards puzzle games, usually played on mobile devices.
To learn more about the video game industry, check out this graphic that visualizes console launch prices, adjusted for inflation.