No one wants to play new video games: Steam year-end stats reveal

The annual Steam Year in Review are in allowing players to backtrack at what games they played and how much. However, people have started noting a nifty little detail revealing only 15% of the total playtime by all gamers on steam was spent on new games released in 2024. This is when Steam registered over 39 million players this year.

2024 by all means was an incredible year for gaming, with several big releases and super hit games releasing one after another. The same is expected to happen next year as per announcements, however, the recent Year in Review tells that while the number of gamers are increasing each year, their interest still remains with older titles.

Those who want to verify the facts themselves can head to the bottom of the ‘How You Compare’ section of Steam Year in Review. Simply hovering over the statistic pie will show how much of the gaming population spent their time this year.

Also Read: Valve accused of allowing extremist content on its gaming platform Steam

Old games for the win?

There’s an old saying ‘Old is Gold’ which is now turning out to be true as more and more gamers are pivoting towards classic video games or the ones from their backlog from the previous year. The reason behind it can be due to a lot of things.

However, as per the statistics, a few of the main reasons behind this can be pointed towards. As can be seen in the images, even older games from 8 years ago are more popular than the recent AAA game releases. While the highest number of gamers spent time on games released between the last 1–7 years.

A simple reason behind this to call it a day would be nostalgia. The older generation of gamers may have wanted to visit the games they loved. The other reason is likely the backlog of games from 1 or 2 years ago. Games like Elden Ring, and Baldur’s Gate 3 have multiple endings and can be quite a ride for average gamers.

One of the biggest reasons anyone can think of is the recent pricing of video games. With more and more AAA gaming companies leaving the regional pricing likely to maximize profits or get people on monthly subscriptions, more and more people are choosing to spend money on older classics.