PC gaming market enjoys record 35% growth in 2025 with $44.5 billion in sales

The PC gaming market is in a healthier position than it has been in many years according to a new report from Jon Peddie Research, which reports that there has been a record 35% growth in 2025 with $44.5 billion in sales.

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The firm reports that the PC gaming hardware market is poised to reach a record 35% growth for 2025, which would mean $44.5 billion in sales for the PC hardware segment alone from gamers, with JPR expecting to keep the $40B+ gravy train trend to continue through to 2028.

JPR's research is based on the sales of PC gaming hardware that includes desktop and laptops, AIB partners, and gaming peripherals. One of the key reasons for the big increase from $33 billion in 2024 to $44.5 billion in 2025 is because of Windows 11, which has new hardware requirements that are pushing PC gamers to either upgrade their existing systems with new hardware, or buy a pre-built gaming PC with new hardware.

Ted Pollak, JPR's senior analyst of game tech, explains: "Never before in the history of the Microsoft Windows operating system has there been a forced hardware migration requirement. And this cannot be solved by swapping out a graphics card. It requires a CPU upgrade for over 100 million gamers, which, in turn, requires a motherboard upgrade and most likely RAM as well".

Pollak continues: "We are observing that most PC gamers are simply buying new prebuilt systems. The DIY gamers are also prepared for this transition, and many have been building new computers alongside their existing Windows 10 PCs, instead of trying to Frankenstein their current systems. This allows them to continue using their PC until their Windows 11 builds are complete".