{"rewrite":{"id":"r_545e1c4e4ac7f7e70a3190b6","clusterId":"c_546140fab7e405a955179d75","slug":"newzoo-report-says-free-to-play-playtime-is-flat-as-gacha-rpgs-gain-on-pc","model":"deepseek-v4-1-flash","headline":"Newzoo Report Says Free-to-Play Playtime Is Flat as Gacha RPGs Gain on PC","summary":"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.","whyItMatters":"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.","webCardHtml":"\u003cp\u003eFree-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.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe 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.\u003c/p\u003e","blueskyPost":"Newzoo: free-to-play playtime is flat, not falling. It held 29.3% of total playtime in 2025, down 2.9 points from 2021, with paid titles and Roblox absorbing the difference. PC playtime is up, console down. Wuthering Waves, Honkai: Star Rail and Zenless Zone Zero added 1.1 billion hours by 2025.","twitterPost":"Newzoo's Free-to-play in 2026: playtime flat, not declining. 29.3% of total playtime in 2025, down 2.9 points from 2021, with the gap going to paid titles and Roblox. PC up, PlayStation and Xbox down. Three gacha RPGs added 1.1 billion hours by 2025.","threadsPost":null,"newsletterBlurb":"Newzoo published \"Free-to-play in 2026\" on September 30, and its headline finding is that free-to-play playtime is flat rather than shrinking: 29.3% of total playtime in 2025, 2.9 points below 2021. The time has shifted toward paid titles and Roblox, and toward PC over PlayStation and Xbox. Three gacha RPGs, Wuthering Waves, Honkai: Star Rail, and Zenless Zone Zero, added 1.1 billion hours by 2025, but Newzoo says the players mostly overlap.","attributionJson":"[{\"source\":\"Automaton\",\"url\":\"https://automaton-media.com/articles/newsjp/20261006-472037/\",\"title\":\"Market analysis says \\\"free-to-play games are not in decline.\\\" RPGs like Wuthering Waves are holding their own, but \\\"playing multiple games at once\\\" is a bottleneck\"}]","lintFlagsJson":null,"lintHits":0,"costUsd":0,"inputTokens":4666,"outputTokens":733,"status":"published","repairAttempts":0,"nextRepairAt":null,"factsAttemptedAt":1791286629,"createdAt":"2026-10-06T11:33:27.000Z","publishedAt":"2026-10-06T11:36:07.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-10-06T11:36:07.000Z"},"cluster":{"id":"c_546140fab7e405a955179d75","canonicalTitle":"「基本プレイ無料ゲームは衰退していない」との市場分析。『鳴潮』などRPG系が健闘、ただし“掛け持ち”事情がネックに","representativeArticleId":"a_b9ab4bf4d4039d4423404960","sourceCount":1,"writtenSourceCount":1,"writeAttempts":0,"isSolo":true,"entitiesJson":"{\"anime_titles\":[],\"manga_titles\":[],\"work_titles\":[\"Wuthering Waves\"],\"studios\":[],\"people\":[],\"type\":\"business\",\"domain\":\"games\",\"is_roundup\":false}","contentType":"news","status":"published","firstSeenAt":"2026-10-06T10:28:14.000Z","lastSeenAt":"2026-10-06T10:28:14.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-10-06T11:36:06.000Z"},"attribution":[{"source":"Automaton","url":"https://automaton-media.com/articles/newsjp/20261006-472037/","title":"「基本プレイ無料ゲームは衰退していない」との市場分析。『鳴潮』などRPG系が健闘、ただし“掛け持ち”事情がネックに"}],"entities":{"anime_titles":[],"manga_titles":[],"work_titles":["Wuthering Waves"],"studios":[],"people":[],"type":"business","domain":"games","is_roundup":false},"keyFacts":null}