Essential Facts about Video Games in Italy: 2025

In 2025, roughly 14.2 million Italians—about a third of the population aged six to seventy-five—engage in video gaming, with a pronounced male bias and a concentration of players under 35. The industry’s total revenue remains steady at €2.4 billion, of which game sales account for 77 percent (€1.8 bn). Gaming time has risen to nearly eight hours per week, driven primarily by smart-device play (22 percent reach, €929 m revenue) and console gaming (13 percent reach, €643 m). App-based games now represent more than half of the market, dominated by freemium monetisation; only one percent of app revenue comes from upfront purchases.

Revenue distribution varies by platform. Smart-device earnings are almost entirely from in-app purchases (ARPU €84), while console sales lean heavily on digital downloads—65 percent of new game revenue comes from full-game downloads (€502 m) and 21 percent from DLC (ARPU €99). PC revenue is largely driven by DLC (43 percent) and full-game downloads (98 percent of console sales). Subscription services are pivotal: console ecosystem subscriptions contribute 59 percent of total gaming-subscription revenue (€153 m), with mobile and single-game franchises accounting for 6 percent and 35 percent respectively.

Player demographics reveal that smart devices attract a younger, male-skewed audience (31 percent of 6–17-year-olds), whereas console and PC gaming remain niche but heavily male-skewed, concentrated among teens. Casual and sports titles dominate sales across all platforms, with subscription services such as PlayStation Plus and Xbox Game Pass driving a significant share of paid play. Engagement patterns show males spending the most hours on consoles (average seven hours per week), while PC gaming remains steady across age groups. Approximately one-quarter of players follow gaming news on YouTube or vlogs, and 20 percent rely on social media or family discussions for information. The data derive from a nationally representative online survey of 3,000 respondents, weighted against an offline omnibus sample and calibrated to industry sales figures.