Cross-platform gaming is now a mainstream behavior rather than a niche habit. Available studies report that 61% of U.S. gamers play on multiple devices, while 73% of weekly gamers play across at least two platforms. The figures below describe how mobile, console, and PC fit together, and how gaming overlaps with video entertainment.
Contents
- How common is cross-platform play?
- Platform overlap in the United States
- How weekly gamers move between platforms
- When people play and how long sessions last
- Who plays on mobile, console, and PC?
- Genres and motivations by platform
- Gaming and video entertainment
How common is cross-platform play?
The CTA survey found that 61% of U.S. gamers play on multiple devices. That broad result is consistent with the Newzoo Global Gamer Study 2023, which found that nearly half of gamers played on more than one platform. Newzoo also reported that 15% played on all three major platform groups: PC, console, and mobile.
The Unity Cross-Platform Gaming Study 2021 measured multiplayer activity in the past year. It found that 56% of Americans played multiplayer games during that period. Among those multiplayer gamers, 87% played cross-platform games. This makes cross-platform participation a substantial part of multiplayer behavior, although the study’s figures refer to the past year rather than a weekly or daily average.
Unity’s 2021 study also shows that cross-platform play does not mean every player uses the same combination of devices. Among cross-platform gamers, 44% played on both mobile and console, while 29% played on mobile only. These categories describe the study’s cross-platform-gamer breakdown and should not be read as a complete distribution of every possible device combination.
Platform overlap in the United States
ESA Essential Facts 2024 presents several U.S. household and individual-player measures. The chart context matters because the percentages use different denominators. In one cross-platform crossover chart, 36% of U.S. households had played mobile as a gaming device, 53% had played console, and 12% had played PC.
The same report also gives a platform crossover chart with 67% of U.S. households having played mobile, 31% having played console, and 8% having played PC. A separate individual-players platform crossover chart lists 19% for mobile, 16% for console, and 9% for PC. These values should be compared within their respective chart contexts, not combined into a single household total.
ESA Essential Facts 2024 additionally reported that 78% of players played on mobile, up from 33% in 2012. The increase describes the reported mobile-playing share across those two measurement years; it does not establish that the same people used the same devices in both years.
How weekly gamers move between platforms
The Microsoft Advertising Power of Platforms 2025 report focuses on weekly gamers and shows strong crossover between platform audiences. Among weekly PC gamers, 86% also play on mobile or console. Among weekly console gamers, 82% also play on mobile or PC. Among weekly mobile gamers, 61% also play on PC or console.
Across the weekly-gamer audience, 96% engage on at least one major platform—mobile, console, or PC—and 73% play across two or more platforms. The two figures measure different thresholds: one describes participation in at least one major platform, while the other identifies multi-platform use.
| Weekly-gamer measure | Reported share |
|---|---|
| Play on at least one major platform | 96% |
| Play on two or more platforms | 73% |
| PC gamers who also use mobile or console | 86% |
| Console gamers who also use mobile or PC | 82% |
| Mobile gamers who also use PC or console | 61% |
Source: Microsoft Advertising, Power of Platforms 2025.
The overlap is directional: the 86% figure starts with weekly PC gamers, while the 82% figure starts with weekly console gamers. They are useful for describing crossover within each audience, but they are not a ranking of platform popularity.
In practical terms, the figures point to overlapping audiences rather than isolated platform communities. A weekly player may belong to more than one audience at the same time, depending on the devices used during the measured period.
When people play and how long sessions last
Microsoft Advertising’s Power of Platforms 2025 report describes gaming across the morning, midday, afternoon, evening, and late-night transitions. Average session length was 1.18 hours in the morning, 1.31 hours at midday, 1.42 hours in the afternoon, 1.66 hours in the evening, and 1.86 hours in the late night.
The typical platform also changed during the day. Mobile was the typical platform in the morning and at midday. Console was typical in the afternoon. In the evening and late night, console and mobile were both listed as typical platforms.
These figures describe reported average session lengths by time of day, not a forecast of an individual player’s routine. They also show why a single-platform view can miss part of the gaming day: the typical platform differs between earlier and later periods.
Who plays on mobile, console, and PC?
The Microsoft Advertising report provides age and gender figures for weekly players on each major platform. Weekly mobile gamers had an average age of 42, with a gender split of 51% male and 49% female. Weekly console gamers had an average age of 36, with 65% male and 35% female. Weekly PC gamers had an average age of 40, with 64% male and 36% female.
| Weekly platform audience | Average age | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mobile | 42 | 51% | 49% |
| Console | 36 | 65% | 35% |
| PC | 40 | 64% | 36% |
Source: Microsoft Advertising, Power of Platforms 2025.
The report also says that 34% of gamers play on PC weekly. In its report context, 34% of PC gamers are cited as a valuable audience for premium brands. Because the two figures appear in the same source but describe different report contexts, they should not be treated as interchangeable measures.
Genres and motivations by platform
Platform crossover does not erase differences in what players want from games. Microsoft Advertising identifies a standout genre and a standout motivation for each weekly platform audience.
For weekly mobile gamers, puzzle was the standout genre, and passing the time was the standout motivation. For weekly console gamers, fighting was the standout genre, and bonding with friends and family was the standout motivation. For weekly PC gamers, MMORPG was the standout genre, and meeting new people was the standout motivation.
| Weekly audience | Standout genre | Standout motivation |
|---|---|---|
| Mobile gamers | Puzzle | Pass the time |
| Console gamers | Fighting | Bond with friends and family |
| PC gamers | MMORPG | Meet new people |
Source: Microsoft Advertising, Power of Platforms 2025.
The wording “standout” identifies the report’s leading category or motivation in each audience. It does not provide a percentage for the genre or motivation, so these results are best used to compare the reported positioning of each platform audience rather than to estimate market share.
Gaming and video entertainment
Gaming increasingly sits alongside other media. Microsoft Advertising’s Power of Platforms 2025 report found that 75% of weekly gamers play games while watching TV or video. This is a behavior measure for weekly gamers, not a claim that three-quarters of all viewers also play games.
The Newzoo Global Gamer Study 2023 reported that 54% of the total online population watched video game content in the past 12 months. The population base is different from Microsoft’s weekly-gamer base, and the reference period is also different: Newzoo’s measure covers the past 12 months, while Microsoft’s figure describes weekly gamers.
Together, the two findings describe two sides of the relationship between games and video. One reports simultaneous gaming alongside TV or video among weekly gamers; the other reports video game content viewing among the total online population. Neither result, by itself, identifies a particular service, game, or content format.
For cross-platform audiences, the overall pattern is clear: many players move among mobile, console, and PC, and gaming behavior changes by time of day, platform audience, and entertainment context. The reported measurements cover U.S. gamers, U.S. households, weekly gamers, and the global online population, so the geography and denominator should remain attached to each statistic when the figures are used for comparison.