Desktop Computer Gaming: In the Age of Mobile and Intelligence

Video and computer gaming have come a long way and nowadays, the lines have blurred so much with regards to playing on portable devices. This included great devices like Steam Deck and Asus' ROG Ally, both which allow playing PC games on the go. However, given people's personal preference, there's respect to be had with desktop computers. While not typically portable, it's the ability to upgrade that still makes these computational towers a great choice to install and play games. Additional peripherals that compliment it are ultra-wide, or multiple, monitors, advanced audio system, adding and/or upgrading hard drives, installing higher-end video or audio cards and so much more. As computation has gotten mobile and as we gradually gear toward the Intelligent Age, desktop computers should not be overlooked. Even though good, high-end towers are often expensive, it seems that prices and demand for desktop computers are slowly waning but are priced reasonably today. Best of all, they're always available; There's no shortage of them and can be upgraded to one's liking. We shall look into the beauty and the continual need for desktop computers going forward while this new Intelligent Age is gaining upon us.

Desktop computers shouldn't be scoffed at nor declared obselete whatsoever. According to EarthWeb's article How Many People Use Laptops in 2025?, written by Jason Wise, "In 2019, 47.1% of households around the world got a laptop or desktop computer, up from 43.9% five years ago¹." He adds that "69% of Americans who own laptops were aged 18 to 29 years old." For the users in America using both laptops and/or desktops, from 2008 to 2019, desktops have averaged around 70% in terms of usage. However, Jason continued that "277 million laptop units shipped in 2021 and forecasted to fall to 272 million laptop units in 2025¹." While this topic of discussion is mainly toward desktops, it seems to have a tie-in with usage for laptop computers since, with the right setup, laptops can be set accordingly as a desktop with its ability to output to an external monitor.

Now that PC gaming often requires internet connection, usage of desktops to connect online has, too. seen a slight decline. Reported by HighSpeedInternet.net, in their article Desktop and Mobile Internet Usage Statstics — 2022, "Lower-income individuals can often afford a basic smartphone and mobile internet access, but can't necessarily afford a desktop or laptop computer. This is particularly true in emerging economies, where cheap mobile devices are plentiful²." They reported that 50.88% of internet users, globally, are from mobile devices, 46.39% are users from desktop, or even laptop, computers and only 2.74% are from tablet devices. What about in America? In 2020, 49.58% of internet users logged in with a desktop/laptop computer, 45.87% are from mobile devices and 4.55% are from tablets. While desktops are still the mainstay here in the US, it kind of makes you wonder about "mobility" when it comes to computing, namely in this case, PC or even video gaming (mentioning these stastistics play a role on the choices for devices tied with connecting online, especially in computer gaming).

It's high-time that respects are paid toward the computer overall. In fact, "64% of game developers have a preference for PC titles³," reported by ExplodingTopics.com posted on their article The Latest PC Gaming Stastistics (2025). It gets more interesting: "Free-to-play, or 'F2P' games, market revenue is estimated to be $25.22 billion in 2024³," and also, "the gaming PC graphics hardware market is worth approximately $38 billion³." Those are impressive numbers for the PC gaming market and because that shows that more than half of game developers would rather create games for the PC says enough already. Add to that, live streaming your gameplays while attending to your viewers' comments makes the beloved desktop computer a viable choice even by today's standards. (Frankly, desktop computers are almost always preferred because of hardware specifications all of which can handle multitasking, fast internet speeds, when hardwired via Ethernet, and plentiful options for upgrade which explains why gamers can run games at high resolution and live streaming all in real-time. Depending on one's hardware, this can all be done with little to no lag.) It's no wonder this computational "black box" remains the choice and standard for PC gaming, and may still hold marketshare as well as demand in the coming years; We don't see this wonderful machine decline any time soon.

However, the article from ExplodingTopics.com showed a rate of change since 2008 involving usage of desktop computers. In 2008, there were as much as 11 billion desktop units in use, only to dwindle down to 1.86 billion desktop computers in 2024. There were some years that sought a much lower number than 1.86 billion but slowly kicked back up again. Why is that? With mobile devices and games readily available for download via the app store, that's the likely factor that affected the desktop market. Another is lifestyle which has drastically changed since the last decade, as the days of having to check your email is quicker and easier using a smart device, no longer having to sit at a desk, booting up the computer then logging into a browser, or app, just to check and/or do basic mundane tasks. Also, with video-sharing websites allowing users and creators to cash in on their productions, there hasn't been a better time than to consider a good, solid desktop computer to fulfill in producing your projects (depending on technical specifications, you, too, get by with a strong laptop in terms of content production). When it comes to business, there's a reason companies purchase desktops to carry tasks out quickly and efficiently, along with supplementary devices like laptops and tablets. Even though portable devices get better and better to the point where it will surpass the powers of a desktop computer, it's still nice having a desktop the moment where sitting in your room and gaming is as cozy as you can get. Doing so also brings one to choose their own computer monitor which comes in a variety of sizes. As a matter of fact, some PC gamers enjoy having the old CRT monitors to play their games on, while some love the beauty of ultra-wide. Speaking of monitors, on a non-gaming note, many stock traders almost prefer a desktop computer as they can make trades quickly, thanks to the amount of RAM, and can track market trends in real-time.

Everyone has their preferences when it comes to gaming. The whole point of this article is to share our praise for desktop computers and because of how far we've come, there should remain a spot in people's computing lives for these towering CPUs. While, yes, it depends on your budget, your computing lifestyle and/or the tasks you aim to achieve, we feel desktops are an excellent choice. Even if you don't intend to live stream, using a desktop feels like a personal experience; Like it's your time to sit and relax as if there's no need to rush and be anywhere after a period of time. It's obvious that desktops are not as portable as a laptop, but you'll get plenty of benefits especially for PC gaming (there are mini PCs but that's besides the point, given that they are not often paired with a monitor portable enough for it). Oh, and if you're one of those who specialize in customizations and PC builds, desktops are often the choice to show off your artistry and engineering. Seeing gaming desktops look like alien spaceships is one of the coolest things ever.

Do you still own/use a desktop computer for gaming? Will you plan to stick with a desktop or plan for a more mobile setup? On the other hand, will you consider a desktop in the future for gaming? Tell us about it in the comments below!

SOURCES:

1. EarthWeb: "How Many People Use Laptops in 2025?" (2023) by Jason Wise - https://earthweb.com/blog/laptop-users/

2. HighSpeedInternet.net: "Desktop and Mobile Internet Usage Statistics - 2022" - https://www.highspeedinternet.net/desktop-and-mobile-internet-usage-statistics/

3. ExplodingTopics.com: "The Latest PC Gaming Statistics" (2025) [2024] by Fabio Duarte - https://explodingtopics.com/blog/pc-gaming-stats

Kris Caballero

Founder of KCU Network and KCU Plus, Kris has been writing since he managed a personal blog made back in late 2005. Officially back to doing computer programming (software development) and video production, Kris enjoys reading books on Mathematics, Quantum Computing, Philosophy, playing old video/DOS games, digital video archiving, and listening to sports, public radio and classical music.

👤 About me ✉ Contact me