The Daily Populous Tuesday November 4th, 2025 morning edition
Authored by videogameschronicle.com and submitted by Darth_Vaper883

Video game consumers spent twice as much on remakes as remasters in the last two years, according to new research by Ampere Analysis.

According to research, video game remakes and remasters released across 2024 and 2025 attracted 72.4 million players across Xbox, PlayStation, and Steam, with these consumers spending some $1.4bn on premium full games and microtransactions.

Notably, Ampere found that across 42 titles examined (15 remakes and 27 remasters released between January 2024 and September 2025), global spending on an average remake was more than twice that of the average remaster at 2.2x.

However, Ampere acknowledges that while the data suggests remakes can rejuvenate classic IP and attract new audiences, “they require substantially higher investment in development, marketing, and time.”

Remasters, by contrast, “offer faster turnaround and lower cost — but generally deliver less engagement,” it says.

There are some notable exceptions, according to the research, such as The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, which reached a peak of $180 million in consumer spending, and 7 million monthly active users across PlayStation, Xbox, and Steam.

Katie Holt, Senior Analyst at Ampere Analysis, said: “As games and IP development costs escalate, publishers are increasingly raiding their back catalogues for cost-effective remakes and remasters.

“Publishers deciding between a full remake versus a remaster have to balance franchise planning, investment risk, age of content, platform support, and more when choosing which route to take.”

WordNERD37 on November 3rd, 2025 at 14:25 UTC »

Remake: Take the original game and reimagine the experience with current gen graphics and tech, updated gameplay, music and even the opportunity to include new things that complement the original without upending it.

Remaster: The original game with uprezed graphics and remastered sound and music. Your nostalgia rose tinted glasses don't always stand up to the test of time. Current day advancements overwhelm what was considered peak (x) years/decades ago.

It's not universal, but yeah, the remake is a total new experience of what came before.

DerGrundzurAnnahme on November 3rd, 2025 at 14:05 UTC »

I think often times games are already ‚remastered‘ by the modding community. So maybe a lot of people dont dish out money for something they can already do for free

Arubiano420 on November 3rd, 2025 at 13:38 UTC »

Well of course. Remasters are usually pretty underwhelming.