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Gamers Are Throwing Double the Cash at Game Remakes Than Remasters, Says New Study
November 4, 2025Players spent over twice as much money on video game remakes compared to remasters in the past two years. New research by Ampere Analysis tracked $1.4 billion in spending from 72.4 million players across Xbox, PlayStation, and Steam, making it clear where gamers are happiest to open their wallets.
The most striking stat: remakes aren’t just winning, they’re crushing remasters. According to the data (January 2024 through September 2025), the average remake brought in 2.2x the global consumer spend of the average remaster. That’s not a small gap. It’s a tidal wave worth millions for studios banking on nostalgia.
Remakes Mean New Life (And Big Budgets) for Old Favorites
Dig deeper, and you’ll see that the surge in remake spending isn’t just down to old franchises coasting on name value. Remakes require developers to go all in, with bigger investments in development, longer timelines, and larger marketing campaigns. Ampere points out that remakes “require substantially higher investment in development, marketing, and time.” In return, they can attract both die-hard fans and fresh audiences who never played the original.
Remasters, on the other hand, are the cheap and cheerful option: faster to make, cheaper to ship, and usually meant to bring a classic title to new platforms with minimal tweaks. But they typically see “less engagement” from players. It’s a quick win, not a blockbuster. As Ampere’s report says, a remaster might get a classic back onto shelves, but the cash and excitement don’t match up to full-scale remakes.
That doesn’t mean remasters never catch fire. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered proves you can still hit it big. This title racked up $180 million in consumer spending and landed 7 million monthly active users across all major platforms.
Choosing Between a Remake and a Remaster Is a Tightrope Walk
Behind every revamped classic, there’s a mix of business calculation and creative risk-taking. As Katie Holt, Senior Analyst at Ampere Analysis, explains, publishers aren’t just picking at random. The call between giving a game the full remake treatment or a simple remaster depends on franchise strategy, investment risk, the age of the original, and platform support.
“As games and IP development costs escalate, publishers are increasingly raiding their back catalogues for cost-effective remakes and remasters,” Holt says. But with remakes demanding more time and money up front, the potential payoff, and danger, are both higher.
The message is clear: gamers will show up (and pay up) if a classic gets the right care and a fresh coat of paint. But not every re-release is a guaranteed fortune. Where publishers aim their dollars makes all the difference, and, for now, remakes are where the smart money’s going.
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