Ampere Analysis (via VGC) reports that across 2024–2025, players spent more than twice as much on remakes as on remasters. The study counts 72.4 million players across Xbox, PlayStation, and Steam interacting with remakes/remasters over the last two years, generating about $1.4 billion in full-game purchases and microtransactions. Remasters delivered “faster turnaround and lower cost,” but lower engagement overall.
Ampere’s sample covered 42 titles shipped between Jan 2024 and Sept 2025 (15 remakes, 27 remasters) and found that the average consumer spend on a remake was 2.2 times that of a remaster. A notable outlier on the remaster side was The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered, which peaked at about $180 million in consumer spend and seven million monthly active users across PlayStation, Xbox, and Steam.
Two recent examples that further support this claim are Konami’s Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater and Silent Hill 2. After crossing 2 million in its first few months, Konami recently touted 2.5 million shipments and digital sales for the latter roughly a year on – evidence that premium horror remakes can keep momentum beyond launch spikes.
Meanwhile, Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater illustrates how modern remakes can sell more than nostalgia: new tech (UE5), revised controls, and feature updates aim to re-present a classic with contemporary expectations. It sold over one million copies on its launch day alone.
Bottom line: Players aren’t just buying memories, they’re buying modern experiences built on old blueprints. When a remake rewrites the feel, not just the resolution, it earns time spent and dollars that a remaster typically can’t.
