Video Game Remakes and Remasters Statistics (2017–2026)

Mining the back catalogue has become one of the safest bets in gaming, and by 2026 the numbers behind the nostalgia boom are impossible to ignore. Remakes and remasters drew roughly 138 million downloads in 2025 alone, and premium spending on recent releases has crossed the billion-dollar mark, even as the wider industry pushed past $200 billion for the first time. This page collects the verifiable figures a journalist needs to write about the remake economy. Free to use with a link back to ShaneTheGamer as the source.

Key Takeaways for Journalists

• ~138 million downloads in 2025. Sensor Tower recorded roughly 138 million downloads of remakes and remasters worldwide in 2025, split into around 60 million remakes and 78 million remasters.
• $1.4 billion in premium spend. Across 42 titles released January 2024–September 2025, Ampere Analysis found remakes and remasters attracted 72.4 million players and about $1.4 billion in consumer spending on Xbox, PlayStation and Steam.
• Remakes earn 2.2× more than remasters. Ampere found global spending on the average remake was 2.2 times that of the average remaster over 2024–2025.
• Resident Evil 4 leads the generation. Alinea Analytics puts the RE4 remake at about 16.8 million lifetime units, more than double any other current-gen remake.
• Oblivion Remastered was 2025’s breakout. Ampere reported a peak of $180 million in consumer spending and 7 million monthly active users at launch in April 2025.
• Nostalgia drives demand. An MTM/Rigour survey of 1,500 US/UK players found 90% had played a remake or remaster and 85% had played one without touching the original.
• A crowded, low-risk strategy. Over 200 remakes and remasters have shipped since 2012, with around 30 planned in 2025 alone as publishers hedge against rising new-IP costs.
• 2026 pipeline is stacked. Confirmed or dated 2026 remakes include Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis, Dragon Quest VII Reimagined, and an Ocarina of Time remake for Switch 2.

The Scale of the Remake Economy

The remake-and-remaster wave has moved from a niche revenue supplement to a core publishing strategy. According to Sensor Tower’s State of Gaming 2026 report, remakes and remasters were downloaded 138 million times in 2025, split into roughly 60 million remake downloads and 78 million remaster downloads. That volume sits inside a record year for the medium — the global games market generated $201.6 billion in consumer spending in 2025, crossing $200 billion for the first time, up 9.1% year on year, according to Newzoo’s Q4 Global Games Market Report.

On the premium-spend side, market researcher Ampere Analysis put hard numbers on the trend. Video game remakes and remasters released across 2024 and 2025 attracted 72.4 million players across Xbox, PlayStation and Steam, with those consumers spending some $1.4 billion on premium full games and microtransactions. Ampere is explicit that its activity data has not been deduplicated, so the same user may be counted multiple times if they are playing several games — a caveat worth flagging in any story that cites the player figure.

Why the surge? Ampere senior analyst Katie Holt frames it as a cost calculation. As games and IP development costs escalate, publishers are increasingly raiding their back catalogues for cost-effective remakes and remasters. The wider strategic logic is that from the developers’ and publishers’ perspective, creating a remake or remaster carries lower risks, as there’s already an established audience, whereas launching new IPs at modern development budgets is a challenging endeavor. For the broader market context these figures sit within, see our gaming industry statistics.

Remakes vs. Remasters: The Spending Gap

The central finding of Ampere’s 2025 analysis is that players open their wallets more widely for full rebuilds than for polished-up ports. 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. The trade-off is investment: while remakes can rejuvenate classic titles and attract new audiences, they require substantially higher investment in development, marketing and time, whereas remasters offer faster turnaround and lower cost but generally deliver less engagement.

Download volume, however, tilts the other way. Sensor Tower’s data shows remasters out-downloaded remakes in 2025 (78 million to 60 million) — a reminder that cheaper, quicker upgrades still capture huge audiences, especially when bundled into subscription services. Delta Force led remakes by downloads at 14.5 million, while GTA V Enhanced topped the units chart at 13.1 million, followed by Oblivion Remastered at 8.03 million and ARK: Survival Ascended at 4.35 million.

Oblivion Remastered is the standout — and the messiest to classify. Ampere calls it the report’s biggest outlier because it is more of a mixture of remaster and remake, given the many adjustments and improvements already made. Its scale was extraordinary: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered reached a peak of $180 million in consumer spending and 7 million monthly active users across PlayStation, Xbox and Steam when it launched in April 2025.

The Best-Selling Remakes of the Generation

Capcom’s Resident Evil 4 remake is the runaway commercial leader. According to Alinea Analytics, the Resident Evil 4 remake has reached lifetime sales of about 16.8 million units across PC and console — though the firm notes recent discounting is a factor, and Capcom’s own reported figure was 13.6 million units as of March 31, 2026. Capcom had earlier confirmed the RE4 remake had sold over 9 million copies worldwide as of December 19, 2024, underscoring how a deep-discount long tail keeps these titles selling for years.

Behind it, the field is tighter. Alinea’s ranking places The Last of Us Part 1 third with 6.3 million lifetime sales, Oblivion Remastered at 4.5 million, Dead Space at 4.3 million, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth at 4.2 million, and Bloober Team’s Silent Hill 2 remake at 3.2 million. Konami’s Silent Hill 2 has been a critical and commercial success: it sold through 3.2 million copies, grossing $170 million, and its inclusion on PlayStation Plus (adding 2.4 million players) and Xbox Game Pass (adding 3.8 million players) pushed total player counts past 13 million across the three platforms.

A recurring theme is that revivals frequently eclipse the games they revisit. Industry trackers note that Oblivion Remastered sold more copies in its first month than the original sold in 15 months, and that historic hits like the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy reached 20 million copies worldwide by 2024. For franchises stretching back decades — Final Fantasy VII has now sold more than 15.1 million copies of the original as of June 2025 — remakes function as both a new revenue stream and a marketing engine for the whole series.

What Players Actually Want

Consumer research consistently shows a receptive audience. A study by consultancy MTM with Rigour Research surveyed 1,500 US and UK players and found that 90% of respondents had played a remake or remaster, 76% enjoyed the experience, and only 7% were dissatisfied. Crucially for publishers eyeing new generations, 85% had played a remake or remaster without playing the original, and 67% believe remakes and remasters are the best way to play old games.

Motivation is overwhelmingly emotional. For 80% of players, remakes and remasters are about comfort and nostalgia, and 78% love them for the chance to replay favorite games. But that goodwill comes with pricing expectations: 26% are willing to pay the same price as a new game, 48% expect lower pricing, 20% want them significantly cheaper, and 6% expect not to pay at all via subscriptions. Timing matters too — most of the audience (71%) considers a 5-to-10-year gap between original and remake optimal.

The 2026 Pipeline

Momentum shows no sign of slowing. Roughly 30 remakes and remasters were planned for 2025 alone, part of the 200-plus released since 2012, and 2026’s slate is arguably heavier still. Confirmed or dated projects include Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, Dragon Quest III HD-2D, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Gothic 1, Max Payne 1 & 2, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Ubisoft has attached a broad 2026 release window to the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake, making it one of the few long-delayed remakes with a currently announced target.

The reveals kept coming through 2026’s showcase season. Square Enix’s reimagined Dragon Quest VII lands February 5 with updated graphics, quality-of-life enhancements and a revamped battle system, while Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis reimagines the original 1996 game to mark the franchise’s 30th anniversary. Perhaps the biggest surprise: Nintendo confirmed a remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, described as the Nintendo 64 classic returning “reborn exclusively for Nintendo Switch 2” in 2026. Sensor Tower expects the trend to continue well into the future, with a deep bench of horror and RPG classics still awaiting the treatment. For the streaming and creator angle on these launches, see our Twitch statistics.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many remakes and remasters were downloaded in 2025?

Sensor Tower recorded roughly 138 million downloads of remakes and remasters worldwide in 2025 — about 60 million remakes and 78 million remasters.

Do players spend more on remakes or remasters?

According to Ampere Analysis, the average remake generated about 2.2 times the consumer spending of the average remaster across 2024–2025.

What is the best-selling video game remake of this generation?

The Resident Evil 4 remake, at roughly 16.8 million lifetime units per Alinea Analytics (Capcom’s own reported figure was 13.6 million as of March 31, 2026).

How much did remakes and remasters earn recently?

Ampere Analysis found 42 titles released between January 2024 and September 2025 drew 72.4 million players and about $1.4 billion in premium spending across Xbox, PlayStation and Steam.

What are the biggest remakes coming in 2026?

Confirmed or dated 2026 remakes include Dragon Quest VII Reimagined, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis, Max Payne 1 & 2, and an Ocarina of Time remake for Nintendo Switch 2.

Methodology & Sourcing

This page compiles figures from analytics firms (Ampere Analysis, Sensor Tower, Alinea Analytics, Circana), publisher disclosures (Capcom, Square Enix), consumer surveys (MTM/Rigour Research) and reputable trade press, reported between 2024 and mid-2026. Numbers are not directly comparable across sources: Ampere’s player counts are not deduplicated and cover only Xbox, PlayStation and Steam; Sensor Tower’s download totals span additional storefronts; and third-party sales estimates (e.g. Alinea) can diverge from publisher-reported figures, as the Resident Evil 4 discrepancy illustrates. Where a title blurs the remake/remaster line (notably Oblivion Remastered), we have noted the caveat. Sales and download figures are living numbers that shift with discounts and subscription inclusions; treat all forward-looking release windows as subject to change.

Sources

• Ampere Analysis — remakes & remasters report (2025)
• Sensor Tower — State of Gaming 2026
• Alinea Analytics — top remakes/remasters by copies sold (2026)
• Newzoo — Global Games Market Report, Q4 2025 update
• Capcom — official sales disclosures (2024–2026)
• Square Enix — Final Fantasy VII sales data (2025)
• MTM & Rigour Research — player attitudes survey (2025)
• Circana (Mat Piscatella) — US market commentary (2025)
• Video Games Chronicle, GameSpot, Game Informer, GamesRadar+ — trade press reporting (2025–2026)

Spotted a newer figure or an error? Contact the ShaneTheGamer desk and we will update this page.