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19 September 2025

I wonder how much bypassing TPM requirements will affect this.

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Amidst a more positive prediction that, compared to 2024, the global PC gaming hardware market “will grow 35% in 2025 to $44.5 billion”, Jon Peddie Research also foresees a “significant decrease in entry-level PC gaming over the next five years.”

Dr. Jon Peddie, the research centre’s president, explains: “We are forecasting a significant decrease in entry-level PC gaming over the next five years, with a projected reduction of the entry-level PC gamer population by approximately 13%. Included in this drop are over 10 million people leaving the PC platform entirely. Consoles, handhelds, and mobile all offer compelling value for the budget-limited gamer.”
It’s not all down to people upping and leaving, though: “A few million entry-level defectors are not actually leaving the PC platform but are migrating to the more expensive hardware tiers of midrange and high-end PC hardware.”

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JPR seems to put at least some of this down to the impending ending of support for Windows 10:

“Never before in the history of the Microsoft Windows operating system has there been a forced hardware migration requirement. And this cannot be solved by swapping out a graphics card. It requires a CPU upgrade for over 100 million gamers, which, in turn, requires a motherboard upgrade and most likely RAM as well.

The RTX 5060 is a modern ‘entry-level’ graphics card. (Image credit: Future)
“We are observing that most PC gamers are simply buying new prebuilt systems. The DIY gamers are also prepared for this transition, and many have been building new computers alongside their existing Windows 10 PCs, instead of trying to Frankenstein their current systems. This allows them to continue using their PC until their Windows 11 builds are complete.”
JPR is here referring to the fact that Windows 11 has stricter hardware requirements than Windows 10. Windows 11 officially requires TPM 2.0, something that only relatively newer CPUs and motherboards support, which gives an additional layer of hardware- or firmware-level security.

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As such, those who are using an old system with Windows 10 installed will have to upgrade their entire hardware platform if they want to upgrade in an official and standard way to Windows 11 and keep their OS up to date.
These older systems will, by today’s standards, most likely be entry-level ones. This is why JPR predicts a “significant decrease” in gaming on such systems, as many who feel forced to upgrade to get onto Windows 11 will “migrate to the more expensive hardware tiers of midrange and high-end PC hardware.”

A high-end, modern gaming PC with an RTX 5080. (Image credit: Future)
Much depends on how we’re defining “entry-level”, “midrange”, and “high-end” here, of course. In the current market, even with many GPU prices seeming to return to MSRP, it’s hard not to grimace at calling any piece of current-gen or previous-gen hardware “entry-level.” Still, that’s the reality.
It’s worth noting, though, that Windows 10 gamers don’t have to upgrade their hardware to get onto Windows 11. You can just modify the Windows 11 install file a little to skip the TPM requirement check, or edit a couple of registry keys to the same effect. I’m not sure whether JPR has accounted for the possibility that some Windows 10 gamers might do that.
Whatever the case, the forecast for the overall PC hardware market outlook is good: Up from less than $34 billion in 2024 to over $44 billion in 2025, $46 billion in 2026, and then around those $44–46 billion levels for the couple of years thereafter. That’s much better than it going the other way.

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Hardware Writer

Jacob got his hands on a gaming PC for the first time when he was about 12 years old. He swiftly realised the local PC repair store had ripped him off with his build and vowed never to let another soul build his rig again. With this vow, Jacob the hardware junkie was born. Since then, Jacob’s led a double-life as part-hardware geek, part-philosophy nerd, first working as a Hardware Writer for PCGamesN in 2020, then working towards a PhD in Philosophy for a few years while freelancing on the side for sites such as TechRadar, Pocket-lint, and yours truly, PC Gamer. Eventually, he gave up the ruthless mercenary life to join the world’s #1 PC Gaming site full-time. It’s definitely not an ego thing, he assures us.

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Windows 95, arguably the first PC gaming OS, is still being used… to sort eggs in Germany

Final Fantasy 14 warns players that it’s time for an upgrade as Microsoft gears up to end support for Windows 10: ‘Support for this operating system is a difficult proposition’

When Microsoft finally pulls the plug on Windows 10 its successor will be four years old, and for three of those, it was never the OS of choice amongst Steam users

Microsoft yanks the plug on Windows 11 SE, giving school and college IT techs a little over a year to find a suitable replacement

The end is probably nigh for full Windows driver support for GTX 10, 9 and 7 Series graphics cards as Nvidia announces that its next major Linux driver fork will be its last for those GPUs

Nvidia says it’s game over come October for GTX 10, 9 and 7-series graphics cards driver support but RTX owners running Windows 10 are getting an extra year of grace

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