The most popular genres of the last 35 years

The most popular video game genres have changed over the last 35 years — and shooters occupy less market space than you'd think.

Reddit user NcikVGG datamined 24,000 games that released since 1975 in an effort to gauge how gaming preferences have shifted annually. This first chart tracks the number of titles in each genre per year. Although shooters are probably the most purchased type, they comprise a smaller portion of the overall market. In other words, fewer shooters are made today than action or strategy games, for instance.

You can also see how big arcade games were in the early years compared to today, but role-playing games have remained relatively prevalent despite changing tastes. Scrolling and platform games were much bigger in the '90s, and puzzle games have exploded in recent years, likely due to the rise of smartphones.

NcikVGG also measured game releases per system over the last four decades.

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[Game Informer]