📊 How Many Retro Video Games Are There? Stats & Trivia (1970–2000)
Published by RetroTrivia.Games — May 16, 2025
While building the quiz generator for my web-based trivia game, I pulled down retro gaming data from IGDB — and the numbers were honestly more surprising than I expected.
Between 1970 and 2000, only 26,084 retail games were released globally. After 2000? That number exploded to 157,000+.
Let’s dig into how game releases were distributed across decades, platforms, and styles — and what makes the retro gaming era so iconic in comparison.
Note: This count includes only main games (IGDB category = 0). It does not include remakes, remasters, DLC, expansions, bundles, ports, or mods — just standalone retail releases.
📅 Game Releases by Decade
| Decade | Games Released |
|---|---|
| 1970s | 604 |
| 1980s | 8,263 |
| 1990s | 15,432 |
| Total (1970–1999) | 24,299 |
| + Year 2000 | 1,785 |
| Full Retro Total | 26,084 |
This chart shows the dramatic growth in game releases per decade — a trend that defines the rise of the modern gaming industry.
🎮 Top Retro Platforms (1970–2000)
Some platforms dominated the retro era. Here's a look at the top 15 by number of games released:
- PC / Home Computers – 9,192
- Commodore 64 / Amiga – 3,925
- PlayStation – 3,455
- Arcade – 2,129
- Other Atari – 1,801
- NES – 1,198
- ZX Spectrum – 1,105
- Super Famicom – 957
- Amstrad CPC – 875
- Apple II – 836
- SEGA Saturn – 830
- MSX – 693
- SNES – 632
- PC-9800 Series – 610
- Family Computer – 559
PC and home computer platforms dominated the retro era in volume — but consoles like the NES and PlayStation carved out huge cultural impact with fewer releases.
🧠 Trivia Break
Let’s test your retro gaming memory. No pressure — the answers are right here 😉
- The Legend of Zelda debuted on February 20, 1986.
- NES had more releases than the SNES — 1,198 vs. 632.
- The most active platform of the 1980s? The Commodore 64 / Amiga, with 2,538 releases.
💾 My First Game Machine Was a Commodore 64
I actually had a Commodore 64 as my first computer. At the time, I really wanted a Nintendo — but my dad talked me into getting a computer instead. I wasn't thrilled... until I started playing games on it.
It ended up shaping my life. I played constantly, tried (and failed) to make games, and eventually realized how much I loved working with computers. That led me into tech support, then networking, then .NET web development, and now I'm building my own apps and tools over 20 years later.
So yeah — the C64 rocks. It’s more than nostalgia for me. It’s where it all started.
🎮 Top Genres by Decade
Ever wonder what kinds of games were most popular in each era? Here's a quick breakdown based on actual release data:
🕹️ 1970s
- Arcade – 152
- Shooter – 71
- Sport – 54
- Racing – 36
- Strategy – 34
🕹️ 1980s
- Arcade – 2,198
- Shooter – 1,363
- Adventure – 946
- Platform – 673
- Puzzle – 463
🕹️ 1990s
- Adventure – 2,493
- Shooter – 1,546
- Sport – 1,536
- Puzzle – 1,475
- Simulator – 1,362
From the golden age of arcades to the rise of deep single-player adventures, the data shows how player tastes shifted with the times.
This stacked chart shows how genre preferences evolved from the arcade-heavy '80s to the adventure-driven '90s.
💬 Final Thoughts
So how many retro games are there? The answer: 26,084 — a small slice of total gaming history, but a massive influence on everything that came after.
If you love retro gaming, try out our daily challenges and blog posts. Let’s keep retro alive — one trivia question at a time.
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