A global gaming audience survey in the fourth quarter of 2020 found that 47 percent of Nintendo Switch gamers were also Nintendo Switch Online service users, and a further 16 percent of Switch gamers were interested in purchasing the service over the next 12 months. Only Xbox Live was more popular, with a 48 percent subscription rate among Xbox gaming audiences. Subscription services on consoles are essential for online multiplayer games but largely optional for single player gamers.
Steam, which is not a gaming subscription, is one of the biggest marketplaces for digital PC gamers. However, Steam has a comparatively low usage rate of 22 percent among global PC gaming audiences, highlighting the wide selection of similar platforms that PC gamers are able to chose from.