Baldur’s Gate 3 boasts impressive average playtime of 100 hours on Steam: how it compares to other RPGs

According to Larian director of publishing Michael Douse, Steam players spend over 100 hours in Baldur’s Gate 3 on average. He called this stat “wild,” adding that “I really wanna meet the people pushing that average up.”

This includes all users who have ever played BG3 on Valve’s platform, whether they beat it or not.

It is unclear how much the game averages on consoles, but the number is still really impressive. Also keep in mind that the median playtime would be a more representative metric since it takes the middle value and is not affected by outliers (i.e. the data is less skewed).

The average playtime for bg3 according to Steam is over 100 hours, which is wild. I really wanna meet the people pushing that average up!

— Very AFK (@Cromwelp) June 4, 2024

The 100 hours average playtime is in line with data from VG Insights, which estimates it at 91.6 hours (the median is 59 hours). So we could use the platform to compare Baldur’s Gate 3 to other RPGs on Steam.

Average playtime for popular RPGs on Steam

Note: Below are 20 popular single-player titles using CRPG or RPG tags on Steam (whether some of them are true role-playing games or not is a topic for a whole other debate). The playtime metric are VG Insights’ estimates, which are usually quite accurate, but may not be 100% correct due to a lack of official data from devs. We don’t use HowLongToBeat here because it indicates the average duration of a single playthrough, not the playtime.

1. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim — 118.7 hours (median is 50.9 hours), average/median playtime for the Special Edition is 76/20.6 hours;
2. Elden Ring — 103.1 hours (median is 78.2 hours);
3. Fallout 4 — 92.6 hours (median is 30.5 hours);
4. Baldur’s Gate 3 — 91.6 hours (median is 59 hours);
5. Dark Souls III — 81.9 hours (median is 36.7 hours);
6. Dark Souls II — 77.9 hours (median is 43.8 hours);
7. Cyberpunk 2077 — 75.6 hours (median is 48.4 hours);
8. Divinity: Original Sin 2 — 73.3 hours (median is 36.9 hours);
9. Kenshi — 69.8 hours (median is 14 hours);
10. Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous — 64.7 hours (median is 13.6 hours);
11. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — 62.7 hours (median is 15.9 hours);
12. Starfield — 58 hours (median is 35.2 hours);
13. Persona 5 Royal — 57.7 hours (median is 32.2 hours);
14. Fallout: New Vegas — 56.6 hours (median is 16.3 hours);
15. Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth — 56.2 hours (median is 52.5 hours);
16. Mass Effect Legendary Edition — 54.2 hours (median is 14.9 hours). Average/median for original games: ME1 — 21.7/9.8 hours, ME2 — 33.3/21.6 hours, ME3 — 25.1/20 hours;
17. Pathfinder: Kingmaker — 52.6 hours (median is 14.2 hours);
18. Dark Souls (Prepare To Die Edition) — 50.9 hours (median is 15.6 hours);
19. Granblue Fantasy: Relink — 49.1 hours (median is 29 hours);
20. Persona 4 Golden — 44.7 hours (median is 19 hours).

A shorter playtime doesn’t indicate the game’s quality, as different titles may have different replay value and some games may basically have less content. And if an RPG puts a lot of emphasis on multiplayer, players will also spend more time in it. We tried not to include such titles here (e.g. Diablo, Path of Exile) — games like BG3 or Elden Ring may have co-op or online features, but they are still predominantly single-player.

Skyrim’s impressive numbers are not surprising, given the game’s replayability and longevity (thanks in large part to its modding community). Interestingly, BG3 is above all other CRPGs on the list in terms of both average and median playtime.

When looking at stats for Beamdog’s remasters of classic Baldur’s Gate games, BG1 and BGII have the average playtime of 22.6 and 20.9 hours respectively. However, we think this data is not very representative, especially when compared with Baldur’s Gate 3. Many people likely played through the original titles long before their Enhanced Editions launched on Steam (hence the relatively low median playtime of 4 and 2.5 hours respectively). This is also true for most old RPGs and their remasters, such as Planescape: Torment, Neverwinter Nights, or Icewind Dale.

Another observation: From Software has four games in the top 20 (Elden Ring, Dark Souls 1-3), followed by Bethesda with three (Skyrim, Fallout 4, Starfield). Larian Studios (BG3, Divinity: Original Sin 1-2), CD Projekt (Cyberpunk 2077, The Witcher 3), Owlcat Games (Pathfinder series), and Atlus (Persona series) each have two titles.

This means there are plenty of players spending hundreds of hours in games made by these studios. And it will be interesting to see the number of users with 1,000+ hours!

And here are some other titles with RPG or CRPG tags on Steam with impressive playtime:

• Yakuza: Like a Dragon — 44 hours (median is 31.7 hours);
• Kingdom Come: Deliverance — 42.8 hours (median is 18.8 hours);
• Persona 3 Reload — 40.2 hours (median is 26.8 hours);
• Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader — 38.6 hours (median is 17.5 hours);
• Solasta: Crown of the Magister — 37.5 hours (median is 14.7 hours);
• Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire — 37.4 hours (median is 11.5 hours);
• Dragon Age: Origins — 35.8 hours (median is 9.2 hours);
• Pillars of Eternity — 35 hours (median is 11.2 hours);
• Final Fantasy XV — 32.8 hours (14.2 hours);
• Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster — 30.8 hours (median is 10.2 hours);
• Divinity: Original Sin (Enhanced Edition) — 30.4 hours (median is 9.5 hours);
• Tales Of Arise — 30.2 hours (median is 20.8 hours);
• Dragon’s Dogma 2 — 29.4 hours (median is 18.1 hours);
• Wasteland 3 — 28.4 hours (median is 12.3 hours);
• Dragon Age: Inquisition — 26.5 hours (median is 5.4 hours);
• Final Fantasy VII Remake — 21.6 hours (median is 12.4 hours);
• The Outer Worlds — 20.4 hours (median is 13.4 hours);
• South Park The Fractured But Whole — 19 hours (median is 12.6 hours);
• Tyranny — 17.3 hours (median is 6.1 hours);
• Disco Elysium — 16.9 hours (median is 6.6 hours).