Methodology // v3.3 // 3 August 2026
The ranking, explained.
All verified hours published by Hours.gg are verified hours from released board evidence, scoped to the exact released board shown. The methodology documents how source-reviewed evidence becomes immutable public snapshots.
Steam verifies game hours. Players report the gear they use. Hours brings those together so you can compare gear choices with the players’ game experience in view.
Reading a ranking
The hours belong to the player.
Verified playtime backs each product’s position. It does not establish device-use duration, ownership or skill. Compare fit and features before choosing gear for yourself.
the measure
What the hours mean
Verified game playtime backs players’ gear selections. It does not measure how long they used the device.
Each game board ranks the most-used gear among Hours.gg's verified players in the named game, category and snapshot, measured in verified player hours. Each player names one main per game and category, and their verified hours in that exact game back that main.
All ranking hours are verified, real playtime from real players. That playtime is scoped to the named board. Position 1 has the most verified hours behind it. The hours do not measure physical device-use time, a player count, sales or skill.
- Verified Playtime
- Verified, real game playtime backing players’ selections of a product within the ranking shown.
- Saved ranking version
- The product order, hours total, methodology version and update date saved together. Changes create a new version.
ranking versions
Each ranking has a saved version
Each ranking identifies its game and category, method, saved version and ranking update date.
Each displayed Verified Playtime total contains only verified, real playtime from real players. Its saved ranking version records the game and category covered, the method used and the last data update.
A saved ranking keeps its original values. Corrections create a new version, and the earlier version remains available.
This guide explains the method in version 3.3. A ranking’s downloadable data also identifies its exact rules, such as Methodology v4.1, and any category eligibility revision. These version labels describe different parts of the method; they do not change the hours shown.
A reviewed correction may change a later release, but the prior snapshot and its citation remain available as a historical record.
- The methodology and snapshot ID identify totals made only from verified, real playtime.
- Public ranking pages expose Verified Playtime, order, scope, and citation data only.
- A board value never creates a person, owner, adopter, or setup count.
- A change to the game or category covered is reviewed and recorded in a new version.
what is included
Check the game and category
Read the games and products covered before comparing totals from different pages.
All ranking hours published by Hours.gg are verified, real playtime from real players, scoped to the exact released board shown. Verified Playtime describes verified, real playtime from real players behind the ranking, not a product-use timer.
A game ranking covers the named game and gear category. A guide may compare qualifying products across several games; read that guide’s explanation to see which games and product requirements it includes. A product filter does not establish a separate group of players or a different period of playtime.
A saved ranking records the hours total, product order, methodology version and ranking update date together.
The ranking describes the most-used gear among Hours.gg's verified players in its named game, category and snapshot. Verified game hours do not measure device-use duration, sales figures or player skill, and this population is not a census of every player.
- Every public ranking hour is verified, real playtime from real players—not product-use duration.
- Game boards rank the most-used gear among Hours.gg's verified players in the named game, category and snapshot; they are not an all-player census or a sales figure.
- Verified Playtime does not establish skill, expertise, credibility, or worth.
- A ranking explains its totals without revealing private account records.
reading the numbers
Hours and player counts are different
A ranking’s verified, real-playtime total never implies a player, owner, adopter, or setup count.
Public totals show verified, real playtime in hours. Scope, methodology version, data cutoff, and snapshot identity explain where that playtime applies.
A record is never silently merged, split, or relabelled as a headcount or market-uptake measure.
publication
What we check before publishing
Scope, order, verified real-playtime totals, methodology, and citation must agree before a ranking can be released.
A release is published only when its page scope, product order, verified real-playtime total, methodology, snapshot identity, and citation all agree.
These public rules define the material that a ranking must carry. A missing or inconsistent field blocks publication.
Verified, Real Playtime
Released board snapshot
Exact board, snapshot, material timestamp, method link, unit, and approved wording.
Board scope
Released page manifest
Exact page, category, optional game, canonical URL, method version, and snapshot ID.
Verified Playtime correction
Later reviewed release
Attributable reason, complete validation, new snapshot, material-change time, and retained prior citation.
corrections
What happens when a ranking changes
You can still cite an earlier version after a reviewed correction is published.
A reviewed correction creates a new release with a new snapshot identity and material-change time. It never silently rewrites the Verified Playtime in an already released snapshot.
A correction states what changed and what remained fixed. Rendering a snapshot again without a material change does not create a new update.
missing information
Incomplete rankings stay unavailable
If we cannot provide a complete, consistent ranking, we show it as unavailable.
A ranking is unavailable unless its published data is complete, consistent, approved and active. Missing verified playtime does not become a displayed zero.
- Ranking information
- Product order, verified real-playtime total, saved data and page versions, data cutoff, citation and ranking update date.
- Permanent source link
- A permanent link to the saved ranking and methodology used by the page.
- Ranking update date
- The last genuine data or method change, kept separate from a generated timestamp.
- Unavailable state
- A clear explanation that the ranking is unavailable, without invented totals or product recommendations.
- Visible copy and structured data use the same Verified Playtime definition.
- A generated timestamp cannot create a freshness claim.
- Equal Verified Playtime totals use a deterministic versioned order without exposing private inputs or controls.
- Payment is not an input to rank.