HowLongtoBeat
HowLongToBeat is a community-driven web platform that aggregates crowdsourced video game completion times across 91K+ titles and 8.5M+ playthroughs, serving individual gamers researching purchase decisions and managing their gaming backlogs, and operating as a brand of IGN Entertainment (Ziff Davis).
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2011
- HeadquartersLos Angeles, United States
- Headcount—
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
What HowLongtoBeat does
HowLongToBeat is a Los Angeles-based, community-driven web platform that aggregates crowdsourced completion times for video games, allowing users to look up how long titles take to beat across Main Story, Main + Extra, and Completionist play styles. The platform catalogues 91K+ game releases backed by 8.5M+ user-contributed playthrough records and provides personal backlog management tools including custom lists (backlog, wishlist, completed, retired), per-user statistics, reviews, and Steam library import for one-click catalog population. Supplementary products include Site Statistics (genre and platform breakdowns, longest/shortest games), an active multi-category forum, and 'HowLongToBeat: The Game' — a 2026-launched daily round-based guessing game that layers engagement mechanics on top of the dataset.
The business is owned and operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a Ziff Davis subsidiary, and is distributed globally as a free web property at howlongtobeat.com with no dedicated mobile apps. Revenue is generated primarily through display advertising against gaming-skewed traffic, supplemented by cross-promotion of the IGN Plus subscription as an ad-free experience; no HLTB-specific paid tiers are publicly disclosed. The go-to-market motion is community-led and organic — the company grows through SEO dominance on "how long to beat [game]" queries, word-of-mouth among gamers, and active forum and Discord engagement, rather than paid marketing. Partnerships with Steam, Xbox Game Pass, GOG.com, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and IGN wiki guides extend distribution and data flows into adjacent gaming ecosystems.
HowLongtoBeat firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- HowLongtoBeat
- Legal name
- HowLongtoBeat (operating as a brand of IGN Entertainment Inc.)
- Website
- https://howlongtobeat.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2011
- Operating status
- Operating
- Short description
- HowLongToBeat is a community-driven web platform that aggregates crowdsourced video game completion times across 91K+ titles and 8.5M+ playthroughs, serving individual gamers researching purchase decisions and managing their gaming backlogs, and operating as a brand of IGN Entertainment (Ziff Davis).
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
HowLongtoBeat industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Gaming Information Database
- NAICS
- Amusement Arcades (713120)
- SIC
- Retail-Hobby, Toy & Game Shops (5945)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Strategy Guides, Walkthroughs & How-To Content (MPAFAMAD)
Keywords
Where HowLongtoBeat is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Los Angeles
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
HowLongtoBeat business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Digital Commerce or Content
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Advertising: Site displays advertisements to generate revenue from its large gaming audience
- IGN Plus Subscription: Site promotes IGN Plus subscription for ad-free experience, suggesting cross-promotion with parent company subscription services
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Monthly | Free tier with basic access |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels5 records
HowLongtoBeat product offering
Product offeringCore offering
HowLongtoBeat is a crowdsourced online platform that provides video game completion time estimates across multiple play styles (Main Story, Main + Extra, Completionist, and Combined). The platform enables gamers to research game lengths before purchase, manage personal game backlogs with Steam library import, participate in community forums, and play a daily guessing game called HowLongToBeat: The Game. Users submit their own playthrough times to build a database of 91K+ game releases with 8.5M+ recorded playthroughs.
Product overview
HowLongtoBeat is a single unified platform offering community-driven video game completion time estimates. The core product is the game database where users can look up how long games take to complete across Main Story, Main + Extra, and Completionist play styles. The platform includes HowLongtoBeat: The Game (a daily guessing game), Game Library Management with Steam import, Site Statistics, and an Xbox Game Pass integration page. All features are integrated within the howlongtobeat.com platform rather than sold as separate modules.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- HowLongToBeat: The Game: A round-based daily guessing game where users estimate game completion times.
Products and services
- HowLongtoBeat Game Database Community-driven database of video game completion times offering time estimates across Main Story, Main + Extra, and Completionist play styles. Users can submit their own play times to build accuracy and search for games across 91K+ catalogued titles.
- HowLongToBeat: The Game Daily round-based guessing game where players estimate completion times for games, featuring power-ups, accuracy scoring, and competitive modes including Daily Challenge, Random, and Custom games. Players compete with the community for highest scores.
Quantifiable outcome
- 91K+ games catalogued with crowdsourced completion time data
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use HowLongtoBeat
Customer profileSegments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
HowLongtoBeat technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration8 records
Feature5 records
HowLongtoBeat partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- IGN Entertainment / Ziff DaviscoreHowLongToBeat is owned by IGN Entertainment Inc., a Ziff Davis company. The site displays IGN-powered wiki guides for games and promotes IGN Plus subscriptions. IGN provides content infrastructure and brand association.
- SteamcorePlatform allows users to import their Steam game library to automatically populate their backlog tracking system
- DiscordminorOfficial Discord community server with 292+ members online, integrated into the platform's social features
- GOG.comminorPlatform displays GOG DRM-free pricing links alongside Steam for game purchase options
Scale indicators9 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
HowLongtoBeat competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- PCGamingWiki: PCGamingWiki is a community-driven wiki focused on PC game fixes, settings, and playability — adjacent to HLTB's strategy guide and how-to content category, serving overlapping PC gaming audiences.
- SteamDB: SteamDB is a community database tracking Steam game data, prices, and player counts, overlapping with HLTB's Steam integration and game-database positioning for Steam-centric gamers.
- GG.deals: GG.deals is a game price comparison and deal aggregator that, like HLTB, helps users evaluate game purchases; both embed directly in the pre-purchase decision journey for gamers.
- Speedrun.com: Speedrun.com is the leading community platform for speedrunning leaderboards and completion time data, overlapping directly with HLTB's speedrun and time-tracking features for a subset of hardcore users.
Direct peers
- OpenCritic: OpenCritic aggregates critic reviews for video games and is part of the same purchase-decision moment as HLTB, serving the same gamer audience researching games before buying.
- TrueAchievements: TrueAchievements is a detailed Xbox achievement tracking site with comparable time-to-completion, completionist estimates, and community statistics for gamers tracking progress across a console ecosystem, mirroring HLTB's completionist orientation.
- RAWG: RAWG is a comprehensive video game database and personal collection tracker with backlog features and platform integrations, offering directly overlapping functionality with HLTB's game library management and database utility.
- Backloggd: Backloggd is a direct competitor to HowLongtoBeat, offering a community-driven game backlog tracking and rating platform with similar user profiles, game libraries, and review features — overlapping directly on backlog management and personal gaming statistics.
Broad incumbents
- GameFAQs: GameFAQs (owned by GameSpot/Fandom) is a long-established strategy guide, walkthrough, and FAQ repository — directly comparable to HLTB's strategy guides/walkthroughs category as a legacy destination for the same use case.
- Metacritic: Metacritic is a broader gaming and entertainment aggregator (owned by Fandom) that aggregates critic and user scores, intersecting with HLTB's decision-support use case for game purchases at a wider scale.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
HowLongtoBeat social profiles
Digital presenceHowLongtoBeat financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
HowLongtoBeat leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
HowLongtoBeat funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
HowLongtoBeat M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about HowLongtoBeat
What does HowLongtoBeat do?
HowLongtoBeat is a crowdsourced online platform that provides video game completion time estimates across multiple play styles (Main Story, Main + Extra, Completionist, and Combined). The platform enables gamers to research game lengths before purchase, manage personal game backlogs with Steam library import, participate in community forums, and play a daily guessing game called HowLongToBeat: The Game. Users submit their own playthrough times to build a database of 91K+ game releases with 8.5M+ recorded playthroughs.
Is HowLongtoBeat a public or private company?
HowLongtoBeat is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was HowLongtoBeat founded?
HowLongtoBeat was founded in 2011.
Where is HowLongtoBeat based?
HowLongtoBeat is headquartered in Los Angeles, United States, in the North America region.
How does HowLongtoBeat make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Advertising is the primary driver. The others are IGN Plus Subscription.
Who are HowLongtoBeat's main competitors?
Emerging players on record are PCGamingWiki, SteamDB, GG.deals and Speedrun.com. Direct peers are OpenCritic, TrueAchievements, RAWG and Backloggd. Broad incumbents are GameFAQs and Metacritic.
Does HowLongtoBeat have an API?
No public API is recorded for HowLongtoBeat.
What industry is HowLongtoBeat in?
HowLongtoBeat's product category is Gaming Information Database. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAFAMAD, Strategy Guides, Walkthroughs & How-To Content. Its NAICS code is 713120 and its SIC code is 5945.