Sometimes, even the best gaming chairs don’t offer sufficient room, support, or comfort if you’re bigger or taller. That means you need to find chairs designed with your size in mind, like the Secretlab Titan Evo Nanogen XL. It’s a premium choice ready for gamers up to 6' 9" and 395lbs. Whether you’re on a budget, want an extra wide seat, or like the breathability of a mesh option, we’ve found great "oversized" gaming chairs for you to try out.
TL;DR – The Best Big and Tall Gaming Chairs:
A great seat is one of the best gaming accessories you can invest in, but the wealth of available gaming chairs is overwhelming, and many aren’t suited for larger-than-average gamers. You want to seek out wider seats, taller backs, higher load capacities, and solid ergonomics that ensure your ultimate comfort so you can focus on what matters: the game.
To help in the search, I’ve thoroughly tested and researched a range of seats that won’t come up short (literally!) no matter how long you’re gaming.
Best Big and Tall Gaming Chair
Best Budget Big and Tall Gaming Chair
Best Ergonomic Big and Tall Gaming Chair
Best Gaming Chair for Tall Gamers
Best Mesh Big and Tall Chair
In deciding which gaming chairs to include on this list, my first consideration is always which chairs I've personally tested and know are worth including from first-hand experience. I, and my colleagues, test a lot of gaming chairs, so drawing on that experience is critical to the process. I strive to recommend only chairs I've personally tested and when that's not possible, do extensive research to find real user feedback on any other compelling options that might exist. For the Best Big and Tall category, I'm looking for three key things: size, support, and durability. Any recommendation I make here is made to last, is known to be supportive, and is big enough to match a wide range of gamers.
Strength and weight capacity
One of the first and easiest things to make sure you’re getting is a sturdy chair. Check the max load capacity to ensure it’s strong enough to hold you up. It’s a good idea to get one that offers a bit of a buffer so the chair’s not always operating near its limit.
Seat width
Many racing chairs have bucket seats that have lightly padded metal bolsters at either side. If that seat is too narrow, the bolsters are going to dig into your thighs and hips. Checking to ensure that a chair’s listed width doesn’t include those bolsters is essential (which we looked out for on the chairs that made this list). Better still, you can find some big and tall gaming chairs that don’t have these bolsters, and that’s a good sign the chair maker knows who they’re building for.
Dimensions and adjustments (seat depth, height, backrest)
Your vertical adjustments are going to play a big part in your overall comfort. You’re going to want to ensure the seat is deep enough to come close to the backs of your knees (without pressing into them), tall enough to let your lower legs drop straight to the floor while still touching it, and with a long enough backrest to support your spine. A short backrest may seem like a small problem at first, but if the lumbar and neck pillows, as well as the curves of the seatback, don’t line up with the curve of your spine and shoulder, it will impact your posture.
Ergonomics
If you want to ensure you’re going to get good ergonomics, you may want to also check that the height range from the floor to the top of the armrests overlaps with the height of your desk, as this keeps your arms level with your mouse and keyboard. (This is less of a concern if you’re playing with a controller, though.)
Should I get a gaming chair or an office chair?
The seats themselves are one of the biggest differences between gaming chairs and office chairs. The ones designed specifically for gaming often come with a long back and a headrest to better support your back and shoulders than a short office chair. Extra lumbar and neck pillows on gaming chairs help keep you sitting straighter, while office chairs often offer more effective lumbar support and better seat adjustability.
Depending on your needs outside of PC gaming, you may also want to explore some XL bean bag chair options you can find within our top bean bag gaming chairs list. We also have our favorite selections of rocking gaming chairs in 2025 which may be interesting to try out as a segue from your couch to a somewhat casual gaming seat.
How does a gaming chair help with gaming?
The biggest thing any gaming chair needs to do is provide you with the support your body needs to game in comfort for extended periods. Beyond that, gaming chairs often come with extra features and bolder designs than traditional office chairs. Their armrests are usually more adjustable to support gaming with a controllers as well as mouse and keyboard. Likewise, the backrests usually offer an extended recline range similar to what you might find in a car. Simply put, the best gaming chairs offer the versatility you need to play games in the position that’s most comfortable in the moment and look good doing it.
Are expensive gaming chairs worth it?
As the saying goes, you get what you pay for. If all you want is a chair that looks good on stream, then the added features of a premium chair aren’t as important. Paying a little more can get you important upgrades, like improved cushioning, greater adjustments, and better materials. With that in mind, gaming chairs are like anything else: There are diminishing returns the higher in price you go. If you care about comfort, it’s best not to cheap out, but you don’t need to lay out $500+ for a quality gaming chair.
Are gaming chairs good for your back?
Lumbar support varies from chair to chair, but it’s true that some gaming chairs put looks ahead of support. Many gaming chairs have completely flat backrests flanked by bolsters that hold you in a single position. These are what we call “bad gaming chairs.” Thankfully, it’s no longer true that all gaming chairs have poor back support. In fact, there are many that are quite good, like the Razer Iskur XL. When shopping for a gaming chair, be sure to look at the backrest from multiple angles if possible and read up on what lumbar features it actually offers.
Christopher Coke has been covering all things tech for IGN since 2019. He has reviewed more chairs than most people own in a lifetime from brands big and small, gaming to ergo, and more.
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