Emulator

Game Name?

All games (issue is not game-specific)

Game ID? (right click the game in the game list, Properties, Info tab)

N/A (occurs across all titles tested)

N/A (issue is not specific to any single game; happens with multiple titles)

What's the problem? Describe what went wrong.

Play Time Tracking in Dolphin Emulator does not reliably record play time even when enabled in settings (latest stable release and version 2606-1).

In normal use, play time is often not saved after closing a game. The issue appears to depend on window focus / rendering behavior.

A workaround exists: enabling Graphics → General → Others → “Render to Main Window” makes tracking work in some cases. However, even with this enabled, play time tracking can stop working mid-session if the user switches away from the emulator (e.g. opens a browser) and then returns.

I am using the default settings and have not disabled Play Time Tracking.

What steps will reproduce the problem?

Open Dolphin Emulator (latest stable or 2606-1)
Launch any game
Play for any amount of time
Close the game
→ Play time is not recorded

With workaround:
Play normally → play time is tracked
Alt-tab or open another application (e.g. browser)
Return to the game
Continue playing
Close game
→ Play time tracking fails for that session
Is the issue present in the latest development version? For future reference, please also write down the version number of the latest development version.

Yes
Is the issue present in the latest release? For future reference, please also write down the version number of the latest release.

Yes
If the issue isn't present in the latest release, which is the first broken version? (You can find the first broken version by bisecting. Windows users can use the tool https://forums.dolphin-emu.org/Thread-green-notice-development-thread-unofficial-dolphin-bisection-tool-for-finding-broken-builds and anyone who is building Dolphin on their own can use git bisect.)

N/A

If your issue is a graphical issue, please attach screenshots and record a three frame fifolog of the issue if possible. Screenshots showing what it is supposed to look like from either console or older builds of Dolphin will help too. For more information on how to use the fifoplayer, please check here: https://wiki.dolphin-emu.org/index.php?title=FifoPlayer

Not applicable

What are your PC specifications? (CPU, GPU, Operating System, more)

CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-8100 @ 3.60GHz
GPU: Intel(R) UHD Graphics 630
Operating System: Windows 10 (64-bit)

Is there anything else that can help developers narrow down the issue? (e.g. logs, screenshots,
configuration files, savefiles, savestates)

Issue appears related to window focus / session tracking behavior
Reproducible across multiple games
Heavily dependent on “Render to Main Window” setting
Tracking can break after switching away from the emulator and returning
No logs or configuration files attached yet
Likely related to how the emulator handles focus changes and time accumulation when the window loses focus