Friday, April 21st 2017
Digital Purchases Make Up Majority of US Video Game Sales, and Other ESA Stats
In the latest edition of "RTB's Obvious News," I present you with an alarming statistic:
Digital purchases make up most video game sales in the United states at around 74% of purchases, according to a study by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA).
I know, I can hear it now: "Obvious news is obvious, R-T-B. Why'd you post this? Your news sucks!" etc etc. Believe it or not, I have a reason for bringing this seemingly lame study to your attention, and that's because despite the headline being lame, the study actually contains some interesting tidbits about the gaming market in general.
First off, there are 24% of people who still buy hard copies. I find that... fascinating, and I'm sure that future Alien Archeologists will agree. Moving on, the study shows that in most cases of under-18 gamers, not only are parents present when they make their digital purchases, but the parents actually play said games with their children at least once weekly in 67% of instances (I don't know about you, but my mom only played Tetris, and I hated that game). Regardless, this shows increased interaction between children and parents in the digital-gaming sphere, something that traditionally has not been reported in past studies.
Gender disparity is also dissolving in this most recent report. 31% of the video game playing population is comprised of females between the ages of 18 and 35. Interestingly, this outnumbers the number of males under the age of 18 (at 18%, and no that is not a typo), although it still falls behind males in general in gaming (at 62%).
Reasons for purchasing a game? Forget story and gameplay, or any of that stuff. It's on the list, but it didn't rank tops. What sells games? Graphics people, glorious graphics. 67% indicated that "Quality of the Graphics" was their #1 factor in picking a video game.
There's more, but it's a lot to digest. Read the study yourself in the source link if you want to: The report is an easy to digest interactive webpage. Go ahead, it's worth a few moments of your time. Honest, this is coming from a guy who's usually bored from this stuff.
EDIT: It appears the mobile version of this study and the pdf version show differing figures for the "top reasons for purchasing a game" section. I'm unsure what to make of the results there, so take them with a grain of salt. See post #31 in this thread for more info.
Source:
ESA
Digital purchases make up most video game sales in the United states at around 74% of purchases, according to a study by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA).
I know, I can hear it now: "Obvious news is obvious, R-T-B. Why'd you post this? Your news sucks!" etc etc. Believe it or not, I have a reason for bringing this seemingly lame study to your attention, and that's because despite the headline being lame, the study actually contains some interesting tidbits about the gaming market in general.
Gender disparity is also dissolving in this most recent report. 31% of the video game playing population is comprised of females between the ages of 18 and 35. Interestingly, this outnumbers the number of males under the age of 18 (at 18%, and no that is not a typo), although it still falls behind males in general in gaming (at 62%).
Reasons for purchasing a game? Forget story and gameplay, or any of that stuff. It's on the list, but it didn't rank tops. What sells games? Graphics people, glorious graphics. 67% indicated that "Quality of the Graphics" was their #1 factor in picking a video game.
There's more, but it's a lot to digest. Read the study yourself in the source link if you want to: The report is an easy to digest interactive webpage. Go ahead, it's worth a few moments of your time. Honest, this is coming from a guy who's usually bored from this stuff.
EDIT: It appears the mobile version of this study and the pdf version show differing figures for the "top reasons for purchasing a game" section. I'm unsure what to make of the results there, so take them with a grain of salt. See post #31 in this thread for more info.
32 Comments on Digital Purchases Make Up Majority of US Video Game Sales, and Other ESA Stats
This is a mentality that is ruining gaming, sacrificing FPS for picture quality. Hell, Doom ran at 35fps in '93. If this is what people care about it's no wonder publishers push graphics over playability.
there is no resale value as they are linked to your account 99% of the time.
Were being forced in to than actually picking it as a option.
For 3 reasons: A, I'm not that lucky. 2, my mom never played anything. and D, Tetris is beautiful and I would have loved to beat my parents at it. ;)OK I'm listening again! This is very surprising indeed as I didn't realize thst games were played by so many females. Sure, young kids play stuff like Mario and such but in that age bracket, me thinks Mario isn't the only thing being played.
Regarding digital purchases, that's the only way I buy for pc games, not worth it having hard copies. I think the only disc I have left is a game from the 90s: Rebel Assault, can't bring myself to toss it even though I have it digitally now too.
Even on consoles, though I'm last gen still, the past several games I have purchased were digital downloads (mostly game codes from eBay or whatnot). I haven't bought a console disc new or used in a very long time.
Nothing, but nothing can replace the joy of owning a hardware copy, since back in the day, ALL the games were sold in a nice box, with CD cases, hard print manual and artwork, maps, secrets, tips, etc. You actually HAD a felling that you own something. Now you just download a copy, install, play, pffff.... boooring. While this is good for multiplayer only games, I could never imagine having games like Diablo I, II, III, Starcraft, DeusEx, Warcraft II and III, C&C - all of them, GTAs, MaxPayne 1/2, MYST, Phantasmagoria, etc, etc with just an invisible digital copy.
You kids really don't know what you're missing.
As for the study, the number one factor being graphics disgusts me. If people want such lifelike graphics: stand up, walk to door, open it, and step into the real world. Sunshine, warmth on the skin, trees rustling in the wind, birds and their songs, the array of colors in flower beds, and the smell of cut grass all await you.
Honestly, for me, story comes first, but originality, or being somewhat off the wall, or just being damned good fun gameplay all rate far above graphics for me. Those people are probably why I have to play so many Indie games, or lesser known games from big studios, because many major ones are catering to the desire for the best graphics and nothing else.
But having hundreds of games on Steam and having around 100 game boxes for PS2, Xbox360, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii, Wii U, etc.... It adds up and I prefer digital downloads now.
Heck, their pie chart for PC gaming showed 25.8% for casual genre.
With The Sims games hogging a lot of spots on the Top 20 sales chart they show.
On the physical part. It is called data caps and access to decent internet speeds.
Major reason I still stick to physical, plus I rather have a physical disc (I can resell console games after I am finished).
That said the last few physical media games i bought you could just activate it on steam/origin without installing from the disk, win/win
I have like 1200 games on steam but almost all of them are under 5 bucks because i refuse to pay full price for a "limited license".
GOG for the fucking win! That is a place i would pay more than 5 bucks for a game.you mean pointless jobs removed and the market will open up new opportunities for new work since some waste was removed?
Edit:
Above is a collector edition because of the statuette, but the Deluxe ones used to come the same but in a normal box.
Now Deluxe edition means adding extra garbage like DLCs for armor, weapons, extra buffs for multiplayer, and other useless junk, for an extra 20 or 30 more.....
Hard copies FTW! :)