Post on 25-Jul-2015
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Why they buy gamers in the world of the perpetual sale ethan levy | monetization design consultant | @FamousAspect
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Published the “Pile of Shame” after collecting 1,400 data points
the first study
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Responses sourced from the article, Twitter, LinkedIn and Reddit
data collection
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the studies•4 surveys run from Dec 13 through Dec 14
•Survey via TypeForm
•Sourced from Kotaku/Twitter/Reddit/Email List ✦Backlogs, bundles and sales
✦Why they buy
✦DLC and MTX
✦Trust and publishers
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acknowledged biases•Skew towards PC gamers •Skew adult gamers •Skew US based gamers •Skew towards indie gamers •Skew towards Kotaku readers •Self selection bias •Stated vs actual preferences
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survey info•N = 1,399
•December ’13
•No demographics data
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Median gamer - 11 to 25 games
# games have you purchased in last 12 months?
0%
12.5%
25%
37.5%
50%
1 to 5 6 to 10 11 to 25 26 to 50 51 to 99 100+
6%7%
21%
36%
19%11%
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Median gamer - 20% of purchases (2 to 5 games)
% games purchased at full price?
0%
12.5%
25%
37.5%
50%
0 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
7%4%5%4%4%7%5%9%14%
28%
14%
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Median gamer - 60% of purchases (7 to 15 games)
% games purchased on sale?
0%
12.5%
25%
37.5%
50%
0 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
9%18%
13%8%7%9%7%8%7%5%8%
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Median gamer - 10% of purchases (1 to 3 games)
% of games purchased in a bundle?
0%
12.5%
25%
37.5%
50%
0 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
1%2%3%5%5%8%4%8%12%18%
36%
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Median gamer - 18 games
how many unplayed games in your backlog?
0%
12.5%
25%
37.5%
50%
0 1 to 10 11 to 25 26 to 50 51 to 75 76 to 100 101 to 250 251 to 500 501 to 1000 1001 to 2400
1%2%4%8%7%4%15%18%
33%
8%
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Median gamer - 18 hours gaming, 10 hours consuming media
how many hours do you spend on your hobby per week?Hours gaming
0%
12.5%
25%
37.5%
50%
0 1 to 10 11 to 20 21 to 30 31 to 40 41 to 80 81 to 100 101 to 120
2%6%13%5%10%17%38%
9%
Hours consuming media
0%
12.5%
25%
37.5%
50%
0 1 to 10 11 to 20 21 to 30 31 to 40 41 to 80 81 to 100 101 to 120
0%0%6%8%20%41%39%
0%
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survey info•n = 1,556
•January ’14
•Average respondent: ✦Played 20 games in the past 12 months
✦Purchased 30 games in the past 12 months
✦Purchased 80% of games on sale or in a bundle
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primary platform
0
275
550
825
1100
Console PC Handheld Mobile
2491
1,089
334
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primary play mode
0
275
550
825
1100
Single player Multi player
234
1,051
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Most players did not align most strongly with a type of game
primary game type
0
100
200
300
400
AAA Indie
232
356
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I am a...Collector
Completionist
Pop Gamer
Adult
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
88%
28%
58%
69%
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88% agree (perhaps a poorly worded question)
do you buy games because the look interesting/unique?
0
225
450
675
900
Strongly Disagree Disagree Neither Agree Strongly Agree
473
899
1272928
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62% agree
do you buy games to support the developer?
0
225
450
675
900
Strongly Disagree Disagree Neither Agree Strongly Agree
257
714
325188
72
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61% agree
do you buy games because of friend recommendations?
0
225
450
675
900
Strongly Disagree Disagree Neither Agree Strongly Agree
166
778
322223
67
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45% play demos when available
do you play demos of games before buying?
0
225
450
675
900
Strongly Disagree Disagree Neither Agree Strongly Agree
214
491298375
178
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44% agree
do you buy games because of high critic review scores?
0
225
450
675
900
Strongly Disagree Disagree Neither Agree Strongly Agree
117
571388
291189
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36% agree
do you buy games because of recommendations from gaming personalities?
0
225
450
675
900
Strongly Disagree Disagree Neither Agree Strongly Agree
97
462335335327
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23% agree
do you buy games because of watching Let’s Play videos?
0
225
450
675
900
Strongly Disagree Disagree Neither Agree Strongly Agree
69287270
364566
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17% agree
do you buy games because you like to own all the biggest games?
0
225
450
675
900
Strongly Disagree Disagree Neither Agree Strongly Agree
45215302
662
332
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Sample size - 334
console gamersWhich factors affect a purchase decision for the majority of console gamers?
Interesting/Unique
Friend recommendations
Support the developer
Demo
PR Campaign
Review Scores
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
46%
50%
54%
55%
56%
88%
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Sample size - 1,089
pc gamersWhich factors affect a purchase decision for the majority of console gamers?
Interesting/Unique
Support Developers
Friend Recommendations
Review Scores
Demo
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
42%
43%
62%
65%
89%
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Sample size - 234
single player gamersWhich factors affect a purchase decision for the majority of single player gamers?
Interesting/Unique
Support Developers
Friend Recommendations
Review Scores
Demo
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
44%
46%
57%
64%
89%
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Sample size - 234
multi player gamersWhich factors affect a purchase decision for the majority of multi player gamers?
Interesting/Unique
Friend Recommendations
Support Developers
Demo
PR Campaign
Review Scores
Personalities
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
40%
42%
45%
53%
57%
70%
87%
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Sample size - 356
AAA gamersWhich factors affect a purchase decision for the majority of AAA gamers?
Interesting/Unique
Review Scores
Friend Recommendations
Support Developers
Demo
PR Campaign
Personalities
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
40%
48%
49%
49%
57%
58%
83%
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Sample size - 232
indie gamersWhich factors affect a purchase decision for the majority of indie gamers?
Interesting/Unique
Support Developers
Friend Recommendations
Demo
Personalities
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
44%
50%
61%
84%
94%
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survey info•n = 2,727
•Nov ’14
•Average respondent: • 25 to 34
• Male
• Lives in the US
• Employed full time
• Plays an average of 15 hours a week
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have you purchased a pre-order in the past 3 months?
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
Yes No
45%55%
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have you purchased DLC (content) in the past 3 months?
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
Yes No
49%51%
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have you purchased a season pass in the past 3 months?
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
Yes No
75%
25%
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have you purchased MTX in a AAA premium game in the past 3 months?
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
Yes No
89%
11%
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have you played a F2P mobile game in the past 3 months?
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
Yes No
39%61%
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have you purchased an MTX in a mobile F2P game in the past 3 months?
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
Yes No
86%
14%
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survey info•n = 1,364
•Dec/Feb ’14
•Average respondent: ✦25 to 34
✦Male
✦Lives in the US
✦Plays an average of 18 hours a week
✦Purchased 5 games in the past 3 months
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Who do gamers trust?Nintendo
Valve
Bethesda
Take Two
Sony
Konami
Bandai Namco
Square Enix
Warner Bros.
Activision
Microsoft
Capcom
Sega
EA
Ubisoft
Neutral Strongly AgreeStrongly disagree
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Paradox
Riot
Stardock
Bohemia
Deep Silver
NCSoft
Hi-Rez
Wargaming.net
Trion Worlds
Nexon
Neutral Strongly Agree
Who do gamers trust? (minor publishers)
Strongly disagree
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Hi-Rez
Wargaming.net
Trion Worlds
Nexon
Bohemia
Stardock
NCSoft
Paradox
Deep Silver
Riot
0% 33.333% 66.667% 100%
I am unfamiliar with this publisher:
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Top 5 causes for loss of trust• included microtransactions in a game
•released a bad game in a series I enjoyed
•mislead by the game’s marketing
•bought a game that was broken
•botched game launch
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I have promised to stop buying the games of a publisher after they lost my trust
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
Yes No
42%58%
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the data•Full slides available soon
•Download the data: famousaspect.com/gdc15-data
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continue the conversation•Email: ethan@FamousAspect.com
•Twitter: @FamousAspect
•Articles, tools and templates: FamousAspect.com