In a new report published by IGN Entertainment in association with Kantar and UC Berkeley, it has been suggested that roughly 62% of hardcore players are no longer buying games at full-price. Listed under the “Generations in Play” title, the report was based on polling data from thousands of “highly-committed” players across the US, UK, and Australia. It sought to analyze diverging consumption habits between three generations of players, those being Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z.
In the summary posted on GamesIndustry.biz (which is owned by IGNE), it highlights how 71% of audiences no longer purchase physical music and 62% no longer buy full-price games. The distinction of full-price relates to brand-new releases at MSRP, which has risen to $70 for most newer games across all platforms. It then gets more granular with the details by breaking down specific generational data.
Millennials (38%) and Gen Z (42%) were more likely to buy games at full-price than Gen X (20%), which seems to be behind the curve. With regard to discoverability, Gen X prioritized Google searches for new titles, but 85% of Millennials favored YouTube. Gen Z was more likely to discover things via social media. Gen X favored single-player experiences while Gen Z favored multiplayer, though Millennials were about evenly split. This also followed over into playtime, with Gen X and Millennials stated to return to games to master or complete them while Gen Z were motivated to return to games solely for customization or community updates.
Speaking to VGC, The Games Business’s Christopher Dring commented on the report by saying, “The market has shifted. Consumers are ‘full’ in terms of things to play, watch, and read. Plus, games have a habit of launching unfinished or in need of a patch or two. So, considering those two factors, the drive to rush out day one and purchase a game isn’t there in the way it used to be. The upside is that games are living for longer, and it’s not unusual for big games to sell for years and decades.”
In discussion with the Brands in Play podcast, SVP of IGNE Global Marketing Karl Stewart said the Gen X participants, “come from a point of view of midnight opening, full price games, console base… [they] want to get everything they possibly can, get as much juice out of that lemon as possible. Whereas you look at Gen Z, who live in a world of platforms… games don’t end, but social and community becomes a massive part of their DNA. So they want to be a part of a community where they’re able to say, ‘I’m the most informed. I know most about this game.’”
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Written by Peter Glagowski
Peter has been a freelance gaming and film critic for over seven years. His passion for Nintendo is only matched by the size of his collection.
