Half of all PC gamers wait for a game to go on sale before buying

4.5
Sales may be killing developers’ chances of getting gamers to pay full price for new releases.

Half of all PC gamers in the US wait for a game’s price to drop before buying it.

That’s according to a report by the NPD Group, via GamesIndustry.

The report, which draws on a June survey of 6,255 individuals, said 46% of respondents who game on PC bought a title digitally in the last year, but those who download games rather than visit the shops are “far less likely” to pay full price.

“Consumers’ expectations may be the greatest barrier to maximizing spending in the PC gaming space,” NPD analyst Liam Callahan said.

“Since half of PC gamers who play digital and/or physical games on the computer are expecting there to always be a sale right around the corner, publishers and retailers alike need to better manage these expectations.”

As a consumer, you may be thinking something along the lines of “half of all PC gamers are very sensible, then”, but some developers – particularly indies – have strong concerns about the effect of sales on the games industry.

Posted:
Related Forum: PC Gaming Forum

Source: http://www.vg247.com/2014/09/10/half-of-all-pc-gamers-wait-for-a-game-to-go-on-sale-before-buying-report/

Comments

"Half of all PC gamers wait for a game to go on sale before buying" :: Login/Create an Account :: 66 comments

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JoveticPosted:

Odin
Ethics Yeah I do exactly this. What do they expect though?.. Some games are way over priced. Maybe they should add demos to all of the games.


Overpriced for countless hours of work? In fact most games are underprice, be considerate of the people that work their ***** off to make these games for you.


It was a good attempt to justify it, but nah.
http://puu.sh/bAGWv/cfd8f97565.jpg

FriskyPandaPosted:

hell yeah dude, once holiday sales and summer sales for steam come around my wallet is going to disappear

OdinPosted:

Ethics Yeah I do exactly this. What do they expect though?.. Some games are way over priced. Maybe they should add demos to all of the games.


Overpriced for countless hours of work? In fact most games are underprice, be considerate of the people that work their asses off to make these games for you.

1989Posted:

MVPapi
Inq
Ortho
Inq
Astronauts
Ortho I don't play PC but if I did I wouldn't wait for sales; I never do


Lol same here, I'm to impatient for that :P


yeah same and on xbox there arnt really any good sales tbh but i quess on steam there is


Steam has awesome sales, but I like to support certain devs the most I can


yeah i have seen steam sales and compared to xbox they are amazing


Steam Summer Sale. Nuff said. Everything is pennies. I got Civ V + all DLC last summer, down from $70 to $15


Yeah I saw some amazing deals on the steam summer sale

ImBenColePosted:

Got torchlight 2 for dirt cheap and ive been playing it for days now....

EthicsPosted:

Yeah I do exactly this. What do they expect though?.. Some games are way over priced. Maybe they should add demos to all of the games.

HovaPosted:

The new trend is to pay more than the full price before the game's even released

I continue to pay the full price for games I think are great, and will pick up ones I'm not sure about on offer if I think that brings them into my expectations of value for money.

AdamuPosted:

Well i don't blame them for waiting for the price to drop as developers need to see that not everyone can afford the game when it first come's out, I would rather pay less then the retail price for it to save me money.

VanDykeBrownPosted:

Ortho
MVPapi
Inq
Ortho
Inq
Astronauts
Ortho I don't play PC but if I did I wouldn't wait for sales; I never do


Lol same here, I'm to impatient for that :P


yeah same and on xbox there arnt really any good sales tbh but i quess on steam there is


Steam has awesome sales, but I like to support certain devs the most I can


yeah i have seen steam sales and compared to xbox they are amazing


Steam Summer Sale. Nuff said. Everything is pennies. I got Civ V + all DLC last summer, down from $70 to $15


That's good and all but you're just making me jealous since I don't have a good system to run the games atm


Why not? It wouldn't be that expensive to build a decent rig. Civ will run on just about anything too.

YokePosted:

i am included in this group. I love deals