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

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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/

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"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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AlexPosted:

Pc master race strikes again cya l8er consoles

GT-RPosted:

Most of the time if the game is good then I'll pay full price. The games I buy on sale are usually games I don't necessarily have a desire to buy/play. I mean who in their right mind would pass up on the great deals.

KaguraPosted:

Even though I don't buy many games on steam some of the prices for games go ridiculously cheap. Too bad I'm an impatient person though so I very rarely buy any games when they go on sale.

BeetPosted:

The reason for this is because we are guaranteed at least two mega sales each year(Winter and Summer Sales). During these games even some brand new games go at least 15-20% off. Year old games can go up to 90% off. Also lets not forget about the Humble Bundles and weekly sales that pop up all of the time. Many PC gamers are scared that if they pay $30 for a game that tomorrow it will be $7(This happened to me twice).

RinPosted:

Ache I very rarely wait on sales... If I see a game on steam I think I would like, I purchase it.

I have a nice paying job, so it's no biggy to me.


I love sales, if it means spending less money count me in.

AchePosted:

I very rarely wait on sales... If I see a game on steam I think I would like, I purchase it.

I have a nice paying job, so it's no biggy to me.

OrthoPosted:

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

TreyarchedPosted:

Yui This is somewhat exactly what I do. Unless it is a brand new game which I absolutely want.


Same here, Borderlands the pre sequal I had to preorder on steam, but that was still on sale. lol

ODSTPosted:

Isn't this the point of a free market system? We're literally going through the supply and demand slope curve of a normal graph. There's just less of a demand to buy a product at that high of a price when we can obviously get it cheaper.

MoCapPosted:

DeluxeHazard Does this mean more sales on Steam?


It didn't say anything like that, but I think It's unlikely they will make sales higher


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