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A new survey has revealed that more than half of hardcore gamers from multiple age groups no longer pay full price for video games, with just 20% of one age range saying that they'd pay full whack for a new release.
The survey has been been carried out by IGN, in association with Kantar and UC Berkeley, and subsequently shared by outlet VGC. It splits participants into three age ranges — 14-29, 30-44 and 46-61 (sorry, 45-year olds) — with the youngest age range most likely to go for a full-priced game.
Here are the exact percentages:
- 42% of people aged 14-29 said they'd pay full price
- 38% of people aged 30-44 said they'd pay full price
- 20% of people aged 46-61 said they'd pay full price
Thousands of "highly-committed" gamers were quizzed as part of this survey from across the US, UK and Australia, and it certainly provides some interesting results. Younger generations tend to have more spare time and disposable income, so it's not surprising to see that age range fare best here, although all of them seem pretty low to us.
The rising cost of buying AAA games — alongside the sheer amount of free and live service content available these days — is also likely a contributing factor to why these numbers seem low. Most AAA games are now $70+, which is a tough sell in such an uncertain global economy.
Finally, the survey also shares some other interesting buying habits from these gamers, including the fact that the oldest age group prefer single-player games, while the youngest veer towards multiplayer, and the middle range is a fairly evenly split. The two older age groups are also more likely to return to games to 'master' them, while younger players are more bothered about community content and customisation.