Half of Gamers on PC Wait for Sales to Buy Games, 44% Core Gamers - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 10 September 2014 / 7,396 Views
PC games have seen an increase in sales over the last several years due to the success of Steam sales and the Humble bundles. However, this has lead 46 percent of PC gamers waiting for sales before purchasing a game. This is according to a survey done by the NPD Group.
"Consumers' expectations may be the greatest barrier to maximizing spending in the PC gaming space," said NPD analyst Liam Callahan. "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."
Of the people surveyed 37 percent said they were PC gamers playing 6.4 hours of games a week. 44 percent of gamers were classified as core gamers and 56 percent as casual gamers. The split between men and women PC gamers were almost even. 51 percent of PC gamers were men.
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A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. Outside, in the real world, he has a passion for the outdoors which includes everything from hiking to having received his B.A. in Environmental Studies. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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Yeah. Unless you really wanted the game bonus material in it. Why bother buying a game for 60$? When in barely a few months it's 10$ at some point.
HAH! I agree! We should also wait for the GOTY Edition with DLC complete for $60. Borderlands & Batman Arkham Series examples.
Clever pc gamers. That's all I can say.
I'm kinda like this, if developers like Bethesda plan to charge more for DLC then then game, then I refuse to buy it new. As for "fair" devs, well if they don't make a product which I want to play day 1, then I won't pay $60.
And the master race wonders why nobody cares to do proper ports of their big titles.
And the master race wonders why nobody cares to do proper ports of their big titles.
I agree with waiting. Just a month or two later and you might be able to snag the game for half off or even more.
No wonder most publishers don't care about optimizing their games on PC. First there is massive piracy, then there is this.
I'm a PC gamer as well, and I don't mind buying PC games at full price when I think they are worth it, like what I'll do with GTA V. Then again, PC games in India don't cost $60 unless its an EA game.
$60 is too much for any game unless there is just SO MUCH content that it justifies the price. Plus, who doesn't like saving money?
Smaller percentage than I was expecting tbh. Sales always skyrocket during Steam sales
thing is PC game prices have shot up in recent years so PC gamers will wait for the sales to get the games at the lower price, it just makes no sense to charge as much as a full retail game in digital form as that's just exploiting the digital market and gamers who don't wish to purchase hard copies of retail games.
um... obviously? Especially with steam. People know that there are two massive sales, One at Christmas and the other in the Summer so why not wait? It is not that hard to wait 1-6 months for a game you want.
There are great deals on games, so I get a bunch of them. Then I have so many unplayed games that I can't justify buying anything at full price, so I continue to pick them up at cheaper prices. It's a vicious cycle. And I'm left with more games than I can play in a decade.
Of course we wait. When devs produce the same stuff again and again and have no faith in their product because they think last years GAMENAME is to same-y to this years GAMENAME2 so they give it a price cut why would I pay more than even the dev thinks its worth? There is almost nothing worse than paying for something and then seeing how everyone else gets it for half the price a month later. This also happens on console for me. The most expensive non-exclusive game I bought in the last 5 years was 15 bucks.
Well this is obvious. Most PC gamers don't care about the money as they can afford to buy a powerhouse PC, however no one is complaining about saving money.
The core reason many PC gamers wait is because paying $60 for a "Brand new game" that doesn't even push your PC feels like a scam. So we wait and pick up these games when we feel they are actually sold at their true value eg. $10 on Steam.
On the long run, software may be more expensive than hardware. Also, most PC gamers have good but not extremely powerful rigs. Considering that, unlike what happens in consoles, you cannot trade an old game, you became picky with the titles you buy.
