Transcript
Page 1: [GDC2015] Why they buy

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Why they buy gamers in the world of the perpetual sale ethan levy | monetization design consultant | @FamousAspect

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the studiesmotivation | methodology | data collection

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Published the “Pile of Shame” after collecting 1,400 data points

the first study

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Responses sourced from the article, Twitter, LinkedIn and Reddit

data collection

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the studies•4 surveys run from Dec 13 through Dec 14

•Survey via TypeForm

•Sourced from Kotaku/Twitter/Reddit/Email List ✦Backlogs, bundles and sales

✦Why they buy

✦DLC and MTX

✦Trust and publishers

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acknowledged biases•Skew towards PC gamers •Skew adult gamers •Skew US based gamers •Skew towards indie gamers •Skew towards Kotaku readers •Self selection bias •Stated vs actual preferences

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Backlogs, bundles and salesthe first study

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survey info•N = 1,399

•December ’13

•No demographics data

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Median gamer - 11 to 25 games

# games have you purchased in last 12 months?

0%

12.5%

25%

37.5%

50%

1 to 5 6 to 10 11 to 25 26 to 50 51 to 99 100+

6%7%

21%

36%

19%11%

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Median gamer - 20% of purchases (2 to 5 games)

% games purchased at full price?

0%

12.5%

25%

37.5%

50%

0 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

7%4%5%4%4%7%5%9%14%

28%

14%

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Median gamer - 60% of purchases (7 to 15 games)

% games purchased on sale?

0%

12.5%

25%

37.5%

50%

0 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

9%18%

13%8%7%9%7%8%7%5%8%

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Median gamer - 10% of purchases (1 to 3 games)

% of games purchased in a bundle?

0%

12.5%

25%

37.5%

50%

0 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

1%2%3%5%5%8%4%8%12%18%

36%

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Median gamer - 18 games

how many unplayed games in your backlog?

0%

12.5%

25%

37.5%

50%

0 1 to 10 11 to 25 26 to 50 51 to 75 76 to 100 101 to 250 251 to 500 501 to 1000 1001 to 2400

1%2%4%8%7%4%15%18%

33%

8%

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Median gamer - 18 hours gaming, 10 hours consuming media

how many hours do you spend on your hobby per week?Hours gaming

0%

12.5%

25%

37.5%

50%

0 1 to 10 11 to 20 21 to 30 31 to 40 41 to 80 81 to 100 101 to 120

2%6%13%5%10%17%38%

9%

Hours consuming media

0%

12.5%

25%

37.5%

50%

0 1 to 10 11 to 20 21 to 30 31 to 40 41 to 80 81 to 100 101 to 120

0%0%6%8%20%41%39%

0%

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Why they buythe second study

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survey info•n = 1,556

•January ’14

•Average respondent: ✦Played 20 games in the past 12 months

✦Purchased 30 games in the past 12 months

✦Purchased 80% of games on sale or in a bundle

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primary platform

0

275

550

825

1100

Console PC Handheld Mobile

2491

1,089

334

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primary play mode

0

275

550

825

1100

Single player Multi player

234

1,051

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Most players did not align most strongly with a type of game

primary game type

0

100

200

300

400

AAA Indie

232

356

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I am a...Collector

Completionist

Pop Gamer

Adult

0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

88%

28%

58%

69%

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88% agree (perhaps a poorly worded question)

do you buy games because the look interesting/unique?

0

225

450

675

900

Strongly Disagree Disagree Neither Agree Strongly Agree

473

899

1272928

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62% agree

do you buy games to support the developer?

0

225

450

675

900

Strongly Disagree Disagree Neither Agree Strongly Agree

257

714

325188

72

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61% agree

do you buy games because of friend recommendations?

0

225

450

675

900

Strongly Disagree Disagree Neither Agree Strongly Agree

166

778

322223

67

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45% play demos when available

do you play demos of games before buying?

0

225

450

675

900

Strongly Disagree Disagree Neither Agree Strongly Agree

214

491298375

178

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44% agree

do you buy games because of high critic review scores?

0

225

450

675

900

Strongly Disagree Disagree Neither Agree Strongly Agree

117

571388

291189

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36% agree

do you buy games because of recommendations from gaming personalities?

0

225

450

675

900

Strongly Disagree Disagree Neither Agree Strongly Agree

97

462335335327

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23% agree

do you buy games because of watching Let’s Play videos?

0

225

450

675

900

Strongly Disagree Disagree Neither Agree Strongly Agree

69287270

364566

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17% agree

do you buy games because you like to own all the biggest games?

0

225

450

675

900

Strongly Disagree Disagree Neither Agree Strongly Agree

45215302

662

332

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Sample size - 334

console gamersWhich factors affect a purchase decision for the majority of console gamers?

Interesting/Unique

Friend recommendations

Support the developer

Demo

PR Campaign

Review Scores

0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

46%

50%

54%

55%

56%

88%

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Sample size - 1,089

pc gamersWhich factors affect a purchase decision for the majority of console gamers?

Interesting/Unique

Support Developers

Friend Recommendations

Review Scores

Demo

0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

42%

43%

62%

65%

89%

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Sample size - 234

single player gamersWhich factors affect a purchase decision for the majority of single player gamers?

Interesting/Unique

Support Developers

Friend Recommendations

Review Scores

Demo

0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

44%

46%

57%

64%

89%

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Sample size - 234

multi player gamersWhich factors affect a purchase decision for the majority of multi player gamers?

Interesting/Unique

Friend Recommendations

Support Developers

Demo

PR Campaign

Review Scores

Personalities

0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

40%

42%

45%

53%

57%

70%

87%

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Sample size - 356

AAA gamersWhich factors affect a purchase decision for the majority of AAA gamers?

Interesting/Unique

Review Scores

Friend Recommendations

Support Developers

Demo

PR Campaign

Personalities

0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

40%

48%

49%

49%

57%

58%

83%

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Sample size - 232

indie gamersWhich factors affect a purchase decision for the majority of indie gamers?

Interesting/Unique

Support Developers

Friend Recommendations

Demo

Personalities

0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

44%

50%

61%

84%

94%

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DLC & MTXthe third study

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survey info•n = 2,727

•Nov ’14

•Average respondent: • 25 to 34

• Male

• Lives in the US

• Employed full time

• Plays an average of 15 hours a week

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have you purchased a pre-order in the past 3 months?

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

Yes No

45%55%

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have you purchased DLC (content) in the past 3 months?

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

Yes No

49%51%

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have you purchased a season pass in the past 3 months?

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

Yes No

75%

25%

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have you purchased MTX in a AAA premium game in the past 3 months?

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

Yes No

89%

11%

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have you played a F2P mobile game in the past 3 months?

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

Yes No

39%61%

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have you purchased an MTX in a mobile F2P game in the past 3 months?

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

Yes No

86%

14%

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Trust & Publishersthe fourth study

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survey info•n = 1,364

•Dec/Feb ’14

•Average respondent: ✦25 to 34

✦Male

✦Lives in the US

✦Plays an average of 18 hours a week

✦Purchased 5 games in the past 3 months

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Who do gamers trust?Nintendo

Valve

Bethesda

Take Two

Sony

Konami

Bandai Namco

Square Enix

Warner Bros.

Activision

Microsoft

Capcom

Sega

EA

Ubisoft

Neutral Strongly AgreeStrongly disagree

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Paradox

Riot

Stardock

Bohemia

Deep Silver

NCSoft

Hi-Rez

Wargaming.net

Trion Worlds

Nexon

Neutral Strongly Agree

Who do gamers trust? (minor publishers)

Strongly disagree

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Hi-Rez

Wargaming.net

Trion Worlds

Nexon

Bohemia

Stardock

NCSoft

Paradox

Deep Silver

Riot

0% 33.333% 66.667% 100%

I am unfamiliar with this publisher:

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Top 5 causes for loss of trust• included microtransactions in a game

•released a bad game in a series I enjoyed

•mislead by the game’s marketing

•bought a game that was broken

•botched game launch

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I have promised to stop buying the games of a publisher after they lost my trust

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

Yes No

42%58%

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the data•Full slides available soon

•Download the data: famousaspect.com/gdc15-data

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continue the conversation•Email: [email protected]

•Twitter: @FamousAspect

•Articles, tools and templates: FamousAspect.com


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