Study Reveals That More Than 60% of Gamers in the U.S. Acquire New Games Twice Annually or Less
The ever-increasing price tag on a new video game finds most American gamers infrequently buying new ones, a study by the analytical firm's Circana confirming. It paints quite a picture of the small bunch of super buyers being far apart from the rest of the gaming public.
Survey Data on How Often People Buy Games
Circana has asked the simple question "How often do you buy new games" of American players the answers reveal that a combined 63% buy at most twice a year a new title.
- More than once a month 4%
- About once a month 10%
- Once every three months 22%
- Once every six months 18%
- Once a year 12%
- Less than once a year 33%
How a Minority of Players Influences Game Pricing
According to Circana analyst Matt Piskatala, the paid video game market is heavily dependent on 14% of gamers buying new releases regularly, mostly driving the high price of premium products.
Matt Piskatala, Analyst at Circana
For years now, I've been discussing this particular trend in usage of money on games. Where do all these premium gamepads, $149 collector's editions, and Pro versions of consoles come from, and what explains the price increase. It's all because the main expenses fall on affluent, price-insensitive gamers, while the rest of the users are increasingly turning to freemium releases.
The above study states that this affluent minority is the target for the high-priced deluxe editions and hardware, while the rest of the player base is increasingly leaning towards free-to-play games or spending limits.
Broad Market Price Sensitivity
The above surveys also find more evidence from market reactions reported lately. Usually, when Microsoft announces a new Game Pass tariff, the subscription cancellation page on the website will always shut down shortly due to high traffic. This increase because of just an increase of $10 a month becomes a strong indicating factor that most consumers are highly price sensitive, further strengthening the study findings.
