A recent survey casts some interesting light on digital sales
If there’s one phrase you get used to hearing when talking about PC games, it’s “I’ll wait for a bundle or sale.” It’s common knowledge if you wait a while, you can get a better price through places like Steam, Green Man Gaming, or various bundles. This has been backed up by a new NPD report that confirms many PC gamers don’t buy a game until there’s a price drop.
The Understanding PC Gaming 2014 report polled over 6,000 people in the USA from the age of nine and up and found that just 46% of those questioned bought PC games digitally, which feels really low. Of that 46%, most were “far less likely” to pay the full price for a PC game.
If you look at the current Humble Bundle, it’s offering over $100 worth of games for just $10 if you buy at the top tier. True, almost all of the games came out in 2013 but if you’re patient, then you’ve got a great deal on your hands. (Steven is right — you all should play Gunpoint)
It’s hard to argue with gamers wanting to show patience to save some money; I’m on a fairly tight budget myself so I know I’m not able to afford many games at launch. As the NPD remarks, publishers and developers need to adjust their expectations about how well a game will sell at launch and instead look at a longer term viewpoint.
Half of PC gamers wait for sales to buy – survey [Games Industry International]
