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News

  Study: 40 Percent Of U.S. Console Users Buy Games Via Direct Download
by Leigh Alexander
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October 26, 2009
 
Study: 40 Percent Of U.S. Console Users Buy Games Via Direct Download
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Forty percent of American console users have purchased games or game levels via digital download, finds a new survey, although a much smaller percentage of users studied "usually" buy full games this way.

Intelligence firm Today's Gamers/TNS and Gamesindustry.com carried out several national surveys of consumers in both the U.S. and Western European markets, analyzing permeation of digital distribution, and found 15 percent of users buy games by direct download instead of at retail.

On solely the next-generation home console front -- Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii -- that figure goes up to 25 percent in the U.S., and looking only at PC users, the results are similar at 23 percent of users who buy games online via download.

In the UK, however, direct download is less prevalent: Just 7 percent of all console users and 14 percent of all PC users buy that way.

58 percent of the U.S. population plays games on consoles, and 41 percent plays PC games; 43 percent of those console players download either levels or complete games.

But for Xbox and PlayStation 3 alone, the figures jump to 73 percent and 68 percent, respectively. The download figure for Wii users is 46 percent.

A full graph of notable results reads as follows:



"With the growing part of games being played and paid for online, a key way to monitor the complete games business is by asking consumers directly about their overall game behavior and spending taking the complete population as a starting point," said researcher Peter Warman. "An additional advantage of this approach is insight across all platforms as the traditional divide between the online casual and core console market has evaporated."
 
   
 
Comments

Andre Thomas
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If there is one thing I get from this, its the fact consumers still want the physical product which in my opinion is good. To further add it also demonstrate the fact that downloads are a nitch market

Danny Pampel
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I think more interesting is the fact that outside of the US, console gamers don't really want to pay for new content for their games (levels etc) yet this is the model that a lot of publishers are looking at.

Andre Thomas
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@Danny Pampel

after paying $60USD and $10 for DLC all you have is a $70 game. As I have said the honeymoon is over and gamers are rebelling not just against the cost of games, but DLC also.

Danny Pampel
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@Andre

I totally agree. I am once again considering returning to the world of PC gaming. As much as I love my 360 the hours I put into playing UT, Enemy Territory were insane. User made maps, mods kept me happy. I spend a lot on games and I've gotten tired of buying map packs.


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