A new study has found that a quarter of gamers in the United Kingdom have downloaded and paid for complete games or extra levels via their console.
The role of brick and mortar game retailers is diminishing, according to the UK National Gamers Survey 2009. Seven per cent of console owners said that they usually buy games as downloads via their console, compared to 14 per cent of PC gamers. The figures rise to 16 per cent and 23 per cent in the US.
Speakers at today's London Games Conference will predict that digital distribution is set to outstrip traditional retail sales within three years, and suggest that 40 per cent of companies within the games sector are unprepared for the rate at which this shift will take place.
55 per cent of the UK population play games on consoles, 35 per cent on PC and 19 per cent on mobile phones, according to survey conductors TNS and Gamesindustry.com.
The 2009 UK National Gamers Survey is part of a series of national surveys conducted in the Netherlands, France, Germany, Belgium, the UK and the US with more than 13,000 respondents.
Yep, you can count me in as part of the 25% that is increasingly buying DLC, and virtually all my PC games this year have been purchased through Steam which has been a brilliant service and without a single issue.
Far more convenient than travelling into town, through the crowds of dick-heads to pick up a retail copy and often a lot cheaper(via Steam) as they regularly have great deals on various titles or compendiums of titles...not ar$ed about having a physical copy just as long as if my system crashes I can retrieve the games and DLC I've paid for...definitely the future of gaming for me!
13,000 people in the survey compared with how many millions of gamers?
I for one don't think DL games will out strip shops for 1 simple reason. The Pre-owned market. Downloaded games offer the consumer no value once finished, meaning it's dead money.
A game you can finish in 10 hours just taking up space on your hard drive, with no monetary gain for the consumer? 3 year old games going for Ł20 on download only? I don't see how that can succeed when you can get the same titles for under a tenner in store.
I'll stick to the actual product thanks. Having no option to sell my past purchases so I can buy new ones just doesn't appeal to me in the slightest.
The younger gamers get into the gaming trend from being able to purchase lower priced games. I know I did. Parents won't fork out silly sums to keep the kids happy. So killing the next generation of consumers' interest for short term gain seems strange to me.
What an overblown conclusion. most dlc is only available online. So how else are people going to be able to get it.
I was thinking the exact same thing - where can I "download" a disc? I mean really.
Besides, with online gaming if you want to keep playing with your friends you usually have to pay for some kind of expansion pack - maps or levels or something. That doesn't mean they don't go to stores for the initial game buy though.
What an overblown conclusion. most dlc is only available online. So how else are people going to be able to get it.
Not really!
If the DLC hadn't sold in sufficient numbers you can be sure that a retail boxed version would've appeared in the shops pretty sharpish, but the fact is people (well in the UK at least!), do indeed appear to be embracing DLC and digital downloads.
13,000 people in the survey compared with how many millions of gamers?
I for one don't think DL games will out strip shops for 1 simple reason. The Pre-owned market. Downloaded games offer the consumer no value once finished, meaning it's dead money.
A game you can finish in 10 hours just taking up space on your hard drive, with no monetary gain for the consumer? 3 year old games going for Ł20 on download only? I don't see how that can succeed when you can get the same titles for under a tenner in store.
I'll stick to the actual product thanks. Having no option to sell my past purchases so I can buy new ones just doesn't appeal to me in the slightest.
The younger gamers get into the gaming trend from being able to purchase lower priced games. I know I did. Parents won't fork out silly sums to keep the kids happy. So killing the next generation of consumers' interest for short term gain seems strange to me.
Have to say that this isn't an issue for me as I'm not interested in selling the games I buy as I prefer to have them as part of a collection, and revisit them from time-to-time, unless of course they're complete crap, but then again their second hand value would also be pretty poor as well in that instance.
I had 3 profiles on my PS3 they where all used by me for different games. I decided to delete two of these profiles and then found out too late that all DLC only works via the actual profile that downloaded it, even though I was using the same debit card on all 3 accounts. Nasty nasty con!
Another thing I dont like about DLC on the PS3 is...
If I decided to sell my PS3 with all the downloaded games I've bought from PSN and I didn't want any new owner using my profile, they won't be able to use these games that I own. So theres no 2nd hand value in DLC.
I dunno about anyone else, but I think 25% is actually quite a small number.
The headline could've easily read that 75% of gamers are rejecting digital distribution.
The good thing about DLC/Digital Distribution though is that devs can take more risks as the games tend to be smaller and cheaper to make. They can create a concept, and if its a success on PSN/XBLA they can work on a full price retail game.
I think we are a long way away from devs putting all their eggs in the download basket yet. I reckon they'll just use it as a test arena for the next few years.
What an overblown conclusion. most dlc is only available online. So how else are people going to be able to get it.
Not really!
If the DLC hadn't sold in sufficient numbers you can be sure that a retail boxed version would've appeared in the shops pretty sharpish, but the fact is people (well in the UK at least!), do indeed appear to be embracing DLC and digital downloads.
I think its more a matter of what people will pay for at retail. Less are inclined to buy simple small additions that only last a few hours for Ł10 a time. however the release of full expansions at retail and the popularity of GOTY eds that contain original games with dlc show that people are just as inclined to buy additional content at retail if it is suitablly priced and of substansial length.
The real test i feel will be the comparitive figures of how many people download the ballad of gay tony as apposed to buy the episodes from liberty city disc.
A slightly different matter, but related nonetheless, regarding games being purchased online and tied to online accounts via activations, if I'm going to accept that it will have to mean that the games cost a fraction of what they cost now since a third party can effectively execute a command with the press of a button and lock me out of my games collection, and value is also lost when one considers that second-hand sales are all but out of the question.
This sentiment applies to DLC as well where I'm concerned.
Are they talking about DLC game add-ons or GoD Games on Demand full games, theres a big difference between the two, DLC i may buy from time to tme but Games on demand no not a a million years, very misleading title me thinks.
What an overblown conclusion. most dlc is only available online. So how else are people going to be able to get it.
Not really!
If the DLC hadn't sold in sufficient numbers you can be sure that a retail boxed version would've appeared in the shops pretty sharpish, but the fact is people (well in the UK at least!), do indeed appear to be embracing DLC and digital downloads.
I think its more a matter of what people will pay for at retail. Less are inclined to buy simple small additions that only last a few hours for Ł10 a time. however the release of full expansions at retail and the popularity of GOTY eds that contain original games with dlc show that people are just as inclined to buy additional content at retail if it is suitablly priced and of substansial length.
The real test i feel will be the comparitive figures of how many people download the ballad of gay tony as apposed to buy the episodes from liberty city disc.
No company in their right mind would even bother to create a retail boxed add-on such as new clothes for a character or a couple of extra race tracks as the logistics of getting that onto shelves along with the various "men in the middle" who want their twopence worth would mean the profit would be minimal...but I do agree that it will be interesting to see what the download versus physical media split will be with GTA: BoGT!
I've downloaded games before, but I have very little interest in DLC. To date I have only bought two Valkyria Chronicles DLCs and and Wipeout Fury, everything else I have no interest in. I would sooner put it towards full games, be they classics from VC or PSN or retail ones. To me, there is no contest in paying Ł5 (usually less) for a full PS1 and paying Ł8 for a map pack. Most DLC is a con. Companies should be like Koei with the DWG2 DLC and make it free.
A new study has found that a quarter of gamers in the United Kingdom have downloaded and paid for complete games or extra levels via their console.
Slightly confusing summary for the report - as previously pointed out, there is a still a difference between buying games online and buying DLC. Given that the article then goes on to say that only 7% of console owners have bought a game as a download would suggest that online distribution of games still has a long way to go in the console market! However, the specific wording is:
Seven per cent of console owners said that they usually buy games as downloads via their console
'Usually' sounds a bit vague to me, would I count as part of that 7%? (I've only bought Sensible Soccer, Stardust and one other (can't remember what) as downloads, as far as consoles are concerned anyway)
The report certainly sounds like a PR stunt for those pushing downloading of full games on the consoles (so Sony and Microsoft then..).
Well if "Cloud" gaming takes off then downloading will not even come into the equation as you will just connect to an instance/session of that game on a VM somewhere. As for downloading 50 gig plus games even on say 10-20 meg BB wil still be a long haul (unless you could install first few levels/campaigns etc first then get the rest as you play)
As pointed above sounds like PR bull rather than fact but we will see.
I havent bought anything from DL and dont plan to buy any DLC right now either.
I want a physical product and free DLC.
ISP's will need to improve dramatically in three years for this to happen, and even then, people still want to see a disc, as they dont want to lose their games if their HDD goes bang.
The only thing that would be in its favour would be if if it started to get cheaper to download it, than buy a disc.
I just hope its the "right" kind of DLC being bought here like Braid, Wipeout, Fat Princess and such. If its the massively overpriced map packs or the stuff that should have been included with the game ala Res 5, SF4, Megaman then its a huge shame.
Im a big fan of steam but only when it suits me. Braid for Ł3.50? yes please. Dawn Of War 2 half price and still Ł8 more expensive than play? Go F**k yourself
I just hope its the "right" kind of DLC being bought here like Braid, Wipeout, Fat Princess and such. If its the massively overpriced map packs or the stuff that should have been included with the game ala Res 5, SF4, Megaman then its a huge shame.
Im a big fan of steam but only when it suits me. Braid for Ł3.50? yes please. Dawn Of War 2 half price and still Ł8 more expensive than play? Go F**k yourself
Hence the reason I haven't bought a game of Steam to date. If the right game has a price tag that's lower than retail and other online stores, then I'm game. Until then they can forget about it.
"The role of brick and mortar game retailers is diminishing, according to the UK National Gamers Survey 2009. Seven per cent of console owners said that they usually buy games as downloads via their console,..." (snip)
So 93% of console owners usually buy boxed games in a normal shop or online.
"Speakers at today's London Games Conference will predict that digital distribution is set to outstrip traditional retail sales within three years, ..."
Rubbish. See stats in survey above. Their predictions clearly do not match up with the statistics, unless something very unexpected happens.
The problem with DLC (and that includes full games as well as add ons) is that it's not generating that many new sales, just moving current sales away from retail (bricks and morter/online stores) to downloads, and you only have to look at the way retail treats PC games these days to see what that can do.
PS, since the vast majority of console games are consumed by children, who don't control their own spending, that means most of the time they are bought by a parent, who is far more likely to want to see a physical "something" for their money, right?
PPS, Why are Microsoft selling their "classic" downloadable 360 games for Ł15-Ł20? Aren't they meant to be competing with the 2nd hand market, where these same games sell for half that?
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