Most PC Gamers Wait for Discounts, Latest Survey Finds

Browsing through forums, one often comes across opinions that, by buying games at launch, gamers themselves confirm publishers' rightness to impose horrendously high prices. But is the percentage of these people large enough for companies to take this into account when pricing their titles?

Research conducted on behalf of Ultra (on a sample of 2,000 PC gamers from the US and the UK) shows that only 36% of them are willing to pay full price for a game they are interested in.

1. 32% of those surveyed said they prefer to wait until a game goes on sale or appears in a bundle (such as Humble Bundle).
2. Another 32% of respondents are of the opinion that the games they are interested in "can be obtained for free." (probably referring to giveaways organized by Epic Game Store, among others).
3. We also learned from the report that 75% of surveyed gamers believe that AAA games are too expensive.
4. For 87% of those surveyed, discounts play a key role in their decision to buy a game.
5. Independent games are very popular among gamers. "Indies" are bought by as many as 75% of respondents.
6. Interestingly, among those who avoid indie games, 41% said the reason is uncertainty about the enjoyment offered by the title. In contrast, 32% of people are of the opinion that they do not reach for indies due to lack of time. 17% of respondents are of the opinion that discovering new indie games is difficult.

In conclusion, these days the best way to save a few bucks and nerves caused by the so-called "childhood diseases", which unfortunately more and more games are suffering from, is patience. Many titles can be obtained much more cheaply after just a few months, and, most importantly, in much better technical condition.

• surveys and research
• game prices
• digital PC promotions