62% of the most engaged video game players no longer buy full-price releases, according to a new survey.
That’s according to the Generations in Play report, developed by IGN Entertainment in association with Kantar and UC Berkeley, which it says is based on polling of thousands of “highly-committed” consumers in the US, UK, and Australia.
According to the report, 38% of Millennials (people aged 30 – 44) and 42% of Gen Z (those aged 14 – 29) said they still buy full-price games, but only 20% Gen X (people aged 46 – 61) said they would.
Commenting on the report, The Games Business’s Christopher Dring said it reflected a market where consumers have more than ever to play, and less demand to rush out to buy new releases that could also be unpolished at launch.
“The market has shifted,” he told VGC. “Consumers are ‘full’ in terms of things to play, watch, and read. Plus, games have a habit of launching unfinished or in need of a patch or two. So, considering those two factors, the drive to rush out day one and purchase a game isn’t there in the way it used to be. The upside is that games are living for longer, and it’s not unusual for big games to sell for years and decades.
“There is a generational shift, too. Although I am cautious of drawing too many conclusions here. A lot of the buying and playing habits of older gamers might be due to the fact that they have less time and more money, versus younger generations, where the opposite is true. We’ll see how that plays out over time.”
According to Karl Stewart, SVP of IGNE Global Marketing, the Generations in Play report is focused on “highly qualified entertainment cinephiles” and not “casuals”. “We’re talking about people who basically say: I only have so many hours in the week, and this is still where I choose to spend my disposable time,” he told the Brands in Play podcast.
The report indicates further diverging habits between the three generations of consumers, including:
- Gen X consumers prioritize Google search for discovering new games, while 85% of Millennials favor YouTube, and Gen Z prioritizes social media.
- Generation X respondents said they favor single-player games, Generation Z prefers multiplayer titles to almost the same degree, and Millennials are almost evenly split.
- Generation X and Millennials are more likely to return to games in order to complete or master them, while Gen Z are more motivated by new customization or community content.
- Consumption of game guides varies by generation, with Gen X indexing higher on tips videos, Millennials on map tools, and Generation Z on build guides.
- Generation X is highly skeptical of AI and more trusting of brand recognition, being 38% less likely to use AI for discovery and 44% less likely to believe that AI summaries are as good as human ones.
Further commenting on the findings, Stewart said that Gen X “come from a point of view of midnight opening, full price games, console base… [they] want to get everything they possibly can, get as much juice out of that lemon as possible.
“Whereas you look at Gen Z, who live in a world of platforms… games don’t end, but social and community become a massive part of their DNA. So they want to be a part of a community where they’re able to say, ‘I’m the most informed. I know most about this game.’”
