The NPD Group has released some new info, including surprising data about core gamers and their preferences. Hey, you don’t need to tell me what core gamers like — Kinect, the Wii U GamePad, and the abolition of used games, amirite? No? Damn, I thought I was on to something.
Perhaps the most notable revelation in the report, titled Core Gaming 2014, is how gamers continue to feel about digital downloads vs. physical copies of games. According to the report, nearly 74% of American gamers say they’d still choose a disc over a download, even with Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft making such massive pushes in the opposite direction. Of course, what you say and what you actually do are entirely different things, but at the very least most gamers’ sentiment aligns with old-school packaging
The report contained other notable factoids too, including the fact that over 34 million Americans average over five hours of game-playing per week on PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. I’m slightly peeved that Nintendo consoles weren’t included, but I suppose the original Wii would skew the data with its army of casual buyers. No reason to snub the Wii U, though.
Despite the large preference for discs and packaging, the numbers are slowly changing. NPD noted that gamers going digital is “on the rise,” up approximately five percent year over year. We’ll eventually reach a fifty-fifty split if the trend continues, but the only thing publishers really need to do if they want to speed up the process is make certain titles download-only.
On second thought… maybe I shouldn’t be giving them any ideas.
[Via: IGN]
