78 Percent of "Core Gamers" Buy Used Games
By Date: 03-06-2013 Views:
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A new NPD report polled "Core Gaming" on their spending habits, which shows a few interesting stats about the industry. NPD defines a "core gamer" as someone that spends more than 5 hours per week gaming on a console or gaming PC across certain "non-casual" genres. According to their study, 14% of the US population aged 9 and above would be considered a "core gamer," representing an audience of 37.5 million people.
Core gamers don't exclusively purchase new games, however. According to the NPD study,78 percent of core players will regularly buy used games, while 70 percent regularly buy full digital versions of retail titles.
That being what it is, new physical copies still dominate, which an overwhelming 88 percent saying they normally buy new retail copies. In other relevant news: the survey found that users spent an average of $129 on games and content during the holiday quarter, and the number of people who spent less on gaming that usual in the past year was ten percentage points above those who spent more.
Liam Callahan, NPD analyst, says that the survey suggests that "while many core gamers indicate they are purchasing full games and digital add-on content frequently," there is still "plenty of room to grow," given that a sizable percentage of core gamers have never purchased any digital content.
What about you guys? Do you like used, new or digital more?
