Who is Buying Games?

We’ll see who is buying games and what’s their favorite way to buy a new one.

1. The gaming industry reached a global market size of $135 billion in 2018. It’s expected to increase to $196 billion in 2025.

(Source: GamesIndustry, Forbes)

2018 marked an impressive 10.9% increase from the previous year.

In the US alone, the total consumer spending in the video game industry was at $36 billion in 2017. Its biggest share – $29.1 billion – was spent on content. In addition, $4.7 billion went for hardware and another $2.2 billion – for accessories, including VR. Watching a show or a movie on a streaming platform is not enough – gamers want to be in the action.

2. 36 years is the average age of a game purchaser.

(Source: ESA)

This is a bit higher than the average gamer’s age, which is 34.

Further examination reveals that men are more willing to buy games – as 64% of the most frequent game purchasers are male.

3. People aged 18-24 are most likely to purchase a game.

(Source: Earnest)

In a survey by Earnest, where they analyzed data provided by thousands of applicants for student loan refinancing, 16.3% of the aged 18-24 stated they had spent money on games. They were followed by those aged 25-27 with 14.0%, and 28-30 years old with 12.2%.

The group spending the least on games was of those aged 35-40 with 8.6%. Funnily enough, there was a rise in the percentage for people over 40 – 9.4%. The cause could be parents buying games for their children.

4. People with high school diplomas or higher are more likely to make a video game purchase.

(Source: Earnest)

If divided by education level, the biggest group of game purchasers is that of people with a High School Diploma – 18.5%. Next are people with Associate Degree (16.9%), followed by those with a Bachelor’s one (14.7%).

The general correlation is that people with advanced degrees are less likely to make a game-related purchase.

5. 66% of people say the quality of the graphics is important when choosing a game to purchase.

(Source: ESA)

63% of interviewees say price is an important factor to them. Finally, 61% find value in a game with a good story.

Other factors influencing the purchase of a game include “being a part of favorite series” (51% say it’s important) or its “online gameplay compatibility” (50%).

Fun fact: 42% of gamers purchase games without trying them, compared to 30% who first download a trial or a demo version.

6. 79% of game purchases are in digital format.

(Source: ESA)

This includes subscriptions, full games, add-on content, mobile apps, and social network games. The number refers to all content purchases in US for 2017.

To put this in perspective, in 2010 only 31% of all sales were in digital format.