Most People Barely Buy Two Video Games A Year, New Report Finds

"More games are coming out than ever before. Over 18,000 separate store listings were added to Steam in 2024 alone. Our list of notable October releases hit 55, and there were dozens more games we could have included. It's a good thing that with the market so flooded, the average gamer is also buying tons of games. Oh wait, they aren't!"

"That data point was shared last week (via GameDiscoverCo) by the firm's head of gaming research, Mat Piscatella. The group's upcoming Future of Games report for the last quarter asked respondents how often they purchased new games. A whopping third said they don't even buy one a year. Only 4 percent purchase more than one game a month. Did you buy Hollow Knight: Silksong and Borderlands 4 in September? Congratulations: you are a statistical outlier."

"Piscatella was presenting the data in the context of the recent Game Pass price hikes. While most players barely buy games at all, a small fraction of them spend a ton. "Hyper enthusiast, price-insensitive players are really keeping things going, especially in the non-free-to-play gaming space," he wrote. We can imagine this as the group who's going to buy every game on their most-anticipated list no matter what. In fact, they might even buy the Deluxe Edition."

Over 18,000 separate store listings appeared on Steam in 2024, and dozens of notable releases arrived in October. Despite a flooded market, the majority of U.S. players buy very few new games, with a third buying none in a year and only 4 percent purchasing more than one game per month. A small subset of hyper-enthusiast, price-insensitive players buys many titles and sustains revenue, especially outside free-to-play. This spending concentration helps companies generate higher profits from a stable install base while typical players accumulate backlogs and buy infrequently.

Read at Kotaku