Tuesday, September 13 2011
Amazon is the most popular online retailer from which to buy games, according to a study of gamers by ad network Tribal Fusion.
Almost three in four gamers buy from the online retailer, accounted for 73% of responses in an online survey of 937 people aged between 13 and 35 carried out by YouGov for the network in July.
The survey also found that 82% of gamers using a Nintendo Wii console buy from Amazon at least once a week. This compared with 74% using a PC.
More than half of those surveyed (53%) bought from Play.com and more than a third (36%) went to Game.co.uk to purchase. eBay was cited by a quarter of respondents.
On the high street, Game proved the most popular shopping destination for gamers, with 71%. HMV was visited by 39% of respondents, followed by Tesco (39%), Asda (23%) and Sainsbury’s (14%).
Those with Nintendo Wii consoles were also the most frequent purchasers of games at Tesco – 37% buying games at the supermarket at least once a week, compared to 25% of PlayStation users.
More than half (53%) of gamers hear of new releases online. Some 15% hear about new releases through TV, 12% family and friends, 9% word of mouth and 4% through retailers.
Online was also cited as the main source for researching games to buy, accounting for 73% of responses. Recommendations from family and friends accounted for 11%.
The study aimed to profile users demographically and behaviourally, as well as determine game genres and evaluate their purchase process.
A report by new media age in February suggested that casual gaming is on the rise (nma 5 May 2011). According to the 2011 UK National Games Survey, commissioned from Newzoo by RealGames, 18m Britons, or 36% of the online population, played social games last year. In addition, 30% of time on the internet is spent on social networks and 28% of social network time is spent gaming, making it the most engaging content on the platform behind core activities, such as chatting and sharing.
In July, it emerged that video game publisher Electronic Arts was to acquire social and casual gaming specialist PopCap, the firm behind popular social games Bejeweled, Zuma and Plants vs Zombies, which have seen download figures of over 1.5bn.
