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72% of US next-gen pre-order customers chose PS5

29% of the respondents to a VGM study said they tried to pre-order a next-gen console but were not able to do so

A study from market research company VGM indicated that US players who have pre-ordered a next-gen console have predominantly gone for the disc edition of the PlayStation 5.

The study was conducted from September 23 to 25, 2020, using a sample of 511 US-based respondents, representative of the US general gaming population.

Among them, 15% said they managed to successfully pre-order a next generation console. Within this group, 72% went for the disc edition of the PS5, 30% went for the Xbox Series X, 10% for the PS5 digital edition and 8% for the Xbox Series S.

29% of the respondents said they attempted to pre-order a next-gen console but were not able to do so. Among them, 58% were trying to pre-purchase a PS5 disc edition, 40% an Xbox Series X, 21% a digital edition of the PS5 and 11% an Xbox Series S.

The sample was also divided into three categories: casual gamers, midcore, and hardcore. In the latter segment, 28% said they preordered a next-gen console, while 42% said they were unsuccessful in their attempt to do so.

Looking at the next-gen game offering, 52% of the respondents who have pre-ordered a PS5 (or who intend to buy one by the end of 2020) said that Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales was the exclusive game that encouraged them to do so, followed by God of War: Ragnarok (42%) and Final Fantasy XVI (32%).

For the Xbox Series X and S, Halo Infinite was for 45% of the respondents who pre-ordered (or intend to do so by the end of the year) the exclusive game that motivated the purchase decision. It was followed by Fable at 26% and Forza Motorsport 8 with 24%.

Looking at non-exclusive titles, 45% of the respondents who have pre-ordered either of the upcoming consoles (or intend to do so by the end of 2020) said Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War was the title that motivated their decision, followed by Assassin's Creed: Valhalla at 31%.

The overall reasons for choosing a system over the other were not surprising. 45% of the interviewees who were leaning towards the PS5 said it was to be able to play its exclusive titles, while 42% of those interested in the Xbox Series said they wanted to be able to sign up for its subscription programs, such as Game Pass.

On a separate note, 63% of the respondents said they were unaware of the recent purchase of ZeniMax by Microsoft.

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Marie Dealessandri avatar

Marie Dealessandri

Deputy Editor

Marie Dealessandri joined GamesIndustry.biz in 2019 to head its Academy section. A journalist since 2012, she started in games in 2016 at B2B magazine MCV. She can be found (rarely) tweeting @mariedeal, usually on a loop about Baldur’s Gate and the Dead Cells soundtrack. GI resident Moomins expert.

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