Study: Good reviews and price most important for consumers
71% say reviews are extremely important; 12% say they mostly buy pre-owned
Research has shown that good reviews and price are two of the most important considerations for UK consumers thinking about buying a game.
When asked how they thought gaming should be promoted, 71 per cent of people surveyed by Kinetic ad agency and market research firm said they considered reviews extremely important considerations and 64 per cent said price was extremely important.
Packaging was considered the least important consideration (8 per cent) and 17 per cent considered a clear website URL offering more information on a game important.
A strong advertising drive before the release of a game was found to have a significant impact on sales, with 36 per cent of people saying they either pre-ordered a new game or bought one during the first few weeks of release.
The study also found that 54 per cent of UK adults - more than 32m people - were likely to buy a new game in the next year and the majority - 47 per cent - would buy their game online.
In contrast, 36 per cent said they bought most games in an entertainment store such as HMV and 16 per cent bought most games in the supermarket.
As for when gaming was on people's minds, 30 per cent said they thought of gaming while "outdoors and on the move", 42 per cent said while watching TV and 66 per cent said they thought of gaming while online. suggesting that a strong online presence could be a wise move for games manufacturers.
In the wake of the publicity surrounding EA's new Online Pass, just 12 per cent of those surveyed said that they mostly buy their games second hand.