patapon

Banned
Dec 7, 2017
3,614
https://venturebeat.com/2018/11/07/...-more-on-games/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

Market research firm SuperData reported that gamers who pay for subscriptions spend about 45 percent more for games than non-subscribers. That's one reason why big game publishers like Sony, Microsoft, and Electronic Arts are betting more on subscription services.

superdata.jpg


According to SuperData, subscribers also spend twice as much on in-game content when compared to non-subscribers. Cosmetics, Season Passes, and Battle Passes are the most popular in-game purchases among subscribers.

The top three subscriptions made up 6 percent of the overall premium PC and premium console revenue in the third quarter of 2018. This number is expected to grow as more high-profile titles become available on subscription services.
 
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Conkerkid11

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
14,027
That's definitely interesting. I was wondering how that would work out for something like Origin Access Premier, as I cancelled my BFV pre-order knowing that I'd get it for just $15 a month instead, and do the same for Anthem as well.

What about all the people that would have potentially spent $60 on Sea of Thieves, but didn't due to getting it free for 14 days or whatever through that Game Pass trial? I see a lot of people using these subscriptions as a means of demoing games for free or cheap.

Also interesting that PS Now has such a large cut. I didn't realize people actually used that service. Microsoft could have charged for their Xbox 360 / Original Xbox emulator too. I wonder if they're regretting not doing that.
 

Alek

Games User Researcher
Verified
Oct 28, 2017
8,522
Note that this doesn't indicate a causal relationship. The simplest explanation is that those willing to add video games to their monthly subscription, are just those that are more committed to the hobby and or, those with more available income.

It doesn't mean that these players are spending more, or less because of these subscriptions. It doesn't answer that question.
 

Sacrilicious

Member
Oct 30, 2017
3,438
Subscriptions are pretty unappealing to more frugal gamers so it makes sense that those who are willing to subscribe tend to spend more in general.

Even if subscriptions weren't commonly offered, those same people would very likely be bigger spenders.

That said, it definitely seems like subscriptions and microtransactions tend to increase overall spending but the 45% number isn't a good measure of that.
 
Oct 30, 2017
2,206
Is that 45% more on top of subs, or 45% more because the sub model gets more money out of the consumer than just buying games would?
 

cmdrshepard

The Fallen
Oct 30, 2017
1,557
I find it astounding to me that PS Now is taking that big of a cut. I know ERA is not entirely representative of the wider gaming population but it is not really talked about here anywhere near Xbox game pass. I have no experience with Now as it is not available where I am but I imagine it is recently a more attractive service now that you can download titles
 

Sonicfan059

Member
Mar 4, 2018
3,024
That's definitely interesting. I was wondering how that would work out for something like Origin Access Premier, as I cancelled my BFV pre-order knowing that I'd get it for just $15 a month instead, and do the same for Anthem as well.

What about all the people that would have potentially spent $60 on Sea of Thieves, but didn't due to getting it free for 14 days or whatever through that Game Pass trial? I see a lot of people using these subscriptions as a means of demoing games for free or cheap.

Also interesting that PS Now has such a large cut. I didn't realize people actually used that service. Microsoft could have charged for their Xbox 360 / Original Xbox emulator too. I wonder if they're regretting not doing that.
PS Now is not an emulator, it's a streaming service. I think just starting a game with no waiting to download with a selection of 650+ games is pretty attractive.
 

SMD

Member
Oct 28, 2017
6,341
Some people view media as disposable, unfortunately this means that publishers are encouraged to treat it the same way.
 

cowbanana

Member
Feb 2, 2018
14,116
a Socialist Utopia
I don't have any of those gaming related subscriptions, but I think I spend far more buying retail games for my Switch and PS4 as well as digital games for my PC than I would on any of those subscriptions. The subscriptions are just entirely unappealing to me, but if you look at the casual market and the games they prefer then the above probably holds true.
 
Oct 25, 2017
11,882
United Kingdom
PSNow numbers are really impressive, especially when Sony hasn't really pushed the service hard or made a big deal about it like Microsoft have with GamePass.

It's clearly making money and it does have a big selection of games, so I can see Sony improving it even more for PS5 with plenty of PS1, PS2 classics and maybe PSP / Vita games too. They already started by adding the Download Game feature.
 

Chasing

The Fallen
Oct 26, 2017
10,916
Is that PSNow share % legit? Wow. I don't know why I thought people were passing up on that.
 

Reinhard

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,668
Surprised at the PS Now success because it is such a crap service for streaming, although I'm not sure how many PS4 games are available now for download play. But for streaming, the visual quality and input lag were both horrible.
 

DannyClash

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,468
"more on games" used interchangeably with "more for games" in the first few sentences is bad.
 
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oni-link

tag reference no one gets
Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,142
UK
Well most companies want a subscription model as it's consistent and predictable money, and yeah, people will generally pay more than of they would just buy what they use
 

ShinNL

Banned
Nov 27, 2017
389
I read this as people who are willing to spend money, are also willing to spend more of it...
I'm sure you're reading it correctly. I mean, if we go back to common sense ground, companies forcing subscriptions doesn't mean that I as a consumer will use it, and definitely not turn into a cash burning machine.

All it did for me was never getting an Xbox for online gaming, never play WoW after the beta, selling my Splatoon 2 cause it's unplayable offline.

Good job, greedy companies.
 

ElMexiMerican

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,509
At first I was kind of surprised at the slice of pie that PS Now has, but when you think about it it makes sense. Not only does it cost the most out of the lot, it's also been around the longest and it's on the largest platform for this gen (along with PC).
 

Alex840

Member
Oct 31, 2017
5,156
Wow, I'm shocked that PS Now makes more money than games pass.

Also, the stat that people who use those supcriptions spend more on games is very misleading. I'd like to see those stats with people who buy at least 6+ games a year.
 

BoxManLocke

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,160
France
Honestly have a very hard time believing that PS Now figure considering how it's barely established outside of the US and, you know, the quality and price of the service.
 

BoxManLocke

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,160
France
Do you have access to data to base this on, or just feels from Internet forums?

Data on what, that it's not as established outside the US ?

I don't have numbers obviously, but the fact that betas in Europe started years after, went on for ages, and the service finally settled in some EU countries (not even all of them) quite recently would be a good start
 

Deleted member 43

Account closed at user request
Banned
Oct 24, 2017
9,271
Data on what, that it's not as established outside the US ?

I don't have numbers obviously, but the fact that betas in Europe started years after, went on for ages, and the service finally settled in some EU countries (not even all of them) quite recently would be a good start
That really doesn't hold Now back much in this field.
 

honest_ry

Banned
Oct 30, 2017
4,288
I used to buy at least 50 games a year.

Lucky if I buy 10 a year now due to gwg and game pass.
 

Dr. Mario

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
14,042
Netherlands
45% more for games and twice as much in DLC, so does that mean they actually buy fewer games? And does the spending include the subscription cost, which I assume would already push them over the median of spending? (Fewer games makes sense given that they get them with the subscription, but they're also getting games that are more heavily monetized)
 

ElephantShell

10,000,000
Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,991
Very surprised that PSNow is that big. I hear way more about GamePass. I feel like most of the time I hear about PSNow it's not necessarily glowing endorsements, and everybody who uses GamePass seems to love it.
 

Deleted member 43

Account closed at user request
Banned
Oct 24, 2017
9,271
45% more for games and twice as much in DLC, so does that mean they actually buy fewer games? And does the spending include the subscription cost, which I assume would already push them over the median of spending? (Fewer games makes sense given that they get them with the subscription, but they're also getting games that are more heavily monetized)
No, see bolded.
 

dFORCE

Member
Dec 7, 2017
296
I used the 14-day trail. I would say that it felt good with most games that I played. There was some delay, but it was very playable.
 

Deleted member 43

Account closed at user request
Banned
Oct 24, 2017
9,271
Very surprised that PSNow is that big. I hear way more about GamePass. I feel like most of the time I hear about PSNow it's not necessarily glowing endorsements, and everybody who uses GamePass seems to love it.
It's significantly older and is on a much larger platform.

GP has done quite well for itself so far, but that fact shouldn't be a surprise.
 

pswii60

Member
Oct 27, 2017
26,799
The Milky Way
I can't imagine EA Access is still ahead of Game Pass? Where is Superdata getting this data? It's not like Microsoft, Sony or EA has been releasing subscriber numbers or breaking down their revenues in this area.
 

Bugalugs214

Banned
Nov 26, 2017
1,686
I cant see how they'd get any data from microsoft, seems like a tiny sample and they've just multiplied everything by 1000.
 

Deleted member 43

Account closed at user request
Banned
Oct 24, 2017
9,271
I can't imagine EA Access is still ahead of Game Pass? Where is Superdata getting this data? It's not like Microsoft, Sony or EA has been releasing subscriber numbers or breaking down their revenues in this area.
SuperData does market research, so its information is gathered through extrapolation from the people that participate (like Nieison, who bought SuperData a few months ago).

It's an estimate, but not horrifically off-base.
 

BoxManLocke

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,160
France
Oh, there's actually alotta shit on PSnow and you can download PS2 games to the console (because preservation).

Yeah the download thing is a great first step in making the service more enticing.

I mean if PS Now really had over 52% market share I guess I understand why Sony are taking their sweet time making it better, but it's still crazy to me.

Gamepass share is great for a service that isn't even 18 months old
 

Rudolph

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
671
Colorado by way of Louisiana
Yeah the download thing is a great first step in making the service more enticing.

I mean if PS Now really had over 52% market share I guess I understand why Sony are taking their sweet time making it better, but it's still crazy to me.

Gamepass share is great for a service that isn't even 18 months old

I guess I'm just not understanding where it's bad tbh is it the game selection not including PS4 titles? The streaming works well and there's like 700 games on there.
 

oni-link

tag reference no one gets
Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,142
UK
Yep.

This report is...absolutely meaningless.

Without context its pretty hard to take anything of substance away from it's findings

Personally I dislike the model because I'd rather just pay for what I want to use/play, and not endlessly pay for access to something, even if I have access to thousands of games, because I don't have the time or the will to play the 1000s of games I'm being charged to gain access to

It's clearly something that works for and appeals to a lot of people though, and if you have a gaming sub or two and play a few GaaS titles you're happy to keep funding post launch you will probably be spending more than someone who just plays offline without a sub
 
Oct 27, 2017
1,273
In how many countries is PS Now even available?

I get the feeling they just based this on how many systems are sold.