Online gamers are logging more hours, but spending less money

"Interactive marketing firm Future Ads revealed a very telling survey from Gamevance today, showing that casual gamers were playing games for longer, yet were spending less money on them overall."

Warcraft still got growing numbers, Its not about spending money its more about a Quality issue look at the mmos that come out in the pass two years there was not one game Casual gamers will like so much like World of Warcraft! .... Paying people, Future Ads is not one of the more trusted surveys how how people did fill out there surveys....

I think it’s got a very viable chance at making it.

I think the first company that comes out w/ an immersive, Casualcore (casual/hardcore hybrid) friendly game that supplies incentive filled, yet unobtrusive micro transactions will totally dominate the PC market and thus, mmo market.

Problem is: that’s no easy undertaking. If the “John Rigatoni (or w/e, EA’s head) slip-up” about TOR is true, and it’s done in a respectable manner (IE – box sales, no monthly sub, cosmedic, but enticing microtransactions, purchasable mini-xpacks every 3-6 months) we could see the first successful MT based game in the Western Market. Please Note: IF DONE RESPECTABLY. If it’s just “look how much money the Asians are willing to spend. Let’s do that!!” It’ll fail miserably like every other F2P game to capture and hold a substantial audience.

But, this survey is slightly misleading, in that people are cutting back on ALL things, not specifically games.

Console gaming is too expensive. Games for consoles cost way too much and often provide far too little gaming time for that cost. At $60 to $70 a pop, console games are just outrageously expensive.

PC games on the other hand, are a more reasonable $40 to $50, but that too is still a bit high. When you consider that when Valve drops prices on Steam you see a HUGE spike in game sales, a 3,000% spike, that shows that a lot of people agree that games are too expensive.

Look at sales of downloadable content games, PopCap games, iPhone games, and you can see there is a huge market for lower priced games. It's up to game developers to realize that the market can only handle a small number of high priced games, and most games aren't worth their cost, thus the thriving rental and resell market for games.

Simply put, time to look for new business models. Don't be like the music industry and try to cling onto old business models that are dying. Be creative, be proactive, and change with the times.

This is the business lifecycle playing out perfectly. The MMO pioneers were able to get away with monthly charges, few players in the industry. As competition expands, consumer prices drop and quality improves. The free to play model was destined to be the dominant player. With server costs getting down to miniscule amounts along with bandwidth (thanks, fiber), selling a boxed , free MMO is viable. I know it isn't the same thing, but Blizzard has run Battle.net without damaging the bottom line.

Games are following the path of film. Most of what we watch comes to us at no charge and is ad supported (especially with Joost and Hulu picking up steam). Only a few major productions garner premiums (theaters) with the bulk going for next to nothing to consumers.

As any industry matures, profit margins drop as competition drives down prices. Free games are here to stay for it is but the natural course of market economics.

quite a few good f2p games out there now, Puzzle Pirates being one of them. I don't even have an active mmo sub anymore.

It's all about the cost. I always thought it was ridiculous to pay a monthly fee for a game. However, I think if done right, the microtransaction business model can work very well.

I'm thinking it will continue to rise, even if the economy stabilizes. There's millions of casual gamers out there, or gamers that don't like monthly fees, to support these games.

And yeah, console games are far too expensive these days. I own a PS3 and use to own a 360 -- sold the 360 and kept the PS3 around for blue ray movies and the occasional 'must have' exclusive game. Sixty dollars for a typical game, when I can get the same game for $40-50 on the PC? No thanks. With Steam you even have games like Killing Floor coming out that launch at $20 and provide plenty of entertainment -- one of the reasons it was at the top of their sales chart for awhile.

As a side note, I've spent some time with the Chinese Aion client and it was my first taste of the Asian P2P method. Have to say I really like it, and see some potential for it over here. For starters, they don't buy a client -- no $50 box or download to get. Then, they just buy an amount of game time to use. I think a bit over 80 hours cost $7 -- you could choose how much time you wanted to get based on 2 hour 5 minute 'units'. With the number of casual gamers being introduced to the MMO genre every year, I think this method would really work for them (players and developers/producers). Just from a perspective stand point, you put little money down on a game up front and you know exactly what you're getting with any money you do put down. It makes sense to me, at least. :/

I'm stunned by credulity on display here.

There's a reason the phrase is "Lies, damn lies, and statistics".

Absent any information whatsoever on the methodology used, this "report" isn't worth the bits it's made of.

A site that pushes F2P games releases a "survey" that is then reported by a company that wants to sell adds and everyone just nods sagely?

Wow, just... wow.

I've been hooked on FreeRealms and just started Wizard101, and I have to agree with LaughingTarget that the victory of low-sub/boxed-no-sub/free MMOs looks inevitable.

1] MMOs have inclusive (= low) system requirements, and this levels the playing field almost immediately - developers can make games using old engines or stylized graphics and they simply won't look markedly inferior to their high cost rivals.

2] Big MMOs tend to take small chances, and while playing it safe of course makes for a sound investment strategy it just isn't fresh for players; Aion & Champions aren't even out (here) yet but their gameplay is sharply familiar to any MMO fan who plays them - wildcards like FR and W101 won't be to everyone's tastes, but their 'newness' is more likely to hook than merely satisfy.

3] Momentum appears to be shifting quite inexorably, and at this point it looks like the alternative models are HUGELY more likely to land a AAA trailblazer hit than the traditional model.
Unless Western Aion scores some kind of shock subscriber landslide, the subscription side of the market has nothing confirmed in the works but a stream of niche post-apoc, sci-fi & shooter MMOs which - if we're all honest here - don't have aspirations higher than maybe being the next EVE success story.
Guild Wars came close and FreeRealms teeters on the edge of mass market respectability, but if something the caliber of ToR, FF XIV or Blizzard MMO Mk.II launches with any model other than $15-a-month I'd say there is a good chance it will do irrevocable damage to the very principle of needing to pay that $15.

With the passage of time I just cannot see any current torchbearers but WoW proclaiming "thou must pay dollars numbering fifteen monthly!" to the world, nor any more on the horizon.

Where did you hear that?? Last word from blizzard presented a arrow up maybe you hear rumors but rumors can not be trusted.

Console gaming is too expensive, yet I can go out and buy quite a few next-gen games for $19.99 ea new? I think we are just seeing people being cheap-if you can't afford twenty bucks every other week to buy a game, you shouldn't be gaming, you should look for a better or second job.

Don't bet on F2P, usually the experience is substandard and a grind fest with poor production values. Right now the sheer volume of them creates an illusion of their success, but eventually the market for them will fall out once people realize you get what you pay for, even in a f2p MMO-no real money spent, a second-class existence.