Women lead free-to-play and mobile game adoption while men spend more on average.
PlaySpan, a Visa company, worked with Frank N. Magid Associates to study the online games business. This research found that an overwhelming majority (77 percent) of gamers are spending more time playing free-to-play (F2P) games than pay-to-play games. In the new Magid study on video game business models, the survey established that 110 million Americans prefer F2P games. HAWKEN is one of the growing number of console-quality F2P games, check out the video below.
The study polled gamers on a variety of topics including favored platform, spending behavior and preference between F2P and pay-to-play gaming models. The study uncovered F2P games were seen as most attractive to female gamers, with 82 percent of women preferring a free model, compared to just 72 percent of men. The study also found men were nearly three times more likely than women to cite pay-to-play or subscription based games as their favorite.
Among those playing F2P games, men were three times more likely than women to make in-game purchases, averaging $13.38 and $4.84 per month, respectively. The difference was most pronounced in men and women gamers 18-24 years old, where the average climbed to $30.59 and $3.95 per month, respectively.
“The shift in free-to-play games is becoming the norm in the gaming industry and this survey reinforces that trend,” said Robert Crawford, vice president of Frank N. Magid Associates. “We’re seeing free-to-play game revenue outpacing pay-to-play games when looking at the long-term average spend per year. It’s important that game developers recognize this change and be able to monetize it through new free-to-play gaming platforms.”
