An interesting survey from Gamevance was revealed today from interactive marketing firm Future Ads. The survey showed that casual gamers are spending more time playing games, but spending less money to play them. The current recession surely has something to do with this, with nearly four in five casual gamer households reporting that they were making 'significant' cuts to their console and accessory spending this year.

Additionally, 90% of respondents reported that they believe consoles will become 'a thing of the past.' Of the 8,000 gamers surveyed, 77% said that the biggest drawback to consoles was the price. As my boyfriend has said, "Gaming is an expensive hobby." A whopping 96% also prefer a single online hub versus multiple sites for their online gaming.

Clearly, paying a ton of money for consoles, accessories, games and monthly subscriptions is something that people are not as willing to do with the current economy situation, and the availability of great free-to-play online games and MMORPGs. This could all change once we are out of this recession rut, but this might start a huge swelling in free-to-play online gaming.

You can view more of the survey here.

Posted by Nikki Lee
June 19, 2009

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