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Core gamers are the focus again

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Core gamer

SuperData does research into all kinds of gaming trends. They have new data based on March 2014, and it’s good news. Core gamers are important again, as casual gaming starts to slip.

SuperData CEO, Joost van Dreunen, explains that with a $936 million digital games market in March, core gamers are coming back into favor:

Core gamers are once again becoming the industry focus as social and mobile game platforms soften and saturate. Several key releases on digital console and in the free-to-play category suggests a re-engagement of publishers with traditional core gamers. After a period in which casual gamers on social and mobile platforms were all that mattered, the traditional gaming experience returns with publishers seeking to stake their claim at the beginning of the new console cycle. The digital games market continues to grow, reaching $936 million in total sales in March, up 9% year-over-year. Saturation and increasing marketing expense on mobile and social platforms level the digital playing field for incumbent publishers. Titles like Titanfall, Hearthstone and Heroes of the Storm target traditional gamer audiences, as Zynga and King struggle repeat their initial success with casual audiences.

Gamers will be pleased to hear that the power of Zynga and King is waning. It’s our time again! So nice to know that publishers are focusing on traditional gamers. Hopefully this also means that we’ll have more traditional monetization mechanisms. You know, like the one where you buy the game and you go home with the complete package? Let’s all hope that this shift in the market just proves that micro transactions aren’t all they were cracked up to be.

Last Updated: April 17, 2014

17 Comments

  1. Sk3tz0

    April 17, 2014 at 19:21

    LoL.. Words like Core and Casual Gamers always reminds me of this Video.
    http://youtu.be/nK83m4ef0iU

    Reply

    • Rags

      April 17, 2014 at 19:27


      So are we getting a new Quake?

      Reply

      • Umar's Sin

        April 17, 2014 at 20:25

        THANKS SO MUCH FOR SHARING. Best video ever!!!

        Reply

      • Hermann Schwindt

        April 17, 2014 at 20:46

        Epic, epic video

        Reply

      • Alien Emperor Trevor

        April 17, 2014 at 22:08

        How do you play that without regenerating shields every 5 seconds. Madness. Limited ammo? Health packs? Make the bad man stop! 🙁

        Reply

      • Johan du Preez

        April 18, 2014 at 08:44

        You know whats funny the COD series runs on id tech3 🙂

        Reply

        • Rags

          April 18, 2014 at 11:25

          And its a good thing. Tech3 is technically still amazing despite its age. A lot of new engines have a lot of buffer overheads increasing input lag. Tech 3 is sooo responsive, vital for a competitive fps 🙂

          Reply

    • Aussious

      April 17, 2014 at 20:02

      Yeah What son, holding down!

      Reply

  2. Aussious

    April 17, 2014 at 19:54

    To me this was a no brainer The Wii bubble has burst and Kinect is pretty much Fucked!

    Reply

  3. Alien Emperor Trevor

    April 17, 2014 at 22:05

    Oh fuck me, what has this guy done! All the MBAs heads are going to explode, real people will die from skull shrapnel.

    “What? We can’t just release a shitty clone of a successful mobile or Facebook game & automatically make billions? NOOOOOOOOO!” BOOOOOOOOM!*(1)
    “What’s going on in there?”
    “RUN FOR YOUR LIFE MARY! GEOFF*(2) FROM ACCOUNTING JUST READ SOMETHING LOGICAL & HIS HOMEOPATHIC BRAIN ENHANCER CAN’T COPE! It’s too late for me, save yourself!”

    How did they figure out that gamers buy more games? What’s next? Water’s wet?

    *(1) More like the popping sound from a string of fire crackers really

    *(2) Sorry Geoff.

    Reply

    • Skyblue

      April 17, 2014 at 22:08

      Lulz!

      Reply

    • Rince the Unhuggable

      April 22, 2014 at 08:40

      Whoa bro, now stop with the coffee…

      Reply

  4. Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

    April 18, 2014 at 10:48

    As it should be. The age of Gamer is back! The King is back baby! By the way, did you guys see, PS4 still beat the Boner in the NPD, even though the Hype was strong for Titanhype. Sure, Titanfall took the number one slot in the US, but that’s after they combined boner and PC sales, with Infamous in the second slot. What interests me is, did Infamous beat Titanhype on the boner????

    If that’s true, then Microsoft needs to do some serious soul searching!

    Reply

  5. Console Gamer

    April 19, 2014 at 12:59

    “Hopefully this also means that we’ll have more traditional monetization mechanisms. You know, like the one where you buy the game and you go home with the complete package?”

    You mean like Dead Space 3? The core triple-A game that sold for $60 but still had microtransactions? As much as we hate the business model, publishers have been using it more and more so I don’t know if this news is an assurance that game companies won’t do it again (or at least as often!).

    I am keeping my hopes up, though, because if that takes off, it’s the end of our beloved hobby as we know it.

    Reply

  6. Rince the Unhuggable

    April 22, 2014 at 08:35

    Where are all the people who were saying we are about to hit a gaming crash now?

    Reply

  7. oVg Errorist

    April 22, 2014 at 08:53

    Most of the CORE gamers have jumped to the PC. Considering most of those rigs are cheaper and look prettier.

    I want to see DATA comparing game sales this time last year before our game prices went up R199 and the 7th gen came to an end.

    Reply

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