
U.S. adults are spending big on video games, playing mostly on smartphones - Vaslo
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-videogames/u-s-adults-are-spending-big-on-video-games-playing-mostly-on-smartphones-idUSKCN1SF1DC
======
mdorazio
Key takeaways here for me:

"The $43.4 billion spent in 2018 was mostly on content, as opposed to hardware
and accessories."

"Nearly 65 percent of U.S. adults, or more than 164 million people, play
games. The most popular genre is casual games, with 60 percent of players
gaming on their smartphones"

The combination of these two items leads me to conclude that microtransactions
in casual games are winning in the financial sense, despite the complaints of
"hardcore" gamers.

~~~
0_gravitas
And that's the unfortunate truth of why they arent going away anytime soon.
Personally I believe that microtransactions should be considered a Dark
Pattern, and I might consider supporting legislation that targets them, if
it's ever brought up.

~~~
i_call_solo
Or people could not buy microtransactions or support games and studios that
use them. Seems like something the free market could regulate without
legislation.

~~~
ThrowawayR2
> _Or people could not buy microtransactions or support games and studios that
> use them._

That's about as helpful as telling people to solve their gambling issue by not
gambling. The problem is that many of these microtransaction-based games use
the same mechanics as gambling to make them addictive _and_ they're targeting
minors with it.

~~~
jtms
If you are talking about real money loot crates/boxes/packages (as opposed to
in game earned virtual currency) you are quite literally talking about
gambling. In the case of some games, marketed directly to minors. I am about
as free market solution as it gets, but I definitely draw the line at
exploiting children (and defrauding their parents simultaneously)

------
DanielleMolloy
The term "skinnerware" should be used more:
[https://m.facebook.com/notes/richard-garfield/a-game-
players...](https://m.facebook.com/notes/richard-garfield/a-game-players-
manifesto/1049168888532667)

~~~
ahartmetz
Is that somewhere on the real internet, too?

~~~
DanielleMolloy
The original is on Facebook, afaik. If I'd know an alternative link I would
have posted it.. maybe someone wants to temporarily pastebin it (I'm on mobile
right now).

~~~
ahartmetz
What can you do. Kinda sad that somebody posts about exploitative practices on
an exploitative website, though.

------
leshokunin
As expected. Video games such as Call of Duty and Red Dead 2 have been
enjoying larger openings and overall sales than the most successful movie
franchises.

However if you examine things on the micro level, the games sector is facing a
number of challenges.

One is with the micro transactions model: though it is widely adopted in
mobile, its inclusion in AAA titles has backfired in terms of PR. Mortal
Kombat 11 and several EA titles such as Battefront 2 ans Need for Speed have
been penalized heavily both by critics and vocal customers.

When you combine this with the looming pressure of regulation, things don’t
look great for that revenue stream.

Secondly you have pressure towards subscription based models. Microsoft has
the game pass, Apple is doing the arcade, Google is doing game streaming. So
we’re going to see a Netflix type of subscription become more and more the
norm. These games are full games, often AAA though there are some indie
darlings. They’re not based on consumables.

Because of this, the proportion of revenues coming from micro transactions on
both mobile and console is likely to shrink, and transform. It’s going to be
interesting to see how this will affect the unit economics of game studios
going forward.

~~~
Pfhreak
The battlepass model is up and coming, where you pay to unlock a track with
predictable rewards. As a person who plays a lot of games, I actually really
like the predictability even if it means I end up feeling like I have to play
a lot more.

------
throwayEngineer
Something most people ignore about this topic, things get old.

Addicting clicking games get boring.

Sure it's weird to see a middle aged mom playing these worthless games, but
give them another 2 years and they will move on.

Gaming has only evolved to be better. And we have already achieved unlimited
entertainment if you are a PC gamer.

Worse games in the future is a near impossiblity. Or at least informed
consumers are able to avoid the blight of micro transactions.

~~~
majos
The existence of many slot machine and lottery addicts --- even for the
simple, totally probabilistic kinds --- seems like strong evidence against
your second point.

------
unstatusthequo
I have trouble finding good mobile games that are immersive and not overly
gimmicky, cartoony, require repetitive tap actions, or require annoying in app
purchases. I seem to bore quickly and find most of the games on mobile to be
pretty childish.

I’ve found some I like, but by and large they seem to just exist as
commercials for in app revenue. Give me a good immersive game for $20 and I’d
do it.

~~~
ourlordcaffeine
I think it is quite hard to be immersive on a handheld device, the small
screen and limited input options are really limiting in my opinion.

~~~
7952
I wonder if you could have a multitouch digitiser on the back of the device
and somehow detect which finger is which. Then the input would be based on the
finger rather than a particular button.

~~~
b_tterc_p
Its not designed for phones but the Vive Knuckles seem to do independent digit
tracking and pressure sensing on grip.

------
imtringued
Well you can't spend "big" on conventional games like Terraria. I think I got
4 copies for $10. "Freemium" games on the other hand dictate no upper spending
limit.

------
colechristensen
In the past there were no reports which lumped slot machines and PC/console
gaming into the same bucket, it obviously just doesn't make sense. There has
been a blurring between the two on mobile with many games which are mostly
gambling without the cashing out.

------
throwing838383
As someone who's attempted to figure out what truely makes some games
successful vs those that don't, I've read numerous reviews.

Over and over again, with satisfied reviews, I see: "Great way to waste
time!", "Nice Time killer". and i just sighhh.

~~~
Pfhreak
Abnegation is one of the core reasons to play games. Some humans need times in
their life to unwind and not be engaged. You can totally overdo it, but
recognizing a game that is good for abnegation is totally valid.

~~~
the_af
Sorry, I know you meant time for idleness and unwinding, but I _have_ to ask:
what do you mean with "abnegation"? The word doesn't mean "me time" as far as
I know; it means "self-denial" and "rejection".

More on-topic: it's ok for a game to be time-waster, but I suppose when that's
the overriding goal of games, it becomes a problem. Play is not _only_ a
pastime.

------
dbg31415
The rise of the super-casuals.

I'm not saying mobile gaming like Clash of Clans or Candy Crush are bad, just
that... man, they aren't for smart people. Likely most games aren't, but
playing World of Warcraft and Diablo and Starcraft required a lot of thought
and theory crafting to feel like I knew how to be elite at them.

So I know Blizzard is mathematically right to focus on mobile gamers, I just
really miss "the good old days" when I spent as much time outside of the game
learning about the game as I did playing the game. I doubt I'm the only one,
but I know that sort of thing has a limited appeal and over time the market
has evolved.

I just miss it. No game has pulled me in like Diablo 2 or World of Warcraft.
Games like Fallout (not the latest), XCOM, and Civ are great... but man, if
I'm honest, I really miss WoW circa 2006-2010. Doubt I'll ever have a gaming
experience like that again.

~~~
leesec
>I'm not saying mobile gaming like Clash of Clans or Candy Crush are bad, just
that... man, they aren't for smart people.

Alright bud, let's get back to letting people enjoy whatever sort of games
they want and not attacking their intelligence.

My sister-in-law is a doctor, love's candy crush. She doesn't play it for the
intellectual stimulation.

~~~
ndiscussion
Just curious then, why does she play it? Isn't that a puzzle game?

~~~
flycaliguy
I can’t think of a workplace more suited for small doses of escapism than a
medical one.

------
mrbrowning
After having gotten a Switch and noticing that I basically never play games on
my phone anymore since having done so, I idly wondered if the Switch's release
has had any observable effects on the growth of this market. Of course I
realized pretty quickly that my experience isn't very generalizable, since I'm
in a self-selected group from the outset (i.e. those willing to spend money on
a dedicated gaming device) and since I only really ever played non-FTP games
in the first place (and refused to ever make IAPs in the ones that I did try
out for brief periods before inevitably getting annoyed and/or bored with
them). That thought did make me curious, though, as to what sort of product
could actually disrupt the FTP game market in the next few years (assuming it
doesn't endure an organic downturn in that timespan), if any at all.

------
mr_tristan
It seems like Apple and Google have a lot of opportunity here. My sense is
that the subscription model would fit the "immersive" gamer far better.

If they can get, say, 5% of the existing US market to pay $10/month, that's
still around 1 billion USD annually.

My guess is that they can probably get a lot more than that.

~~~
fullshark
But they want to spend that money, they want to get edges in those games.

------
Fnoord
Ah, suddenly "You guys all have phones right?" [1] makes sense. Its about
"follow the money".

[1]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5QRgpjfarY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5QRgpjfarY)

------
dannygarcia
The purchasing analysis is interesting as it doesn't seem to take into account
ads on mobile games.

Here's a direct link to the press release:
[http://www.theesa.com/article/65-american-adults-enjoy-
playi...](http://www.theesa.com/article/65-american-adults-enjoy-playing-
video-games/)

And this is the Essential Facts PDF: [http://www.theesa.com/wp-
content/uploads/2019/05/EssentialFa...](http://www.theesa.com/wp-
content/uploads/2019/05/EssentialFacts.pdf)

------
leksak
Personally, I haven't kept up with games on smartphones. What listed companies
are there that are successful in the space? Seems like it might be worth
looking at a few to round out one's portfolio.

------
HocusLocus
[ Male baby boomers aged 55 to 64 like “Solitaire” and “Scrabble”, while women
lean towards “Mahjong” and “Monopoly.” ]

No wonder I don't play games with my computer! What an awful selection!

------
jczhang
I was super addicted to Bejeweled about 5 years back and my mom is now
addicted to that bubble shooter.

------
baybal2
It saddens me to see that. At around 15 years ago, there was a specific class
of "adult videogame players" — a thing that eventually morphed into modern
marginal slash mainstream "internet culture."

Back then, there was no question of that being a deviant thing, and I thought
that only very messed up countries can host such culture where people die
playing computer, kill people over videogames and live day and night in
internet cafes.

Well, nowadays it became an everyday reality for countries far more developed
than ones where this originally started.

~~~
PhasmaFelis
Are you conflating all adult gamers with unhealthy obsessives?

~~~
zopppo
It's such a weird claim to make especially since the post indicates most adult
gamers play casual games on their phones.

~~~
baybal2
Nothing weird here.

For a carefree 13 years old me, it was bordering on personal tragedy loosing 1
to 3 hours a day to damn Quake 3.

I have no words for just how bad it is to be in that state for a person in
their thirties, with his/her social obligations and family.

Zynga obsessed adults spending 3-4 hours a day on that are _way_ worse than
kids doing the same.

And you add gambling problem on top of that. On mobile you don't even have to
input your credit card yourself - Google built a whole freaking gambling/play
API specifically for that. One click and it bills your cellphone account, if
you live in a right country.

