SuperData Research Digital Console Brief

Digital Console Digital Games Market Brief

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SuperData Research | Digital games market intelligence

Image: Rockstar Games

May, 2014

Digital Console Market Brief, May 2014 | Copyright © 2014 SuperData Research. All rights reserved. | www.superdataresearch.com

http://www.superdataresearch.com

Executive summary What’s in here

SuperData | Digital games market intelligence

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• Digital console revenue sees a 26% boost in 2014E while audience increases by 9%. The newest generation of digitally-focused consoles has ushered in more consumers and increased both conversion and the average revenue per paying user.

• The average console spender is male, in his thirties and makes over $50,000 a year. Financially-independent gamers with some college education overtake the space.

• Microtransactions are the most popular purchases amongst console spenders. Weapons (55%), vanity items (36%) and vehicles (33%) top the list of items spenders purchase.

• Grand Theft Auto V reached more than $30MM in microtransaction revenue. GTAV’s use of mobile and MMO game and monetization mechanics have helped microtransaction revenue persist a year after its release.




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1.98%1.83%

$26.37$24.60

Digital console sees increases across the board The current console generation’s focus on digital boosts revenue 26% year-over-year.

Average revenue

Worldwide digital console market

• The digital focus of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, as well as the increased incorporation of downloadable content (DLC) into console games, have helped boost revenue year-over-year by 26% and audience by 9%.

• Spending has also seen a boost, with almost 2% of console gamers converting to digital spenders in Q1 2014. In addition, ARPPU rose by almost $2 quarter-over-quarter.

Conversion


*

*Revenue includes full-game downloads, additional downloadable content and microtransactions. Audience is measured as monthly active users.

per paying userrate

Q1 2013 Q1 2014 Q1 2013 Q1 2014

RevenueAudience

2013

2014

E

RevenueAudience

196MM$2.0B

214MM$2.5B


U.S. digital console spenders: demographics Young, financially-independent males account for the majority of console spenders.

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63% 37%

age salary education

32 $57kyears old per year

3YRS

•Players aged 18-35 overtake the space, accounting for 67% of adults who make purchase downloadable content on their console(s).

•Women are growing their stake in the space despite being outnumbered two to one.

•Spenders are financially above average. The median salary of spenders is $41,000 a year, almost $20,000 more than the national median salary.of college

average average average

*Gamers surveyed were U.S. console gamers at least 16 years old who have purchased downloadable content.



Microtransactions lead over DLC in popularity Weapons, vanity items and vehicles top the list amongst console spenders.

5Digital Console Market Brief, May 2014 | Copyright © 2014 SuperData Research. All rights reserved. | www.superdataresearch.com

10% - Side stories19% - Class unlocks26% - Songs26% - Map packs32% - Expansion packs33% - Vehicles or upgrades36% - Vanity items55% - New weapons or upgrades

Percentage of spenders who bought the following items:

• Weapons or weapon upgrades are the most popular items amongst spenders. This is unsurprising as first-person shooters are the most popular genre for console spenders and more than half of spenders say the enhancement of character skills is a major impetus for spending.

• 40% of spenders say the price of items is a major reason they do not buy more goods on their console. Downloadable content like side stories, map packs and expansion packs tend to be more expensive than microtransactions and are amongst the least popular items with spenders.

12%

21%

24%First-Person Shooter

Action-Adventure

Role-Playing

Top preferred game genres of spenders


GTAV takes cues from MMOs & mobile games GTAV micro revenue hits $32MM in 2013 alone, tapering off into mid-2014.

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•GTAV Online’s MMO-like environment keeps micro revenues steady longer. GTAV’s ever-evolving online world and independent virtual economy is reminiscent of free-to-play MMOs.

•GTAV uses virtual currency, much like mobile games. Successfully monetized mobile games disconnect the currency players spend inside a game from the money they spend in real-life. Thus, by offering discounts on larger currency packs, mobile gamers, and consequently GTAV micro spenders, buy more at a time in order to get a deal.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

$8$9$10$10$11$13$14$14$15$10$7$0

Month since release

Grand Theft Auto V: Worldwide microtransaction revenue, millions

N/A




About Who we are

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For a detailed overview and explanation of our methodology and terminology, please visit www.superdataresearch.com/methodology and www.superdataresearch.com/superdata-terminology


SuperData provides market intelligence on the online, digital and mobile games industry.

We collect digital point-of-sale data directly from publishers and developers to give our customers unparalleled monthly insights into the unboxed games market. This allows us to identify key trends, evaluate marketing spend, establish accurate revenue estimates and analyze market changes for popular online games, including MMOs, FPS, casino, virtual worlds, mobile and social games.

SuperData publishes industry-relevant key performance indicators.

Using our proprietary panel of 4.2 million paying online gamers, we establish monthly benchmarks such as monthly active users, conversion rates, ARPPU and title-level revenue estimates. Customers use our data to evaluate their performance, identify key growth opportunities, assess revenue potential, optimize their efforts, and better understand their audience’s wants and needs.

http://www.superdataresearch.com/methodology


Senior Analyst, Consumer Insights Stephanie Llamas [email protected] !Director, Business Development Sam Barberie [email protected] !116 West 23rd Street, 5th floor New York, NY 10011 +1 646 375 2068 www.superdataresearch.com Twitter @_SuperData

Contact How to reach us


8Digital Console Market Brief, May 2014 | Copyright © 2014 SuperData Research. All rights reserved. | www.superdataresearch.com

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SuperData Research Digital Console Brief

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