Many game publishers continue to struggle with the pricing, promotion and management of micro transactions - relying on trial and error as they implement this new form of selling. This survey of U.S. gamers addresses the major issues for micro transactions from an overall market perspective
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DEMOGRAPHICS

• 977 US gamers completed survey
• 11% were teens, 66% young adults (ages 19-35), 24% older adults (ages 36+)
• 29% were light gamers (buy 5 or less games/year), 42% medium (buy 6-11 games
• per year), 29% heavy (buy 12+)
• 81% male, 19% female
• 9% make micro transactions frequently, 29% once in a while, 26% rarely, 37% never
• Looked at game systems they play on, genres of games played

DEMOGRAPHIC CROSS TAB ANALYSIS - for analysis the market was broken into these comparison groups:

• rarely/never buy micro trans vs. buy once in a while or frequently vs. just buy frequently
• age: teens vs. young adults vs. older adults
• type of gamer: light vs. medium vs. heavy (as described above)
• males vs. females

For example, micro transactions are more common among medium and heavy gamers, and younger gamers… and there’s not much difference by gender.TOPICS COVERED

• Where do consumers buy games: retail stores, online at Steam or Direct2Drive or publisher sites. includes the demographic characteristics of each buying group
• General consumer reaction to micro transactions, was polarized as extremely positive or negative (e.g., waste of money, great at keeping the game fresh, etc.)
• Key reasons consumer never made a micro transaction
• Most popular type of items for micro transactions (i.e. armor, spells, etc.)
• What types of things did they buy that they really liked, or really didn’t like
• Most popular categories of items (new levels, wearables, etc.)
• Most popular price points (they vary by gender, heavier vs. lighter gamers, etc.)
• Most popular ways to market and promote micro transactions
• How should micro transactions be organized for sale - by function, etc.?
• How well do games explain the benefit of items for sale?
• How do consumers pay for micro transactions - by PayPal, credit cards, etc.? (varies by gender, for example)
• What if items really effect gameplay performance?
• Should players be able to trade items amongst themselvs?
• Is cheating (hacking in, harvesting of items for re-sale), a problem?
• What’s the appeal of a “universal currency” which could be used in hundreds of online games?

Survey conducted by Bowen Research, leading primary research firm for the games industry since 1992.
For a more detailed explanation about this study, see the below video:
U.S. Micro Transaction Consumer Behavior Study*
 
*Requires Windows Media Player supported browser (Help: FireFox/Chrome | Mac)

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