According to PC and Video Games—DLC and Microtransaction Purchasing, the latest report from The NPD Group, among the U.S. population of males and females ages 13 to 54, 28 percent have purchased additional video game content in the past three months, with males and teens being the primary purchasers. Microtransactions are purchased more often than downloadable content (DLC), at 23 percent and 16 percent, respectively.
Price is the governing factor for gamers considering a microtransaction and/or DLC purchase. Close to half of non-purchasers of microtransactions are not willing to spend any money on them, while 48 percent felt the content was not worth the extra expense. The same was also found among non-DLC purchasers with half stating the DLC was not worth the money and 16 percent who believe the extra content should have been included in the full game price.
While microtransaction purchasers prefer using earned virtual currency to buy items, 78 percent are willing to spend some amount of real money to purchase microtransactions, such as weapons, tools, and power-ups. This is, of course, contingent upon how much the gamer enjoys the game, as well as the price of the microtransaction.
Half of microtransaction purchasers would be influenced to purchase more microtransactions if the prices were less expensive. Attitudes toward microtransactions are mostly positive, with the majority (77 percent) claiming to like that microtransactions allow them to extend their enjoyment of a particular game. On the other hand, 68 percent believe the pay-to-win aspect of microtransactions within gaming is unfortunate.
Top reasons for purchasing DLC include wanting to multiplay with friends, having all the game content, and feeling the price for the extra content was reasonable. While most find the prices reasonable, purchasers would still like lower price points; more than half indicate they would be influenced to purchase more DLC if the prices were cheaper.
