A survey conducted by Cowen Group analyst Doug Creutz has show that consumers do not prize review scores highly when choosing their game purchases.
Out of eight influencing factors, review scores were voted the least important when choosing a game.
The most important factor according to the survey is genre preference. Unsurprisingly, gamers are far more likely to buy a game which falls into their preferred genre category.
The second most influential factor is how much the person enjoyed a previous game in the franchise.
This comes as no surprise, and it is a well documented fact that sequels invariably outsell new intellectual property (IP). This unfortunately leads publishers to invest more in rehashing sequels than developing original ideas.
Price was the third most important determining factor, and advertising visuals or “how the game looks when I see it in a store, online, or in advertising,” was voted fourth.
Gamers prized word of mouth above review scores, and it would seem that it is perceived as the most valuable means of determining the quality of a game for most gamers. Indeed, gamers are more likely to trust the opinion of a trusted friend than a reviewer whom they have never met.
“We believe that while Metacritic scores may be correlated to game quality and word of mouth, and thus somewhat predictive of title performance, they are unlikely in and of themselves to drive or undermine the success of a game,” said Creutz.
“We note this, in part, because of persistent rumors that some game developers have been jawboning game reviewers into giving their games higher critical review scores,” adds the analyst. “We believe the publishers are better served by spending their time on the development process than by ‘grade-grubbing’ after the fact.”
Publisher reputation came in above review scores, even though publishers have little to do with the actual development of the games.
What are the most important factors for you when choosing a game? Have your say in the forums.
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