Survey: 86% of Gamers Prefer Ads in Free Games Over Paying For Games

[Ratty]

One thing to keep in mind with this study is that it tracks people who are already playing freemium games, so the assertion that people already invested in that model would like to see more of it shouldn't be that surprising.

So in other words a survey obviously designed from the start to support this idea to EA's investors did just that.

"Hey guys I just polled a bunch of people at a candy store and found that a whopping 86% of them liked candy! Clearly this means in the near future 86% of all people who eat food will be happy only eating candy for every meal. So let's put all our money into developing for that."

 

[O maestre]

how did they even define gamers for this study? people on facebook or mmo players? and seriously EA lending its name is not adding to any credibility, call me bias, but they have lost all my confidence in them

 

[Tuesday Night Fever]

To date the only Free-to-Play game that I have a positive opinion of is Path of Exile. Notably a game that doesn't survive on obnoxious advertising, opting instead for purely cosmetic microtransactions. Hell, I gave them money a week ago specifically because of how good the developer treats its community. I didn't even want anything from their cash shop. But they've given me 200 hours of fun, and they've treated me (as part of the community) with respect - so they definitely deserve some cash thrown their way.

Everything else has been anti-customer trash, and I have no interest in pursuing any of that "freemium" crap.

 

[Hero in a half shell]

The games tracked in the study were EA freemium titles

So their survey of people who play free-to-play games showed that they would rather watch ads and not have to pay to play their free-to-play games?

What next, a survey of Battlefield players that shows gamers like to play modern military shooters?

Couldn't agree more.

Interestingly, a survey of all "The Old Republic" MMO players showed that they were both getting quite bored now and (quote) "probably going to go play Forza for a while."

Personally I want microtransactions and ads to stay in the F2P realm. When I buy a full price game I expect all the content, none of this 'Ryse' pay-to-level option or Mass Effect 'random loot pack' that locks all multiplayer content behind a purchase/grind wall to make us play against our own boredom (Do you want to pay with your money or your life?)

 

[wickedmonkey]

I have these horrible visions of a game starting,
"Loading..."
"Loaded."
"Loading advertisement..."
"You can skip this ad in 10, 9, 8..."

http://www.fuckthat.com.org.edu.gov.uk/nope.html

 

[weirdee]

yeah uh

this study is about as useful as a sock puppet

 

[Kuala BangoDango]

Considering the quality of games being released lately it's no surprise that 86% of their players would rather play for free with ads than pay full price for it.

Heck, just look at the Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes game. Full price is $30 and from everything I'm hearing it's only a demo of their REAL game coming up. Throw in the fact of big sales at Steam, GoG and such where it's often better to wait a bit and only pay partial-price when a sale runs.

You could probably re-poll those very same people and come to the conclusion that...

"86% of gamers prefer to not play a game at all than to pay full price for it."

 

[Infernal Lawyer]

Biased poll is biased, as has already been said. Forget it, move on.

 

[gigastar]

A "survey" of 500 is really just a glorified focus test.

But go ahead EA, put more shit in your mobile games and see where that gets you.

 

[maxben]

It's really great how companies can scientifically get the answers they want from the surveys they build given to the people they've chosen. I don't believe in the objectivity of this survey at all.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

Reasons for this are quote obvious. People are getting sick and tired of paying $60 for half a game. They ruined the best business model with their endless amount of DLC that makes you feel like you don't own the full game unless you pay double for it. So of course people prefer free. At least they don't have to pay for the core game when they know it would shove DLC down their throats anyway.

 

[CardinalPiggles]

In free games? Sure, no big deal. I hardly ever play free to play games anyway, besides Dota 2. But a little banner in the fountain advertising random shit wouldn't irk me to be honest.

 

[CardinalPiggles]

Reasons for this are quote obvious. People are getting sick and tired of paying $60 for half a game. They ruined the best business model with their endless amount of DLC that makes you feel like you don't own the full game unless you pay double for it. So of course people prefer free. At least they don't have to pay for the core game when they know it would shove DLC down their throats anyway.

The survey is only taking into account games that are already (or going to be) free to play, not $60 triple A games.

 

[JasonKaotic]

Uh huh. And who exactly did they ask? Customers of their free ad-laden games?
There's no way in hell EA would conduct a survey like this unless they knew the results would come out like this. They didn't run the survey to see if people want ad-laden games, they made the survey so that when they release their next, likely not free, game full of ads everywhere the eye can see they can point at the survey and pretend it's what everyone asked for.
I don't believe for a second this survey was conducted fairly. Hows about we all call for the survey to be rerun and available to everyone on the internet, or would EA cry 'vocal minority' when the results turn against them?

 

[FPLOON]

I have these horrible visions of a game starting,
"Loading..."
"Loaded."
"Loading advertisement..."
"You can skip this ad in 10, 9, 8..."

http://www.fuckthat.com.org.edu.gov.uk/nope.html

I was thinking more of this:

"Press ad to continue"
or
"Press ad to try again"

OT: Well, then... If this is true, then I rather pay for my games than to play them for free with ads effecting the gameplay/experience in some way, shape, or form...

 

[V8 Ninja]

Some very important questions;

- Where was this survey held?

- Who were these 500 people? (gender, age group, type of occupation, etc.)

- What game-playing devices do these people own?

- What types of games do these people play?

- What are the playing habits of each person in the group?

- How long have these people been playing games?

- What is each person's view on video games in general?

Until I see the large majority of these questions answered, I'm not buying this research.

 

[Remus]

I only tolerate ads when they follow the theme of the game so they blend seamlessly with the background. Movies have been doing this for years, every time someone picks up a phone, drives a car, drinks a beer or a soda. A perfect example of this application in games - Burnout Paradise. When the game was current and companies paid attention to it, the billboards would be swapped out for paid advertisements, even political campaign ads back in 2007/2008. Ads like this aren't obtrusive and they don't lock content behind an ad-wall in which there is a distinct possibility of downloading malware when you have to click out of the ad to continue playing. Beyond this ideal, I'd much rather pay full price for a good game than get a game chock full of nuts ads for free.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

I could have sworn the optimal method of purchasing a game was to pay once and then enjoy the product until the product either breaks or, the product is given away/sold/whatever. Maybe that option wasn't present...if this was all about phone games and similar micro games anyway as opposed to full purchases.

 

[crazygameguy4ever]

did they only ask employees that had to answer yes or get in trouble?.... why would you want adds in games?....or micro-transactions either for that matter. I like paid for games and entirely free games like DC Universe Online where you don't have to pay anything unless you want DLC powers.. it's the only really free to play game that actually is free