Survey: 74% of Video Gamers Plan Hardware Upgrades In the Coming Year

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., June 3, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Raptr, the fastest-growing online service for PC gamers, today announced the results of a survey involving more than 5,000 of its members, which found that the majority of gamers who play on both PC and console expect to spend more time but slightly less money on their gaming activities in the coming year. In advance of E3, the huge video games industry expo taking place next week in Los Angeles, the survey also identified the most anticipated games coming out this year and the considerations that "multiplatform gamers" use to determine for which platform they'll purchase those games.

Among the 5,594 qualified survey respondents who self-identified as playing on both PC and console, 75.8% said they play games on both PC and an older generation console, 5.7% play on PC and a current generation console (Xbox One and/or PlayStation 4), and 18.5% said they play on PC and both old and current generation consoles. (Additional survey results, beyond those contained in this document, can be found at http://caas.raptr.com/raptrs-multiplatform-gamer-survey/.)  

"Gamers who play on both the PC and video game consoles are the core of the gaming market," said Dennis Fong, co-founder and CEO of Raptr. "They not only represent the vanguard of the video games market, they also significantly influence the second- and third-tier gamers who make up the rest of the video games consumer base. Taking the pulse of the top of the gamer pyramid is something we'll be doing on a regular basis going forward, just as we track PC game consumption by title and other usage data across our tens of millions of users."

When asked which upcoming multiplatform game (among those titles that will be available at launch for PC, older consoles and current generation consoles) they're most excited about, 40.5% of survey respondents cited Ubisoft's Watch Dogs as the game they're most eagerly anticipating*. The second-most anticipated title is Electronic Arts' Dragon Age: Inquisition (19.0%), while Wolfenstein: The New Order (9.7%) from developer MachineGames is the third-most eagerly awaited game. (*Since the survey was conducted, Watch Dogs and Wolfenstein: The New Order have officially launched.)

In estimating the amount of money (in U.S. dollars) spent on games (and in-game purchases) per platform over the past year, and predicting the amount they'll spend over the next twelve months, survey respondents indicated:
Estimated spending over the past twelve months:

• PC games: $350.52
• Current generation console games: $267.94
• Older generation console games: $131.67

Projected spending over the next twelve months:

• PC games: $317.28
• Current generation console games: $295.70
• Older generation console games: $76.10

"The Raptr user survey highlights the vibrancy of both the PC and console gaming markets, which collectively represent a nearly $50 billion game software business annually and an audience of more than 1.1 billion consumers globally," noted David Cole, CEO and senior analyst at DFC Intelligence, the oldest dedicated video game research firm in the world. "We think with the new console launches the pipeline of AAA content for both console and PC is looking very strong and we expect core gamers to react positively."

Regarding hardware purchase expectations, nearly three quarters (73.4%) of all respondents said they plan to upgrade their PC and/or console hardware in the next twelve months. Among all multiplatform gamers surveyed, 20.6% plan to purchase a new video game console in that time period, while 18.4% plan to buy a new PC. Additionally, 39% said they plan to upgrade the graphics card (GPU) in their current PC.

Three quarters (75.3%) of all survey respondents said they expect to spend more time playing games in the next twelve months, compared to the past twelve months. Among those who indicated they'll be gaming more over the next twelve months, the five most popular answers to the question "pick one area/activity in which you'll spend less time, while spending more time playing games" were:

• Watching TV/movies (34.7%)
• Internet browsing (17.4%)
• Sleeping (12.5%)
• Studying (6.4%)
• Attending church (5.5%)

Survey Methodology
This international research was conducted by Raptr, Inc. The results are based on 11,382 online surveys completed by members of the Raptr community of PC and video game players worldwide between May 12 and May 19, 2014.  Among these video game players, 5,594 were identified as multiplatform gamers (those who indicated they play games on both a personal computer and a dedicated video game console). In theory, in 19 cases out of 20, the results will differ by no more than 2.3 percentage points from what would have been obtained by seeking out and polling all multiplatform gamers worldwide. Smaller subgroups reflect larger margins of sampling error. Other sources of error, such as variations in the order of questions or the wording within the questionnaire, may also contribute to different results.

About Raptr
Raptr is the one of the fastest-growing PC gaming services in the world. The Raptr software, which is entirely free, is designed to make PC gaming consistently awesome. The software enables gamers to get the best performance possible out of their rigs and games by automatically optimizing their game settings, enables video capture and streaming in a simple and streamlined interface, keeps drivers up to date, and enables intra-game communication across thousands of games. Raptr has tens of millions of users in dozens of countries, and attracts more than 1.5 million new sign-ups each month. The company is led by CEO and co-founder Dennis Fong (co-founder of Xfire, Lithium, and Gamers.com). Raptr was founded in 2007 and is backed by investors Accel Partners, Founder's Fund, DAG Ventures, and Tenaya Capital. For more information about Raptr, please visit http://raptr.com and/or follow @Raptr.

Media contacts:
Raptr:
Garth Chouteau
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415-602-8147

fortyseven communications:
Laura Weir
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323-658-1200

SOURCE Raptr