ACI and Newzoo Whitepaper: Turning Players into Payers | Understanding the Gaming Payments Experience

In 2018, the global games market will reach $137.9 billion and by 2021, mobile gaming alone will be a $100 billion market. While the potential revenue opportunity for games has never been higher, the free-to-play model and abundance of game choices have given gamers the power to choose where, how, and when they spend their money. To gain a deeper understanding of gamers’ paying habits, payment experiences, and payment preferences, ACI Worldwide and Newzoo conducted a large-scale study on paying gamers in the U.S., the U.K., and Germany. These key markets account for almost 30% of the global games market in 2018.

The results of this study have been made available in a whitepaper, which you can download here.

Along with a demographic profile of paying gamers and their motivations to pay, this report details the payment and fraud experience, and how it can be optimized to provide a frictionless customer experience.

(Younger) Gamers Drive the Transition to Digital With DLC/Expansion Packs

For people who do pay for or in games, extra enjoyment is by far their biggest motivator to spend. Interestingly, 20% spend money to show appreciation for the developer, though female gamers are less motivated by this than men (15% vs. 23%). Frustration is the least important factor when it comes to motivating gamers to spend money.

Paying gamers are much more likely to spend part of their gaming budget on digital/download games and in-game purchases than on boxed games. This is driven by younger gamers (18–29) who are far less likely than older gamers (30–40) to buy traditional boxed formats.

Looking at the type of in-game purchases people buy, there are notable differences between age groups and gender. Cosmetics/skins are more popular with younger than older payers, while power-ups showing the reverse. Overall, DLC/expansion packs are the most popular in-game item among younger payers. Women are more likely to buy power-ups and time-savers than men in all three countries.

Gamers’ Payment Habits and (Desired) Payment Experiences

PayPal is the most used and preferred payment method on every segment — console, PC, and mobile. Mastercard is the most common second choice. New payment players such as Google and Apple Pay will find it hard to unseat the incumbents, though younger players are using them more than older players.

Payment fraud is a top concern for gamers and a continuing barrier to payment; 19% have experienced fraud when paying for games online and one-third of paying gamers say that worrying about fraud makes them less likely to spend within a game. This highlights the fact that trust and security are still extremely important factors for consumers.

“19% of gamers have experienced fraud when paying for games online”

A large amount of paying gamers (44%) think that the payment experience
within games can be improved. The most common thing they would like to see is more loyalty/reward programs offered for in-game payments. A simpler and quicker payment process is also desired. For younger gamers, having more payment options available is a key desire.

Download the full 46-page whitepaper here.