A new report commissioned by Ultra  – a gaming hub created by talent from Ubisoft, PlayStation, and Nintendo has released preliminary findings from The Ultra PC Gaming Study.

Key takeaways the report found from surveying 2003 PC gamers in the USA and UK (with a gender split of 50% male, 49% female, and 1% non-binary), were that the current pricing of games plays very much into the purchasing decision with 64% of digital PC games purchased at a discount or obtained for free. 87% of the same survey group said that discounts are important in their purchasing decisions.

75% of respondents also hold the belief that AAA games are too expensive, and therefore presumably wait for a price drop, perhaps in events such as the Steam Winter Sale, to happen.

The same number also like to purchase indie games and it is their creativity that encourages them to buy them. 28% also said they bought them to support small developers.

Ahead of Ultra’s PC Gamer Study release in January 2024, we’re excited to unveil initial findings and trends about PC gamer habits!

Key findings include:

📊 24% of digital game libraries remain unplayed – With tradable games, the Uniq Marketplace will bring adding value to… pic.twitter.com/GAV516keYz

— Ultra (@ultra_io) December 6, 2023

Are PC games too expensive?

Co-CEO at Ultra, Nicholas Gilet said, “These findings show a PC gaming market that’s currently shaped by gamers’ price sensitivity, with players having to make careful purchasing decisions this holiday season. This offers invaluable insight for developers, publishers, and platforms and shows the scale of the opportunity for indie games and challenger storefronts even in the mature, prosumer PC gaming market which has been growing and evolving for decades.”

Interestingly, game reviews still hold sway with only 6% of those asked not taking them into account, however, it is customer reviews that are the most trusted ahead of word of mouth and reviews from media outlets last.

Some 36% of gamers also said they found it difficult to discover new games that they wanted to play – using YouTube mainly as a research tool as to what they want to play next.

The full report is due to be published in January 2024.

Featured Image: Ultra

Paul McNally

Paul has been around consoles and computers since his parents bought him a Mattel Intellivision. He spent over a decade as editor of popular print-based video games and computer magazines, including a market-leading PlayStation title. Has written gaming content for GamePro, Official Australian PlayStation Magazine, PlayStation Pro, Amiga Action, Mega Action, ST Action, GQ, Loaded, and the Daily Mirror. Former champion shoot ’em-up legend.