Digital distribution of games: The players' perspective

Abstract

The online distribution of games has in the past few years become increasingly commonplace. Currently the brick and mortar retailers and physical copies still hold a dominant position in the overall market but online market - including online distribution of full game titles, subscription-based models, downloadable content, virtual commodities and related value-added services - is quickly developing. Still we know very little of the player attitudes towards digital distribution of games. Therefore the study at hand focuses on examining the players' experiences and notions concerning online distribution. Based on the findings the following factors have a significant influence on how players consider digital distribution: amount of time used on game playing, the social activities related to games, familiarity with other forms of downloadable content. A notable majority of those who had downloaded games highlighted the importance of the following issues: wide variety of games available, ease of finding downloadable games, affordability and simple payment methods. At the same time, more than half of these people announced that they still preferred to have their games as physical copies. © 2010 ACM.