14 DAY TRIAL // A new study put together by Magid and Associates shows that about 12% of the American citizens that it has interviewed bought virtual goods in the last 12 months. The study is called “A Closer Look At Virtual Worlds, Virtual Goods, Microtransactions & Downloadable Content” and it took into account the opinions of 1,927 persons with ages between 12 and 64. The group is said to reflect the actual census data for United States citizens.
Magid and Associates says that “The fact that lots of people are reaching into their pocket to buy virtual goods is impressive but it is even more impressive that some of those consumers are spending considerable dollars. As this market grows, if consumers continue to spend $50 or more on virtual goods, this will be a multi-billion dollar market.”
It seems that 46% of those who have bought virtual goods are frequent visitors of online worlds, with the study not distinguishing between casual and free-to-play offerings and those based on a subscription, while 27% are playing social-oriented games on platforms like Facebook and other such networks.
On the one hand, only about 16% of those who bought virtual goods in the past twelve months are console gamers, which means that DLC packs, while popular, still have a lot of room to grow. On the other hand, about 21% of PC gamers stated that they had bought virtual goods and a lot of them are also interested in free-to-play Internet-based games, translating into the fact that titles like Free Realms and Battlefield Heroes have a lot of potential for expansion as more people become familiar with microtransactions.
The study, which also points out how diverse the demographic profile of those who buy virtual goods is, says that the practice of buying and using virtual stuff will be expanding, with more companies aiming to quickly deliver content to customers via the Internet for ever decreasing sums of money.