Gamer Profile v2p2

(Part Two)

In the last episode, we touched on who our audience is (age and gender), their platform (for play and purchase), and DLC buying manner (per game and month). But what about the games?

Now, this is a particularly difficult subject to interpret due to several different factors. First of all, genres are elusive in terms of definition, and rarely exist solitarily without also utilizing factors of other similar genres. Furthermore, we chose not to give additional definition or context to the options as to utilize the connotative understanding of each genre. And in addition, the question allowed for up to three selections.

So essentially, what we have here is a question stating 'when you turn on a game, what do you want to do?' The answers show some trends. A plurality of people like RPGs, or rather, RPG elements (which I think we see reflected in the next graph's character development and story/narrative answers, but we'll get to that soon enough). Polling second are FPSs: this is not a surprise, and while I would like to write off its popularity as being 'the right answer' in our common parlance, it does indicate that we are catering to a niche audience.

What concerns me more is that Hack and Slash only came in at 4%. It's certainly not the fan favorite at the moment, but I think what it tells us is that people don't think of games as 'hack and slash' specifically. With our game, perhaps emphasizing other elements, like the RPG skill tree, or the game environment.

From the popular feature list, the three most important factors are: Character Development, Narrative, and Combat. From what I've tried to create, these really are the primary focuses of Black Sun (the Fifth Sun title is out).

Finally, what makes people buy games?

Oddly enough, most people (35%) reported being most influenced by cinematic trailers. With games being an interactive medium, I'm surprised game demos (7%) weren't more popular. But this perhaps explains why 'Let's Plays' (streams/youtube for 28%) were second rated. Either way, this is good information for the marketing of our game.