Why Don’t Gamers Finish Video Games?

13 February 2012

29 Comments

Posted by:Ferry

How many of the video games you buy, do you actually have the time or skills to finish?

Most of us would say we take the time to finish our favorite games of the year, but what about the others. Do you give them a fair chance by completing them all the way to the end, or you regularly stop playing a game that isn’t as fun as you thought it would be? Whether it’s a popular game or not, a CNN research would have you be believe that’s far more common than you would think… or admit!

“90% of players who start your game will never see the end of it unless they watch a clip on YouTube.” -Activision’s Keith Fuller

To quote Keith Fuller, an Activision production contractor: “What I’ve been told as a blanket expectation is that 90% of players who start your game will never see the end of it unless they watch a clip on YouTube.” Ouch!

John Lee, VP of marketing at Raptr and former executive at Capcom, THQ & Sega confirms it’s been like this for a long time. To quote: “Just 10 years ago, I recall some standard that only 20% of gamers ever finish a game.” In fact, currently only 10% of avid gamers completed the final mission of popular games like Red Dead Redemption, according to Raptr, which tracks more than 23 million gaming sessions (per month).

The research concludes with the most likely answer why gamers don’t finish video games anymore. According to the Entertainment Software Association the average gamer is 37 years old, and those who buy the most games are 41. So what’s the answer? “They’re raising kids. In the middle of a career. Worried about retirement. Not only that, but time is precious for gamers of all ages.” It’s time. We don’t have time to finish our games anymore.

One solution would be to try more game demos and start the month with your one favorite pick to play all the way to the end, instead of buying the next flavor of the week. But what do I know… that pile of 15 games you see in the picture above is from my stack of unfinished games!!

What’s your reason for not finishing your games?