Just in case there's been any concern that downloadable games and paid DLC are just fads, a new study from Today's Gamers (via Industry Gamers) shows that the number of gamers who have paid for downloadable games or content is reaching the halfway mark...in the U.S. at least.
The International Gamers Survey, which polled 13,000 online console owners from the U.S., U.K., Netherlands, France, Belgium, and Germany, says that 40 percent of all console owners in the United States have downloaded paid content in the form of either a full game or extra material for a retail game. This number drops to a mere 25 percent in the United Kingdom and hovers around 15 perecent everywhere else, reaching a low of 13 percent in Germany.
The study also states that 15 percent of U.S. gamers say they usually buy new games directly from their consoles, with the number "[going] up to 25 percent specifically for next-gen consoles." That statistic seems a bit confusing for a number of reasons. Most new releases aren't available for download on console any time soon after launch, so these people must be saying they mostly only play XBLA/PSN/WiiWare games. And the "going up to 25 percent for next-gen consoles" part is confusing too -- what last-gen consoles allow you to download full games?
Weirdness aside, the data from this survey is quite interesting and definitely indicates a sharp difference between attitudes toward (or perhaps availability of) downloadable games and content in the U.S. versus Europe. Check out the full info chart provided by Today's Gamers below:
