One of the big problems in PC gaming at the moment is bundles and sales. While that might sound like a ridiculous argument, considering Steam Sales are some of the biggest earnings periods for developers, it's a a problem because it's devaluing games. In-fact it's ended up with over half of all gamers not buying games around release and instead waiting for when they go on sale.
This has other effects beyond developers struggling to get paid, as it means multiplayer communities aren't as fleshed out as they once would have been, which means they never reach their peak or potential, which can kill an upstart faster than you might expect.
The survey that collated this data comes from the NPD research group, which talked to 6,255 gamers, with 46 per cent saying that they waited until a game goes on sale before buying it.
"Consumers’ expectations may be the greatest barrier to maximizing spending in the PC gaming space," NPD analyst Liam Callahan said.
"Since half of PC gamers who play digital and/or physical games on the computer are expecting there to always be a sale right around the corner, publishers and retailers alike need to better manage these expectations."
However not all gamers agree, with many suggesting that the sheer number of games being released in the modern marketplace makes it difficult too keep up, therefore there's rarely a need to buy a game straight away since there's plenty of other titles to play.
