Game Reviewers to Give Up, Start Farming

Well, that’s it: I’m useless. Asrecent survey by Cowen Group suggests that gamers are much more likely to believe word of mouth than the ratings reviewers give to new releases. According to the survey, genre, previous experience with the franchise, and price are all more important when gamers make their purchase decision.

Respondents also placed a high value on marketing graphics or how the game looked when the saw it in store. This means a discounted sequel, looking pretty in the shop window has a better chance of flying off the shelves than a sleeper “hit” that’s consistently loved by reviewers.

I guess I should be outraged here, but… duh.

Games aren’t any different than any other entertainment medium and this study makes that clearer. It certainly wasn’t a trip to Rotten Tomatoes that made people go see Star Wars Episode 2: Attack of the Clones. Nor was it Metacritic that sold tickets to Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen.

Surprise, surprise: just like with movies (and a similar argument could be made for books, TV shows, etc) gamers are likely to make purchase decisions based on cool trailers and what their friends say they should play–not what pretentious reviewers recommend.

What’s interesting is that the researchers use the results to call on the game industry to focus more on the development of a game than on pursuing ratings. That’s not likely to happen since it hasn’t happened in any other entertainment industry. Sure, ratings are important, but they’re just part of getting your game sold (or not sold, which is more often the case). A good game helps, marketing helps, online community engagement helps… and, yes, making it part of a franchise helps too.

So, is my ego bruised? A touch. But the fact remains that gamer reviewers still do play a role as opinion leaders who have more experience with a particular game than the person making a purchase decision. My opinion might not count for more than your friend’s, but it’s still there, in the background, telling you to not waste your money on a game I know makes the baby Jesus weep.

Maybe the most important part of this research is that it is a good argument against those who feel there’s a reviewer tyranny or, worse, a conspiracy to control reviewers and drive game sales. If we can dispel that myth, the industry would be better off and we can get back to playing our good looking sequels that we got at a discount.

[Gamasutra via Slashdot]