‘Pre-order problems could deter the most valuable consumers in the industry’

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Consumers who pre-order spend twice as much on games as the average player.

Research firm Kantar Worldpanel says that consumers who pre-order spend – on average – 235 on games a year.

The statistic acts as a warning to publishers following recent consumer dissatisfaction over pre-order issues. These have included games not working as intended, overly complex pre-order programmes, stock of Splatoon being stolen from a truck, with no replacements made available.

Warner Bros cancelling its Batman Arkham Knight: Batmobile Edition, and widespread errors around pre-ordered copies of Metal Gear Solid V and Super Mario Maker by GAME.

It is critical that retailers make the pre-ordering experience a positive one for consumers, particularly given how valuable these consumers are,” Fiona Keenan, Kantar’s UK strategic insight director, told MCV.

In the last year they spent 235 on games, more than double that of the average games consumer – clearly any negative experiences should be avoided at all cost.”

However, she adds, whilst the recent pre-ordering issues we’ve seen in the market may deter consumers from pre-ordering in the future, it’s highly unlikely that they’ll deter consumers from actually buying games.”

Pre-orders are currently a 145m business. The vast majority of pre-orders (65 per cent) take place online, said Kantar.