February 27th, 2024, Lesley Simeon
Back in 2021, streaming media giant Netflix first dipped its toes in the video games ecosystem by offering a selection of mobile games for free as part of subscriptions. Last year, the company went knee deep in the video games pool and launched the first tests for its cloud-streamed games allowing subscribers to stream the games on select TVs, connected TV devices and on its website.
What would motivate consumers to play video games on streaming platforms? We look at YouGov data to find out.
According to the findings from a recent YouGov survey that polled consumers across 17 international markets, of those who would consider this activity at all, affordable pricing (39%) and ease of access (38%) are the two factors which are most likely to coax people into playing games this way. About three in ten consumers across markets also prioritize game variety (31%) and rewards/loyalty programs (30%).
Both men and women value factors like affordable pricing, ease of access, game variety and rewards/loyalty programs the most when considering playing video games on streaming platforms, our demographic data shows.
But male gamers are significantly more likely than female consumers to consider the availability of competitive gaming (17% vs. 10%) on streaming platforms and cross-platform play (19% vs. 12%).
Women are more likely than men to say the availability of family-friendly gaming options (27% vs. 23%) would motivate them to sign up for video gaming on streaming platforms.
By market, factors that are likely to motivate consumers to take up video gaming on streaming platforms
Data from the individual markets we survey reveals that affordable pricing is the top motivator for gamers in Hong Kong (50%), Singapore (49%) and Australia (49%). Among European markets, Brits are most likely to cite this factor (45%). Hong Kong (55%) and Indonesia (51%) are markets where consumers are most likely to cite ease of access, whereas in Europe, Poles are the most likely to say ease of access would encourage them to play video games on streaming platforms (36%). Ease of access is the top factor chosen by consumers within the UAE (37%), our data shows.
Mexicans are the most keen, across markets, on the variety of games made available (42%).
Hong Kongers (44%) and Indians (39%) lead in saying rewards and loyalty programs would encourage them to play video games on streaming platforms. In Europe, such programs would encourage Italians (29%), French (28%), Poles (28%) and Americans (28%) the most.
Moving on to cross-platform play, Hong Kongers lead yet again (24%) followed by Australians and Indians (20% each).
More than two in five Indians (46%) say family-friendly gaming options is key in motivating them to play video games on streaming platforms. A quarter of consumers in France share this sentiment (25%).
Explore our living data - for free
Discover more media content here
Want to run your own research? Run a survey now
Make smarter business decisions with better intelligence. Understand exactly what your audience is thinking by leveraging our panel of 20 million+ members. Speak with us today.
Methodology: YouGov Surveys: Serviced provide quick survey results from nationally representative or targeted audiences in multiple markets. The data is based on surveys of adults aged 18+ years in 17 markets with sample sizes varying between 362 and 818 for each market. All surveys were conducted online in December 2023. Data from each market uses a nationally representative sample apart from Mexico and India, which use urban representative samples, and Indonesia and Hong Kong, which use online representative samples. Learn more about YouGov Surveys: Serviced.