Gaming demographics on the internet

[alanschu]

DICE had put forth a survey asking people what platform they expect to play BF4 on

 

 

PC - 70%
Xbox One - 10%
PlayStation 4 - 8%
PlayStation 3 - 6%
Xbox 360 - 6%

 

 

 

Now, I don't expect the actual sales to reflect this in the slightest (though BF3 on PC was still a huge seller, it shipped mountains of units for the consoles as well).

 

 

This was a poll on Facebook, so the people likely already have a PC.  I just find it interesting because a lot of people make reference to online polls and online news in general to ground their opinions on popularity and so forth.

[BruceVC]

DICE had put forth a survey asking people what platform they expect to play BF4 on

 

 

PC - 70%

Xbox One - 10%

PlayStation 4 - 8%

PlayStation 3 - 6%

Xbox 360 - 6%

 

 

 

Now, I don't expect the actual sales to reflect this in the slightest (though BF3 on PC was still a huge seller, it shipped mountains of units for the consoles as well).

 

 

This was a poll on Facebook, so the people likely already have a PC.  I just find it interesting because a lot of people make reference to online polls and online news in general to ground their opinions on popularity and so forth.

 

Hi Alan

 

Interesting poll and once again vindicates my choice as the PC for my gaming platform

[alanschu]

I'm not sure it actually does!  Haha.

 

I'm more (not very scientifically) curious if this online breakdown applies to other games, or if there's something about Battlefield (and it's PC lineage) that influences it.  PC gaming itself also has a stronger lineage of being online in general too.

 

More just random musings.  I definitely do not expect 70% of all BF4 players to play on the PC.

Edited May 31, 2013 by alanschu

[Nonek]

What is BF4 and whom are DICE? (One assumes they are not the d4 and upwards that we're all familiar with.)

Edited May 31, 2013 by Nonek

[Malcador]

What is BF4 and whom are DICE? (One assumes they are not the d4 and upwards that we're all familiar with.)

Battlefield 4, DICE is the developer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EA_Digital_Illusions_CE

[Agiel]

An online poll sort of uses a skewed sample. People savvy about gaming will likely have PCs powerful enough to handle BF4 on their machines. I suspect you'd get a far different result if they polled random people walking into a Gamestop or Best Buy or other electronic retailer.

[Amentep]

So...

 

A self-selecting poll (skew) on the developer's (skew) web site (skew) with no indication how it was run* (possible skew) or if the question included the possibility of not buying (possible skew) indicates a favor for the PC.

 

I'm shocked.  Truly and absolutely.

 

 

*most web based polls allow multiple votes, rendering them as meaningless as the winner of American Idol...

Edited May 31, 2013 by Amentep

[alanschu]

i'm not suggesting it's scientific at all.

 

Thing is, I do disagree with the notion "people savvy enough about gaming will likely have PCs powerful enough to handle BF4."  You don't need a powerful PC to vote in a poll.  I do find it interesting, however, that a game that did sell more on consoles typically only has PC fans that knew about this poll.

 

Would it still be the same with a game like COD (which certainly has a weaker PC legacy than Battlefield).

[BruceVC]

So...

 

A self-selecting poll (skew) on the developer's (skew) web site (skew) with no indication how it was run* (possible skew) or if the question included the possibility of not buying (possible skew) indicates a favor for the PC.

 

I'm shocked.  Truly and absolutely.

 

 

*most web based polls allow multiple votes, rendering them as meaningless as the winner of American Idol...

 

It may appear to be biased but its not hard to believe that the PC would be the platform of choice for BF4.

[Azdeus]

I kind of doubt it, I think it'll be more popular on consoles than on PC. I reckon that PC gamers are generally more interested in polls, forums and such though wich skews the answers.

 

I would actually like to see a rigorous study on genderdistribution amongst core gamers, something wich I don't think has been done.

I've read about studies done, but the question asked was basically self-interpreted, so that if you count MS Hearts as a computergame, and you've played that - you're a "gamer".

 

It would be nice to actually get some numbers on it to end that meaningless (Though interesting) part of the endless debates that goes on about gaming and girls.

[Amentep]

i'm not suggesting it's scientific at all.

 

Thing is, I do disagree with the notion "people savvy enough about gaming will likely have PCs powerful enough to handle BF4."  You don't need a powerful PC to vote in a poll.  I do find it interesting, however, that a game that did sell more on consoles typically only has PC fans that knew about this poll.

 

Would it still be the same with a game like COD (which certainly has a weaker PC legacy than Battlefield).

 

Maybe console players didn't feel the need to vote.  Maybe they missed the poll.  Maybe they're more likely to wait to see which system gets the best reviews and buy the game for that system.

 

Problem is there's no real way to extrapolate any meaning or validity from the poll.

 

It may appear to be biased but its not hard to believe that the PC would be the platform of choice for BF4.

 

Just because a poll can't be used to prove something because its validity is in question doesn't make the conclusion from its results wrong, it just makes it unprovable by the poll.  The "truth" is out there regardless of the poll.

[alanschu]

Maybe console players didn't feel the need to vote.  Maybe they missed the poll.  Maybe they're more likely to wait to see which system gets the best reviews and buy the game for that system.

 

Eh.  I'm well aware of the biases that exist.  You're right that there's a lot of maybes.  They're all potentially very valid.  It was more intended to be a thought experiment on stuff like this until:

 

Problem is there's no real way to extrapolate any meaning or validity from the poll.

 

You're right.  I thought I had been clear on this, as it was never the intent of this thread.  I state in the OP that I don't believe this to be valid in any way.

 

I don't believe the poll is conclusive at all regarding who actually plays Battlefield, but that seems to have been missed.  The thread was more about "online polls and what people take from them" rather than "is this online poll in anyway representative of Battlefield's install base."  For instance, I disagree with Bruce's assessment that most people will play BF4 on the PC.  Most people did not play BF3 on the PC.  So what does this say about this as an online poll and the people that vote in them and people that listen to them?  What would influence this online poll giving results like this, and would a game like COD still get the same?  Would console players still not feel the need to vote?  Would they still have missed the poll?  Are they waiting for the best system as well.

 

But anyways, I don't think I'm communicating what I actually wanted to discuss very well, since people seem to be stating things that are already quite obvious to me (i.e. There's biases in the poll.  Yes, I know....).

Edited May 31, 2013 by alanschu

[Amentep]

You're right.  I thought I had been clear on this, as it was never the intent of this thread.  I state in the OP that I don't believe this to be valid in any way.

 

I don't believe the poll is conclusive at all regarding who actually plays Battlefield, but that seems to have been missed.  The thread was more about "online polls and what people take from them" rather than "is this online poll in anyway representative of Battlefield's install base."  For instance, I disagree with Bruce's assessment that most people will play BF4 on the PC.  Most people did not play BF3 on the PC.  So what does this say about this as an online poll and the people that vote in them and people that listen to them?  What would influence this online poll giving results like this, and would a game like COD still get the same?  Would console players still not feel the need to vote?  Would they still have missed the poll?  Are they waiting for the best system as well.

 

But anyways, I don't think I'm communicating what I actually wanted to discuss very well, since people seem to be stating things that are already quite obvious to me (i.e. There's biases in the poll.  Yes, I know....).

 

 

One big question is "Did the poll allow multiple votes" in case we have to wonder if there was intentional vote stuffing by PC fans to try to favor the PC (perhaps with the idea that if EA/DICE see the PC as a big market the PC version will make better use of high-end rigs?)

 

If ballot stuffing is a possibility, then that could also lead to the numbers without any disinterest in the player "groups".

 

How many people voted in the poll?  Looks like their twitter followers on the official account is 602,695, was the respondents even a fraction of that?  What percentage of the population mobilized for the poll?

[Zoraptor]

Facebook polls allow one vote per account, I believe. It would still be susceptible to minor stuffing from people who had multiple FB accounts (though I cannot imagine anyone, even the PCGMR, being so desperately partisan that they'd bother) and the various other problems like being a self selected sample, being (I presume) in english so favouring xbox etc. It is pretty good as an illustration of the results of bias, and potentially (as below) how you ask the question since I don't think anyone believes 70% of sales will be on PC.

 

Oh, and in Breaking News...

70% of people who intend to play BF4 want to do so on Origin!

[Hurlshort]

I'd prefer Origin over that stupid web browser they had for BF3.

[greylord]

I have no idea if it is biased or not, but I do observe weird behaviors on the internet.  These forums (obsidian) are overwhelmingly composed of PC gamers.  However, several of the last releases by Obsidian were also console releases.  They either sold very poorly on consoles, or not many of the bigger console gamers favor the gaming forum outside the particular game they played.

 

Does that mean PC games sell better for obsidian then console games, or is there some weird dynamic at work that skews the people who attend here regularly?

 

I don't know.

 

There are other forums where you would expect a greater number of pc gamers but instead it's the console gamers that seem to dominate in those forums.  Why is that?  I don't know.  I have no idea why PC gamers or console gamers favor one forum or another.

 

It probably skews the numbers in regards to those on those sites though in regards to polls...at least sometimes.  Whether it did or not for the poll above, I have no idea.

 

However, considering that the options were Xbox one, and PS4 or PS3 and Xbox 360...I'd probably want it on a higher powered system at this point which would rule out this gen of consoles, Xbox one sounds absolutely atrocious so no way I'd want it on that or that I'd even have one, and too little is known on whether the PS4 will require certain actions or not...if I had to make a choice right now of what platform of choice...it probably would be PC also.  I'm not surprised if even console gamers would choose the PC currently with what we know of the next gen of consoles thus far.