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Michael Piggott

7 Surprising Facts About Gamers: Little-Known Truths That Might Change Your Mind

7 Surprising Facts About Gamers: Little-Known Truths That Might Change Your Mind

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Gaming is bigger than ever. This year, the industry will generate an expected $152.1 billion in revenue.

But despite gaming’s popularity, some serious misconceptions surround those who love to play. We’re here to settle the score, so get ready to learn seven surprising facts about gamers that might surprise you.

1. Most Gamers Are Adults

For some reason, there’s still a stigma surrounding gaming. Some people believe that it’s a hobby for kids.

The data doesn’t lie – the average gamer is far from a kid. The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) notes that the average player is 34 years old.

Aside from that, 70% of gamers are 18 or older.

2. Gaming is a Pro-Social Hobby

Another nasty stigma is that gamers don’t socialize enough. But if you were to boot up any lobby in “Fortnite,” you’d soon note that that isn’t the case at all.

Gaming brings people together. Thanks to headsets and chat features, gamers interact with people around the world every day. 

And that’s not even accounting for the gamers who get together with friends and hold LAN parties.

3. China Boasts the Biggest Population of Gamers

Looking to find your video game mecca? You might want to head to China.

Reports note that China features the highest population of gamers on the globe. Chinese gamers spend $27.54 billion on gaming each year.

4. Mobile Gamers Spend More Than Console Players

Between high-end gaming PCs and expensive new consoles, it can seem like gaming can cost a fortune.

You can even play some great games right on your phone.

But that doesn’t stop people from dropping serious dollars to support their favorite games. In 2018, mobile games generated $70.3 billion in revenue. In comparison, console games generated $34.6 billion, while PC games totaled $32.9 billion.

5. Yes, Women Play Games Too

As far as outdated stereotypes go, this is perhaps the most harmful, so let’s put it to rest once and for all.

Reports show that 46% of females in the U.S. play games.

Not only do women play games, but women are responsible for some of the most beloved games of all time. Games like “Centipede,” “Portal,” and “Celeste” all had female creators at the helm.

6. Gaming Can Be a Viable Career

With the rise of eSports and streaming, gamers can now make a living doing what they love. Some streamers make millions per year!

7. Gamers Impact the Games They Play

In the old days, a player would buy a game, play it, maybe tell a friend or two what they thought, and then move on with their life. But now, gamers have more power than ever. And they’re using that power to impact the games they love.

Take the controversy surrounding Battlefront II, for instance. Publisher Electronic Arts’ (EA) decision to lock many of the game’s elements behind loot boxes drew such ire from fans that EA changed Battlefront’s entire monetization model days before launch.

There’s also Fallout 76. Despite a rocky launch, gamers came together to build entire settlements. Players even banded together to create marketplaces.

Level up Your Knowledge with These Facts About Gamers

So there you have it, the essential facts about gamers. It’s nice to finally put some of these old myths to bed for good.

Whether you’re a lifelong gamer or someone looking to get into the hobby, we hope you learned something today!

And remember, if you’re interested in saving money while playing the games you love, we can help. Click here to find out how.

The Gamer’s Savings Plan: Why Saving Can Help You Buy Games

The Gamer’s Savings Plan: Why Saving Can Help You Buy Games

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There are at least 2.2 billion gamers active in the world today. 

On top of that, people spent over $23.5 billion on games in 2015. 

If you’re one of those many people who love games, what if I told you that you could buy your favorite releases without ever feeling financial stress?

It’s time you learned how to save your money so you can play the games you want. 

Interested? 

Read on to learn about the ways you can use a gamer’s savings plan to make your life easier, and how you might even be able to make some extra cash while you’re at it. 

The ‘Sell Your Unwanted Games Savings Plan’

If you’re a console gamer, chances are you have titles hanging around that you no longer play. 

Want to save your money? Sell your used titles for extra bucks. 

Where’s the best place to sell your used games? 

Try out Amazon and Ebay. 

Amazon lets you market your old game through strong filters and has enough users that you’ll virtually always get a bite. 

Rent Your Games

Ever wondered why most newly released console games cost so much?

Part of the reason is due to production and sheer development. But the games you buy on release-day are often over-priced due to buyer competition. 

If you’re tired of waiting in a long line to buy an expensive game, look towards online renting services. 

AmazonPrime, Gamefly, and Nvidia are just some of the options that can save you a lot of money. Then, you aren’t paying tons of money every year Bethesda comes out with a new Elder Scrolls title. 

Replayable Titles 

When you’re researching new games to buy, target games that have high replayability. 

This makes it easier for you to settle down with one particular game, and not spend loads of money on a new release right away. 

Try searching for games that focus on open-world questing and multiple endings. This makes you motivated to play the game again, saving you money. 

Do Your Research 

This ensures that you aren’t wasting your money on a game. 

Though you can never know how good a video game is going to be from reviewers and spec-research, you can get a better idea of how much fun you’ll have. 

Be sure to research a game through multiple game-review outlets. Some will have inherent biases towards or away from the title you’re interested in. 

You can also try reaching out to betas and demos to see if the game is worth your money. 

Game Investments 

It seems like a dream question: how do I make money playing games? 

The answer is simple. Besides saving, you can make real-time investments while you play your favorite games. 

Options like Lootfeed allow you to connect your game data to an investment app, making you money while you play. 

Save Money While You Play 

A good savings plan can give you all the opportunity you need to play the games you want without worrying about your wallet. 

What about making some extra cash while you’re playing? 

Here’s your chance! You can check out services like Lootfeed to automatically accrue funds while gaming away. 

Go for it. Be the gamer who never has to sell another title again. 

Money Management Tips: 4 Ways Gamers Can Save Money in Life

Money Management Tips: 4 Ways Gamers Can Save Money in Life

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Real life money management tips are similar to how you spend your loot in the video games you play:

You earn coins to buy weapons and gear and save up to get the “good stuff.” You don’t want to blow your bank on things you don’t really need because that could mean having to go without later. 

But in real life, the stakes are higher. You’re not 16 anymore and need to think carefully about how you spend your money. 

You’re keeping a roof over your head, food within arm’s reach, and the power on so you can keep gaming. Plus, you’ll never be able to save for retirement if you keep blowing your money on your gaming habit.

That doesn’t mean just because you’re older now and have more responsibilities that you can’t still enjoy gaming.

It’s never too late to press Start on these four money management tips:

1. Buy Used Games

A new game can easily cost you $60 or more. But buying used video games can give you the same gameplay for less cash. 

Stores like GameStop have made a big business from buying and selling used games, giving you upfront savings. 

Or, you can scope out sites like Craigslist, Facebook, or eBay for even better deals. 

2. Consider a Game’s Replayability

Forget about the hype. Before you invest your hard-earned money on a game, think about the total value the game will bring you. 

The best games are those you can play again and again. This helps you get your money’s worth and eliminates the need to rush out and buy more games since you already have something worth playing. 

Games that you’ll only play once or twice might be cheaper to rent or borrow from a friend. 

3. Trade Games with Friends—It’s Free!

If you have gamer friends, consider pooling your collection to expand your options. 

This gives you greater access to games without you having to spend your own money on them. Plus, you’re helping out a fellow gamer do the same.

Or, if you have kids who are also into video games, buy the titles that you’re also interested in playing so you can stretch your gameplay even further. This is also a good opportunity to share with your kids the older video games that started it all and do some reminiscing at the same time.

It’s a win/win!

4. Stock Up on Steam Sales

Steam is the holy grail for gamers. This online platform sells tons of games at way below retail prices. They have popular titles that everyone is talking about and titles that no one is talking about, and everything in between. 

The catch is that there are no physical media, which is one of the things that drives up the price of games at stores. Rather, you download your games directly to your PC.

If you find you can’t enough Steam, consider getting a dedicated Steam Box to house all your games. This allows you to play your games on your TV with a real controller, not a keyboard, giving you the same convenience of a console. 

Keep in mind if you build a Steam Box, it will take a while to recoup your investment. The games can be cheap, but gaming PCs are not. Do some math to calculate if this investment is worth it. 

Find More Money Management Tips for Gamers

Gaming can be an expensive hobby, but it doesn’t have to be. Savvy money management tips like the ones above can help you avoid going broke.

There are always ways to save on your favorite games, even if it means not getting them on release day.

Find more money-saving tips on the Lootfeed blog!

What do you play for?

What do you play for?

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What do I play for?

As an aging gamer who is adulting full time now, I seek to have it all: a career, family, and playing the best games possible. 

Adulting isn’t easy, and staying young at heart is even harder. So it’s no wonder that at 2 am, I am either sleeping or playing video games. During this time I don’t regret the fact I have to go to work in a couple of hours.

My only regret is, I could be doing something else more productive with my time. 

Coming across an article on Wired Magazine, I discovered this feeling is known as Gamer Regret, also known as Gamer Guilt. Not to be confused with Gamer Remorse which according to the Urban dictionary is the regretful feeling one gets while trudging exhaustedly through the day after a dutiful night of gaming. 

It turns out there are a lot more gamers; the average age of a gamer being 34 years old, that also share the feeling of Gamer regret. With this knowledge, I become obsessed with this feeling and have dedicated myself to finding ways to get rid of it.

After doing tons of customer interviews, I found that gamers who feel this way have multifaceted lives with competing interests.  Their lives might include a ton of responsibilities, job, kids, and family. From 18 or younger, we tend to think we have all the time in the world and don’t reflect on our time gaming. Time isn’t an hourglass until you see how much changes around you and how much you change over time. The reflection on my time gaming and life became the genesis of Lootfeed and the question.

What do you play for?

Lootfeed as a concept is simple: the time you spend while playing a video game is also spent building value (IRL) in real life. Games today bring a person educational, therapeutic, and recreational value, but what if there could be more? A select group of streamers and professional gamers as of this decade have been able to create real-world monetary value based on virtual exploits. What is the intrinsic value?

We believe in the future. Every time a gamer plays a game, this gamer will be synchronous Looting in real life for something — for example, their savings, goals, college loans, retirement, and investments.

Approximately 2.2 billion gamers share gaming as a hobby in the world. With the estimated 7.6 billion people living on earth, this means that almost a third of people on this planet are gamers!

Gamers spend an average of nearly six hours each week playing videogames. Millennial gamers (age 18-35) spend more time watching other people play video games than they spend watching traditional sports on television. Meanwhile, younger gamers (age 18-25) spend almost an hour more each week watching online gaming than watching traditional sports. Gamers spend an average of one hour and 48 minutes each week watching other players play online on sites such as Twitch. In comparison to two hours and 27 minutes spent watching traditional sports on broadcast television.

Lootfeed is a Hobby meeting a habit.

Hobbies are recreational activities that you repeatedly do.

Habits are a regular tendency or practice.

Lootfeed seeks to marry your gaming hobby with positive habits.

On average, a person spends about 10000 hours of gaming in their first 18 years of life. What if this had tangible value outside of potential esports skills acquired? 

Pay and or Invest in yourself while you play.

Go to Lootfeed.com to learn more
Why is Lootfeed relevant right now?

Why is Lootfeed relevant right now?

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It’s never been so easy to save and invest but are gamers addressed in these services?

Microsaving or Microinvesting

There is a rise in personal financial technology applications (fintech apps) assisting in personal finance. Robinhood, Acorn, Stash, and Qapital are just some of the ways millennials are saving or investing their money. Not trusting a startup over a bank, especially after the financial crisis makes sense. The youth distrust of the old guard, in turn, this benefits the new guard fintech startups. 

Despite the fact these startups or companies are backed by big banks, for example:

Even with the highly anticipated Apple card, Goldman Sachs takes the role of the issuing bank, with Mastercard serving as the payment network.

It’s never been so easy to save and invest but are gamers addressed in these services?

Blast currently is addressing Andriod gamers, but this neglects a large percentage of console and pc gamers.

The following are factors and trends that set the stage for Lootfeed:

Saving Crisis

Earlier in 2019, many Americans went without a paycheck or two due to the government shutdown. Since then, statistics have been published to show that forty percent of people in the U.S. don’t have $400 set aside for an emergency, according to the Federal Reserve. Additionally, 25 percent of Americans have nothing saved for retirement.

Debt Crisis

  • College loans 

Americans owe over $1.56 trillion in student loan debt as of 2018, spread out among about 45 million borrowers.

That’s about $521 billion more than the total U.S. credit card debt.

11.5% of student loans are 90 days or more delinquent or are in default.

The average monthly student loan payment (among those not in deferment) $393

  • Credit cards

Americans owe $1.03 trillion total U.S. credit card debt with the average credit card debt per cardholder in the U.S. owing $5,234.

196.8 million credit cardholders in the U.S. (or 79% of adults)

  • Car loans

Americans owe $1.13 trillion in total U.S. auto loan debt

$31,099 is the average auto loan amount on a new car

The average auto loan payment amount is $515 on a new car

  • Medical debt 

42.9 million Americans have overdue medical debt in the U.S.

$1,766 average balance owed among people with overdue medical debt

25.7% of people under 65 struggle to pay medical bills of more than $2,000

12.6% of people under 65 struggle to pay medical bills of $2,000 or less 

Accountability 

Whether you are politically active, contrarian, or a disillusioned. We live at a time when Americans want to see responsibility for words and actions.

We want this from the people who serve us and the companies of the products or services we use. Primarily if those people and products affect our lives and those we love.

We want to hold ourselves and others accountable for the words we use, our actions, and why, not the time we spend.

Productivity

The average age of a gamer is 34 years old, with more responsibility and less time to play. Often feel they could be doing something more productive with their time gaming. As gaming becomes even more accessible through mobile platforms and the advent of cloud gaming, this problem will become more widespread.

Binge culture

Excess has always been apart of American culture. Many immigrants came here looking for the streets paved with gold and were ready to scoop it all up for themselves. Streaming services, social media, and food companies know that we want to consume as much as we can of the things we love. This obsession with binging can lead to financial and physical unhealthy lifestyles without a balance with a positive habit.

AI Assistant Ghost

The tread of giving orders to an application or artificial intelligence to do something of value in your absence or while you preoccupied has been on the rise in different industries.

For example:

Arcade/Casino – Nothing new under the sun

During the early days of the videogame industry, a gamer could not play at home. He or she had to go to an arcade to play a videogame. The first pay to play, for a quarter a gamer could play for some time or until he/she died in the respective game. A few arcades survived if not for nostalgia, but for combining their business models with bars and restaurants to create a more stable income stream. Now it has gone full circle. We help gamers pay themselves as they play their favorite games.

Game addiction/ Game disorder

Gaming addiction has been a problem for a percentage of the gaming population. It is highly debated and discussed among gamers, researchers, health officials, politicians, and parents. The recognization and classification of gaming disorder by The World Health Organization is a significant move forward in the debate surrounding gaming addiction. Subsequently, Congress has started legislation to ban Loot boxes and Pay to Win Microtransactions.