Only 29% of Core Gamers Intend to Buy a Next Generation Console On Release

According to a new report from the market research firm NPD, entitled “Core Gaming 2013,” only 29% of core gamers intend to buy next-generation consoles as soon as they become available.

The study was carried out amongst U.S. respondents age 9 and older who currently play games for five or more hours per week on an Xbox 360, PS3, PC, or Mac.  In order to be classed as a core gamers, respondents had to play Action, Adventure, Fighting, Flight, Massively Multi-Player, Racing, Real Time Strategy, Role-Playing, Shooter, or Sport games on any of those devices. Of the 6,000 people surveyed by NPD, 887 fell into this category.

Of these core gamers, 42% explicitly said they were not planning to purchase any new consoles upon initial release.

Three groups were found to be more inclined to purchase a next generation console at the time of release, namely: gamers between the ages of 25 and 44, current console owners who play games on the console (as opposed to using it primarily for its other entertainment features), and people who spend 15 or more hours playing games per week.

Source: NPD