Google's 2022 PC & Console Insights Report highlights what's important to players

Author: by Kathy Fang, Product Marketing Manager at Google for Games

Presented by Google for Games

The ways in which players around the world discover and play games are ever-changing. With a wide variety of different discovery channels, tools to gauge interest, and current trends worth pursuing, it can be hard to know which path to take, and how to do so efficiently. Luckily, Google for Games is creating a series of four insights reports to help game developers choose the right path and make informed decisions.

The first 2022 Mobile Insights Report focuses on insights for mobile players across the game development lifecycle. The second 2022 PC & Console Insights Report features insights for PC & console players, a group that we’ve found to have differing behaviors, preferences, and motivations as it relates to games in comparison to their mobile counterparts.

Let’s dive into some critical takeaways and what you need to know from the Google for Games PC & Console Insights Report.

Optimize for your audience

Overall, we’re seeing PC & console players engaging more closely within game communities, spending more money on in-game content, and interacting more with industry trends and features than mobile players. Below is a snapshot of the relevant insights across the two reports:

Design for everyone

The report also surfaces localization and DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) as two essential pillars from which to build upon when designing games. 63% of global PC & console players believe that it’s very or extremely important that the games they play are localized to their country or region. This figure is largely driven by Brazil and APAC, with 81% and 70% of respondents sharing that same sentiment, respectively.

These statistics underscore the importance of game localization when launching globally. In this day and age, it’s not enough to merely translate strings of text and assume that the content will resonate worldwide. Developers need to ask themselves whether their game truly represents the people and cultures in these markets and whether global audiences can relate to the personas represented in their games.

When PC & console players were asked which features they’re interested in engaging with in new games, the most common answer was “more diverse characters/character creation options”. Similarly, almost three-fourths of global respondents indicated that it’s very or extremely important that the games they play feature diverse characters and diverse stories.

Overall, there is a global positivity and eagerness among PC & console players towards diversity, equity, and inclusion within games, especially as it relates to playable characters, character creation options, and storylines.

Meet players where they are

Pre-ordering games continues to be a fairly common practice among PC & console players, with only 13% of global respondents indicating that they never pre-order upcoming games. The most common motivations behind pre-ordering is to ensure that they can play it as soon as possible, get exclusive in-game items, or take advantage of a discount or sale.

When it comes to discovering new or upcoming games, 40% of PC & console players turn to YouTube videos, 39% use ads on social media, and 38% rely on recommendations from friends and family. But what actually pushes them over the edge to try out these new games includes a few key factors. Over half of global respondents lean towards game genres they are familiar with and enjoy already, and over 40% focus on graphics fidelity, storylines, and positive reviews from gaming sites.

Given these game discovery results, a highly effective way for game developers to reach and engage new players is by advertising their game on YouTube using launch trailers, branded content, gameplay footage, and more! YouTube Ads uses Google data to match a game developers’ message to the right people at the right moment, meaning that viewers can be turned into active and engaged players on any budget.

Foster a positive community

Although only 55% of PC & console players consider themselves to be a part of groups or communities related to games, 89% engage with social features to connect with other players and 90% find ways to interact with players outside of the game. This places a greater responsibility on developers and platforms to encourage and enable positive interactions.

However, this is often easier said than done. In the embedded op-ed featuring Careen Yapp, Strategic Partnerships at Stadia and Jack Buser, Director of Game Industry Solutions at Google Cloud, they note that 81% of players report suffering harassment during multiplayer games. When toxic behavior escalates or piles up over time, some players end up quitting the game altogether. As such, it’s important to remain proactive in looking for solutions and tools to mitigate this damage.

Before launching your game, look for platform tools that can help you get a sense of how players might behave. Stadia’s Channels feature, for example, allows you to grant access to specific players, enabling previews and testing that can be helpful to understand how players interact with one another. Post-launch, encouraging players to engage with platform features like public parties make it easier to establish in-game communities around genres like speedrunning or tips & tricks, boosting their sense of belonging and achievement.

YouTube also offers moderation for live chats, where you can assign moderators, filter chatting activity to just subscribers or members, or use slow mode to limit how often a particular user can comment. In addition to the aforementioned tools, Clean Chat by Google Cloud is designed to use artificial intelligence and machine learning to maintain and scale a solution that can identify and block toxic behavior before it becomes problematic.

Taking all of this into consideration, it’s worth noting that 95% of adults who engage in multiplayer games report positive social experiences overall, whether this is due to chatting with others or just being part of something larger than themselves.

“Creating a positive, vibrant community is incredibly important to a game's success,” reads the op-ed by Yapp and Buser. “It's all about knowing your audience, knowing the type of players you want to attract, and making sure you have the right systems in place to make sure they're all having a positive experience. It's a big responsibility, but the emotional connection people will develop with your game is more than worth the effort.”

Later this year and into early 2023, Google for Games will be publishing its third and fourth insights reports that will present insights for mobile players that play specific game genres. To read the reports as soon as they’re available, be sure to keep an eye on the “Reports” tab on the Google for Games website!