Payment fraud is a top concern for American, British and German gamers, according to research from ACI Worldwide and Newzoo. 19% of them experienced fraud while paying for online games.
One in three gamers (33%) worry about fraud enough to be less likely to spend money on online games.
However, gamers showed a largely positive opinion of new digital payment methods, such as cryptocurrencies. American gamers (25%) think the most positively about cryptocurrencies, followed by German gamers (18%) and the British (16%).
Trust is the most important factor gamers consider when choosing an online payment method. Nearly half of paying gamers (44%) see room for improvement in the in-game payment experience, with a third of them being frustrated by slow payment processes. German players cited a seamless payment experience as one of the main reasons to prefer a certain payment method.
Mobile platform, while having the lowest proportion of paying gamers due to the prevalence of free titles, is clearly dominating, with 95% of respondents actively gaming on mobile devices. In Germany, 43% of gamers play on mobile devices. German gamers spending money on their mobile games mostly buy in-game (65%).
ACI Worldwide and Newzoo’s research project, “What turns players into payers: Understanding the gaming payments experience“ was conducted to explore paying behaviour, payment preferences and the payment experience among gamers to gather insights into the most effective ways to optimize payments conversions in games. 2,051 gamers, playing at least two hours per week, were surveyed across Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States.
