Hacker News Reader

Are there any demographics information about the people who spend a lot of money on microtransactions? There’s obviously a decent chunk of the population who does but Im not aware of anyone in my circles with this habit. Is it mostly children?

View on HN

Some of my friends try to hide the amount spent in micro transactions. One reason, is that they do not want to think about it, as it would be way more money than they would like. The transactions are spread over time, so each one is a bit less “impactful” at their wallet. Also, nobody is sure about the exact amount.

Another reason is that mobile games are considered childish. So admitting to spending money on them has the danger of people considering them childish. At least in their minds.

I think it is split into two groups, the small percent of whales that contribute a huge percent of the revenue, and a larger minority of users who consider spending money on the game as an expense like going out for drinks or other entertainment. The majority of users just exist to make a game popular as a means to entice whales who will spend money.

We are sort of in a transition period where only more veteran gamers experienced the norm of having fixed cost games, whereas now microtransaction based monetization are normalized.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com