When it comes to new technologies, there’s always a mix of fear, nervousness, and, well, excitement. Streaming is coming in hot with Google’s Stadia service and Microsoft’s xCloud. There’s a lot of hurdles for streaming to clear for it to be viable, but first and foremost the interest has to be there. Only time will tell what the interest level will be, but right now, in Europe, it seems pretty low.
GamesIndustry got data from the latest survey results of GameTrack, a service that follows gaming habits across the major European countries. And right now, the interest in game streaming is pretty abysmal. Only 15% of those who actively play games seem to have any interest at all, with an astonishingly low 3% saying they have a lot of interest.
“15% of the surveyed gamers (defined as anyone playing games via any device) are interested in a Netflix-style streaming service for games in the four territories included in the study,” the survey found. “The remainder either ‘don’t now’ (12%) or already utilise a service akin to Google Stadia and Microsoft xCloud (such as the current market leader, PlayStation Now).
“Just 3% of gamers claimed to be ‘very interested’ in such a streaming service.
“The country that is most intrigued in gaming streaming platforms is the UK with 23% of players claiming to be interested (although just 5% are ‘very interested’), followed by France and Spain (14%).
“German players are the least interested, with just 10% of gamers keeping an eye on the services and 75% who are not interested.”
There’s other stats counted, such as worry about internet connection and subscription services within other mediums. Overall, the picture is one of pretty severe disinterest. Of course, none of these services have kicked off officially yet, so whether or not that will change when they do is always possible. Is this just a case of not knowing what you want until it’s here- or is Take-Two’s CEO onto something when he says gaming isn’t suited to the same subscription service models as other mediums? We’ll just have to wait and see.
