Study Claims Demos Are Bad for Game Sales

I could believe it

SITUATION 1 - "Played the demo, not interested"

SITUATION 2 - "CRAP, i bought this game and it sucks! they should have made a demo! "

f50p90

Top-selling titles Halo 3, World of Warcraft, Call of Duty 4, CoD: World at War, etc all had public betas (effectively demos ) - so that does cast doubt on the "beta is bad" thought pattern. Besides, we're looking at rather off data - big sellers like Oblivion and Fallout 3 didn't have demos because of the difficulty of "Framing" a moment that showcased the game, it wasn't an intentional "we shouldn't have a demo" thought, while many less ambitious (and worse selling) titles were able to offer up demos.

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We might simply be showing that big ambitious titles aren't able to get a demo together, not that a demo really hurts sales. Of course, Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) recently pulled its public view on the demo from Xbox LIVE - so, who knows what companies will make of such a dubious study.

Makes sense. Most games aren't worth $60.PBSnipes

on the consoles, this makes sence, But I dont think its the same way on the PC.....there are deffinetly a lot of PC gamers who refuse to buy games without demo...at the least to make sure they work on their PC's.cobrax75

Makes sense. Most games aren't worth $60.PBSnipes

Demos are a good way for people to avoid wasting money on bad gamesLief_Ericson

yes they are.