Could The Recession Hit Casual Gaming The Hardest?

Sooner or later someone is going to have to give us a definitive answer in the “will gaming survive the recession” debate. This week, ‘analysts’ reckon that the answer for casual gaming is ‘maybe not’.

The problem is in the ‘Casual’ bit. The scores of newly minted gamers attracted to shorter, shallower games are more likely to ditch them when the going gets expensive, says Piers Harding-Rolls of Screen Digest, “We are not sure how the recession will affect the buying habits of these new, more casual mainstream consumers. [They] are more likely to view gaming as a discretionary luxury.”

Equally, though, once they are hooked on videogames might we expect the casual crowd to seek out games with a bit more depth and longevity, just in terms of bangs per buck? Maybe a shift from Solitaire to Final Fantasy will be the downturn’s lasting legacy for gaming.

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