The Reason We’ve Never Heard Gamers Complain About Long Download Times is Because We Never Asked Them – Until Now

There are some things we can’t imagine anymore, such as renting a movie at a store, driving it home and then consuming it. Innovations like Netflix, Spotify & Co. were less a result of consumer complaints, than of brilliant technical advancements opening new business models. And consumers happily adopted it! 

Today, gamers are conditioned to schedule downloads enduring hours of wait. To be fair, the main reason is -or better was- lack of technology allowing instant access to games, which is the only reason for why there are so few complaints.

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In March, an independent firm asked over 2000 gamers if they could suspend disbelief, and imagine starting to play games while downloading with almost zero wait. In addition, they interviewed 11 industry experts, many hailing from today’s biggest game publishers about the impact of such a paradigm shift. 

Gamer Survey Results

Presented with the option that instant access to games would be possible, the answers are almost self-evident:

  • Store preference: 84% confirm to be willing to switch game stores for the same game offered with a FastStart feature
  • Money for value: More than 60% confirm their willingness to pay extra for an Instant Play feature, with about 20% willing to pay up to 10% of the original game price
  • The next 1 billion gamers: Instant Play was selected the #1 driver for purchase decision in low bandwidth regions 
  • Pre-purchase: 68% report not to have purchased at least one game in the past 12 months due to long download times (lost revenues)
  • F2P conversion: 72% report to have skipped trying out at least one game in the past 12 months for good due to long download times (lost revenue potential)
  • More revenues: 83% confirm that FastStart would positively influence their purchase/download decision

Click here to view the slideshare of FastStart Market Assessment Gamer Survey Results or message me to get the full Market Study.

Expert Consensus

FastStart is likely to become the standard for digital game delivery based on its value in driving subscription experiences, increasing conversion, and modernizing aging game delivery infrastructure without the pitfalls of heavy investments into building and operating cloud gaming solutions.  

“The benefit to the end-user is undeniable, and still, most providers do not have a proprietary solution. Once a single provider includes a similar solution, it will likely become the market standard to offer Fast-Start.” Chief Business Officer, Fast Game Start Industry Expert Survey Participant 2022.

  • FastStart helps game stores differentiate, modernize aging infrastructure and compete 
  • FastStart can bring the magnitude of value necessary to switch users from Steam 
  • Subscription models are a strategic priority of large game publishers to stabilize top-line 
  • If FastStart can increase conversion and lower dropout, it’s a “no-brainer”
  • “Providing FastStart for free attracts new customers and binds them to our ecosystem” 
  • FastStart avoids infrastructure pain of cloud gaming while enabling subscriptions 
  • “We definitely see a customer willing to pay for a fast start feature”

About ROCKITPLAY FastStart

ROCKITPLAY FastStart is the only aftermarket solution able to bring instant access to any game and cut patching costs by up to 50% – and it is available today. No source code changes or developer support needed.

Reach out and together, we can stand up a test instance on your infrastructure in just a couple of days, making it easy to test FastStart with your games and to evaluate the financial top-line and bottom-line benefits.