New consumer survey finds exclusives are the number one reason people play on a console, but is there more to it than that?
A new Circana survey reveals that 41 percent of U.S. console gamers cite exclusive games as their primary reason for playing on consoles, making it the top factor ahead of social connections and ease of play. Despite this, exclusives saw an eight-point decline from the previous year, suggesting shifting consumer preferences. While exclusives continue to influence hardware sales, popular non-exclusive live-service games dominate player engagement.
- ▪41 percent of surveyed U.S. gamers said exclusive games are the main reason they play on consoles.
- ▪Social factors like playing with friends and family ranked second and third, with 38 percent and 37 percent respectively.
- ▪Console exclusives saw an eight-point decrease in importance compared to the same survey in 2025.
- ▪Games like NBA 2K26, Fortnite, Roblox, and Call of Duty dominate player engagement despite not being console exclusives.
- ▪The release of God of War: Ragnarok led to a 116 percent increase in PS5 sales in Japan during its launch week.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
Home News New consumer survey finds exclusives are the number one reason people play on a console, but is there more to it than that? 41 percent of respondents listed exclusives as the reason why they play on consoles. Image credit: Sony <img alt="Connor Makar avatar" src="https://assetsio.gnwcdn.com/tAtwiaBo_400x400.jpg?width=2048&height=2048&fit=bounds&quality=85&format=jpg&auto=webp" style="aspect-ratio: 1" width="374" height="374" > News by Connor Makar Staff Writer Published on May 1, 2026 15 comments Follow Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 A new consumer survey by Circana has found that 41 percent of surveyed gamers play on a console because of its exclusive games. Circana, an American market research company, has been analyzing the video game industry for some time.
…
Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Eurogamer.
Discussion
0 commentsMore from Eurogamer
