With October ending soon, it’s time to prepare for Halloween. For some people it means making a costume, for others stocking up on tiny candy, but for the gaming community it’s about embracing the inner darkness with a cozy sweater of favorite media.
G2A.COM decided to inspect the gamers’ tastes in horror and Halloween festivities with a quick survey, which revealed a few interesting things, the results of which will be discussed here, starting with a look at the warm-up part.
The first question asked gamers about their general attitude towards spooky entertainment, and nearly 40% (specifically: 37,9%) stated they do enjoy it. While it’s impossible to ascertain if this is just the Halloween season speaking through them, it does show that the relatively niche genre has a strong following among the gaming community.
The next question narrowed down on the aspects which are of the most interest. The undisputed winner was “being scared”, sitting at nearly half the answers, but as many as 33,8% respondents pointed to engaging plots as crucial to their enjoyment, suggesting that the most popular kind of fear is rooted in fascinating stories rather than jump scares.
The third question asked about gamers’ preferred horror medium.
Unsurprisingly, 49,6% of participants pointed to gaming as their go-to source of horror, with Survival (24%) and Action (21.7%) as their favorite kinds of fright-inducing games. Only 12.8% of respondents chose jump scares as their preference, reflecting the attitude implied by the earlier question’s results. Even psychological horror ranked much higher with nearly 20%, suggesting a meaningful shift in preferences.
Gamers were also asked about the favorite kinds of Halloween content in video games, and the first place was taken by themed game modes, chosen by over 20% of respondents. The runners-up were new skins at 18.8% and special weapons or items with 16.1%.
Timed events and new DLCs were close behind the podium, each claiming just over 14% of answers, but on the other hand, nearly half the participants admitted they are “likely” (21.7%) or even “very likely” (surprising 27.8%) to spend money on Halloween-themed content. Just over a quarter were indifferent to the idea and could go either way, while a total of 23.4% stated they are “unlikely” or “very unlikely” to spend money.
The second favorite horror medium were movies, with 36.2% of answers, while books and “other” trailed way behind at 13% and 1%, respectively. When asked about a vintage horror franchise they would love to see adapted into a video game, the results were very evenly spread, with Saw’s 16.7% winning narrowly ahead of Dracula’s 15.8%. The third place was occupied by Friday the 13th at 15.2%. The first and third places are also interesting, because both franchises have already received adaptations: Saw in 2009, and Friday the 13th in 2017.
Putting it all into perspective, one could paint two pictures. One of a singleplayer horror gamer who’s keen on story-driven, tense, and action-packed experiences with interesting characters. The other of an enthusiast of online, living games providing interesting, Halloween-themed gameplay and cosmetics once the season hits. Despite their differences, both Dorians Gray of gaming can step through G2A.COM’s Gate 2 Adventure and find vast offer catalog with plenty of spooky games to choose from during our spooky Halloween sale.
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