PC gaming can be an expensive hobby, with high-budget AAA games costing up to $70 at launch or through special edition copies. As a result, most PC gamers are reluctant to pay full price for games and instead seek out discounts and free titles. A recent survey conducted by Atomik Research in partnership with Ultra, a new game selling platform, polled 2,000 PC gamers in the US and UK to understand their purchasing decisions and views on the current gaming market.

The survey found that 75% of respondents believe that high-budget AAA PC games are too expensive, leading to only 36% of survey-takers acquiring digital PC games at full price. The majority of respondents prefer discounts, bundles, or obtaining games for free. Specifically, 32% of survey-takers acquired their games through discounts or via bundles, while another 32% received their games for free, possibly through free-to-play models or through special promotions.

The survey also highlighted that 87% of PC gamers consider discounts to play a crucial role in their purchasing decisions, indicating that consumers are aware of the potential to score PC games for cheaper prices by waiting for sales on platforms such as Steam or the Epic Games Store. These findings suggest that the gaming industry's efforts to charge more for PC titles may fall flat with many consumers savvy enough to know that a discount is always around the corner.

Ultra is using the survey results to promote its own gaming platform, which will offer consumers a way to trade their games. However, the survey demonstrates that most PC gamers are willing to wait for discounts and free titles, rather than paying full price for games.