US Children Want Subscriptions and Currencies for Christmas, Not Games

There's something a bit sad about that. Some of my favourite presents were physical games. I'm thinking Zelda Windwaker (complete with silver Gamecube 👌), Pokemon Colosseum and LittleBigPlanet. Will kids have the same nostalgia when they're older for a Apex Legends gift-card?

Im 32 and still ask for games 😂

But yeah, you can see why Sony are jumping on the live service train.

Which makes it all the more ridiculous i cant gift a game to my sister in law for christmas. I want to get her balders gate 3, but it doesnt feel the same just giving her some random psn top up card

@BetaRabbit64 Same. Mid 30s and looking forward to my physical games from the wife….she definitely thinks I’m a big kid though.

On a somewhat related note, is there any logical reason we still can't gift games on the PSN? With digital taking over physical gaming, this is something that's kind of expected in a storefront nowadays. Sending a gift card is not the same as buying someone a specific game.

@Rob_230 can't wrap up a PSN top up, doesn't feel right lol

I would say this is spot on with my youngest. He wants online currency and the ability to play online/subscription service. He wasn’t in a rush for a new system when the new ones came out a few years ago. He was happy with the PS4/Xbox one at that time. He mostly wanted to spend money in Fortnight.

The younger generation is very different from mine, but there wasn’t the option to play online back then. You had to go over to their house to play a game with your friends. Games also didn’t update to keep you coming back. So we wanted a new game when the current one got old. Updates and in game purchases keep the kids coming back over and over.

My nephew's main thing when playing is that he can play with his friends. He doesn't really care what they are playing.

If I had a kid asking me for Fortnite or COD money I’d consider them a failure, and myself by extension lol. It would be time to get the retro consoles out and teach them a few lessons about peer pressure and following the herd.

It’s kind of a shame. Would be remedied by PSN actually allowing gifting games though. Steam’s had it for ages, still get bought a game every year from my uncle on it, he’s done it since we were pretty young.

Sad to see that Physical Games are more and more heading towards oblivion, but I guess I can be happy that my gigantic Physical collection of 2000 odd titles with around 300 sealed games is going to be worth a lot more in a few years!! 😄

I gave my younger brother a physical copy of Sonic Frontiers for Christmas last year. While he thought the game was weird at first he still liked it. I'm planning to give him Sonic Superstars as a Christmas present this year.

With that said. I'm okay with the digital-only future since I only buy physical copies of games purely for pre-order bonuses, I did it back in 2015. I wish there was a way to gift PSN users digital games at the same price, it's weird how Sony hasn't thought of doing that yet, but I think it's feasible.

But what REALLY grinds my gears is how these American kids are into live-service games, letting their parents pay in-game currencies, battle passes, and pointless subscriptions for them. These kinds of things should be banned in general, it's like gambling.

Also, who the heck would still let their 10-year-olds play Call of Duty in 2023?

@liam croft I know ur just doing ur job but this just made everyone who read it sad and makes me fear for the future of the games industry 😔 🙃 😢

I'm not upset at this at all. Let them want what they want. Heck, I can't tell you the last time I got a game for Christmas.

Honestly, we older people need to just leave these kids alone! Times are different now. They do things the way they do them in this new digital age. Nothing "sad" or "disappointing" about it.

I'm getting my youngest nephew Spider-man 2 and then his older brother wants Xbox gift cards, which he will probably buy crap from
Fortnight with!

Edit they are 9 and 15.

@MightyDemon82 Which is fine, right? They want what they want. If a kid plays a certain game and wants currencies for that game I don't understand people's frustrations with this.

The one downside of being digital only is that digital games make for bad Christmas gifts because there is nothing to unwrap. I suggested that my wife buy digital and write down the product key on a paper and wrap that but she thinks it's a dumb idea and too much work. I kind of agree with her but still keep dropping hints about AC6.

Funny because i've only asked for gaming vouchers for PSN this Xmas.

Same here. Im 40 and ive asked for games and vinyl records for christmas. My daughter wanted some V bucks for a season pass and some bux for roblox and i just said no. Mean maybe but im not wasting my money on crap like a 15 quid digital pickaxe thats made redundant when the next cool looking one comes out. I dont mind the odd season pass as she will actually play it and do the challenges etc but i detest paying for a wig or some fairy wigs and crap like that. This predatory action will be a big problem for when the younger generation grows up and is earning their own money to blow on this useless junk.

@AhmadSumadi No it's fine. They get what they want. Just a bit disappointing they don't like better more varied games. They also like football which I find boring, also no kids seem to read for fun these days. But they are my nephews and I'll support them no matter what they are into!

@Kanji-Tatsumi I got Lbp for Christmas and its loads of fun can relate.

I stopped buying my Son 'games' for Christmas/Birthdays over 10yrs ago now. He would much prefer to have 'credit' on his account to take advantage of Digital sales and/or buy DLC/MTX etc in games he was 'enjoying'.

That way he could choose whether he would rather have 1 new Big AAA game, several older AAA sale games, Indies, DLC/MTX etc or combination of these. I think he worked out early that 'money/credit' was better as that gave him the option to choose what he wanted, when he wanted instead of trying to pick something that he might not want by Christmas too...

I never asked for games as a kid myself actually. Mostly because I didn't want to make getting a gift difficult for my mom. Gift giving is hard enough as it is!

Still I can't say I'm surprised by this stat. My nephews basically only play Fortnite and Rocket League. I've tried to introduce them to more single player games like Zelda and Ratchet and Clank but alas they just aren't into it.

@MightyDemon82 remember there's still Spelling Bees, science competitions, etc. Kids are doing exactly what we did at kids. I believe we've just become the griping adults who used to tell us video games will rot our brains lol. Not every kid is a gamer or isn't into academics. It's just that the kids who are into science and reading don't get recognized like the kids who post themselves playing Fortnite and COD.

You want online currency I'm not going to give I find it so useless and it doesn't feel like a present.

How sad is to hear when I came from a time with Super Mario World, Super Metriod, Donkey Kong. After that I got to old for games as a gift. 😅

@AhmadSumadi I guess so, my niece enjoys reading so I'm happy about that and my niece on my wife's side is into Anime & Manga. Got a lot of books that one day will go to the kids.

29yo here and although I would prefer a game rather than sub/czrrency, it seems Ok to me that kids want to play online games together. Why not.

@Jayslow I'd guess it's to do with the value of currency fluctuating (not talking about ingame currency but real currency like pounds, euros and dollars). You can gift stuff on Xbox but the redemption is region locked to an extreme extent (e.g. EU player can't redeem a game gifted from a UK player).

@GoatFace04 It's an amazing Christmas game! blew my mind back in 2008

@Rob_230 But you do understand that it IS the same thing, right? The whole point being you want to provide her a way to play the game, and you're doing that. So what is the problem?

All hail our glorious Live Service future customers! This isn't surprising in the least.

Would the poll show the same results if the games Industry hadn't made the move to a live service model? It makes sense considering that the most popular multiplayer games are basically free to play. I really think it will be impossible to go back to the way things were. Now if one of these live service games got hit with a psn level hack that killed it for a month or so then maybe we can go back to the Good ol days lol

The future is sub-standard

Works for me. I'll happily buy my nephew a 20 quid voucher card rather than a 70 quid game.

Seems most of you didn't read the article. It's not saying they don't want games, it's PHYSICAL games they're not asking for. Rather, in-game currencies which could include PS Store wallet topups. They don't want grandma telling them they can't have an 18+ game so they'd rather take the credits and buy what they want.

Yeah my Nephew has asked for a psn voucher so he can pre-order Suicide Squad deluxe edition. Oh and v-bucks for Fortnite.

That's it right there. The next generation of gamers prefer subs over ownership.

It's a done deal.

Oh no, I already bought my kid an Atari VCS with pong.

@TheArt while possible, that currency is likely going to be spent of skins, battle passes, microtransactions and the like. I have a nephew who I gave a $50 PSN credit to last year and spent almost all of it on Fortnite. I told him he could have gotten a new game or a couple old ones but that's what he wanted, skins.

@UltimateOtaku91 I’m 34 with a wife and 2 kids.. my older sister still asks me what video game I want for my birthday/Christmas every year lol so don’t feel bad

Martin Scorsese is famous for talking about the impending doom of real cinema. Unfortunately video games are in a similar place. Only nobody seems to be willing to speak up about the awful future of soulless subscription games we're to face. The digital future was supposed to make gaming better. Instead I long for the days when a company had to make a game worth buying.

Doesn't surprise me. I almost completely stopped buying games because I can play almost anything I want on PS+.

the younger generation is clearly lost and wouldn't know what a good game is if it bit them in the you know what.

Not surprised by this, that’s just how things are these days. It ain’t my cup of tea but I ain’t bothered by it.

Online game currencies 😓😓😓

That's the bit that makes you sad. A digital game is, at least, still a game. But digital currencies just seems absolutely bleak.

While it clearly makes sense, it feels like something was lost! As many commenters, I still need that new (or very old) game or board game under the Christmas tree to feel like it’s the holidays. My husband is wise enough to know it and actually never fails to choose something right.

I would take this with a grain of salt. 500 people is hardly a comprehensive survey, with a stated margin of error of over 5% to boot. I don't disagree with it completely, though I think it implies a skewed view of the current economic climate. It seems to paint a "subscriptions are winning" picture which in a way is correct but with a caveat. There's no mention that a decent amount of those requests are related to the base online requirements like ps plus essential or xb core, which are not the chunk of the subscription model that is currently a highly contentious subject in the industry. And what of those who already have a base subscription and are asking for the additional tiers because they wouldn't buy it themselves? Many will take this as a sign the subscription model (the kind that includes a library of games) is becoming the new viable standard, but this is shaky evidence at best. I also bet most of the requests for currencies are general ones for specific ecosystems like the PSstore/Steam/etc. which will at least partially be used on games. Again tempering the strong outlook for the game library subscription model this survey and subsequent summaries tend to imply. The survey is so vague and thin it creates more questions about itself than it answers about people's purchasing decisions.

It would be difficult to find a copy of Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name under the Christmas tree anyway since there is no physical copy except in Japan.

I have a 10 and 7 year old and I purposely block them from this type of content. Even though they ask for it constantly, lol.

As a teen, I usually ask for physical copies of games. The only subscriptions I want really is Discord Nitro and mayybeee Minecraft Realms. Most of my friends also ask for games, but thats just me ig

@Rob_230 Yea that's definitely way different. No gift card could ever touch the feeling of the real deal. I could get a gift card enough for 2 PSVR2s, still wouldn't be as hype as actually opening one Christmas morning. Too bad the BG3 physical release is after the new year.

I did laugh reading some of these doomsday comments. It’s like when old people say, ‘back in my day…’. ‘Back in my day we had to queue outside Asda for 4 hours to pick up a physical copy of GTA’ lol

Live service games and SP games can coexist. It’s not the end of the world. Physical media is in decline but times change. I’ve never discouraged my Nephews from spending Birthday/Christmas money on Fortnite. I can see how much enjoyment they get out of the game so it isn’t a ‘waste’ in my eyes. No more a waste than a PS5 disc collecting dust on a shelf in 10 years time.

That's a sad state of affairs. I believe it has a lot to do with the shift to digital (if "currencies" includes PSN wallet codes and such).

Yes, this great (because highly profitable) Live Service Games future of PlayStation Hermen and the gang are dreaming about. Seems that not many of us are looking forward to it. PS6 will be adorably all-digital. And PS7 will be subscription-based-only, because, who is still buying songs at the iTunes Store?

3 out of 4 need a slap

My wife usually gets me a game or something golf related but this year I'm getting some EMG active jazz bass pickups for the custom bass guitar I'm building.

Of course they aren't going to going to ask for a game that didn't even get a physical release in the US.

Sign of the times as they say. I still hold getting Gamecube games for Christmas as a cherished memory from when I was a kid.

We are evolving. Rather than socks for Christmas they are getting virtual socks.

@Vega37 yes i was keeping everything crossed it would hit in early december (dare i say a missed opportunity??) , and digital coin just doesnt have the same impact!

Wanting Roblox currencies or Call of Duty points for Christmas is an alien concept to me, but I admit I have no idea what kids are into these days.

Crazy, long live physical media and down with live services money grabbing games.

That's why some governments are forbidding loot boxes and similar mechanics like Ultimate Team, it's a drug for the young players.

Fortunately we live in an era where “kids” are not representative of gamers. All this survey tells me is that US kids have bad taste and a distinct lack of imagination.

Scary stuff. Also online multiplayer or streaming services? Ah Roblox/COD and more. Yeah no. If it was streaming services to access more games then I'd understand until the games are off the service.

I never cared for skins even when I knew cheats were a thing or customisation so to me it's always hiliarous. Roblox of course it's games not just that but for COD/Fortnite/Apex I mean eh who cares what you look like then get bored/find the next thing you find cool. Got better things to do then that of depth of gameplay/story over that.

But 1 game with their peers and cosmetics hoping, new shiny things is just being stupid, oh this is boring a few weeks in when the next trending game, next cosmetic, next this and that changes well what a waste of the subscription then. They clearly don't see they are getting played by companies clearly.

Not played by the next opponent in a shooter/what the game rules are in Roblox games. I had to say it I know it's cheesy. XD

I mean there is the variety but if the games drop off a streaming service too then well what's the point. Still more worth then a single game and well wasting money on cosmetics/a level up bar or prestige or whatever.

You can buy the game and sell it to get your gift money back for 'another gift' not fund the next subscription (online I mean then the streaming as of course the next few you demo/keep playing are still worth it in a way then 1 game and the convenience if it benefits) unless it's more worth to them to trial games.

Even if as most games appeal with visual/themes/story then gameplay I doubt it, if it is controls/game design then sure trial them besides just seeing the content more than a trailer/not spoiling the game with a let's play, but as most people favour other aspects of games unless the story/visuals are that unappealing you'd probably look into it or know from a trailer for visuals (if it's not tricking people that is and is accurate enough, besides whatever CGI the animation studio did for the trailers then showing the actual game) but for themes/story well that's hard to tell.

I wasn't getting Forza Motorsport 8 for the trailers those montages made me have less faith in the title till they revealed details and I went nope not interested. Car montages (even slight showing of the upgrade menu was cheap) mean nothing to me at all it could be the intro movie it could be for the trailer only and it's just cars going by however many on the track they don't always show the spin outs, not always the menus and 'actual' aspects of the game always, no HUD no physics it's just a cutscene, only showcases of details do matter for that genre compared to well other games character moments or story/theme/setting details, what game mechanics to make me go ok that's cool then eh that's not really for me.

Kids need to think a bit deeper then playing with peers/trend following/cosmetics/level up bars. There is few that obviously know to appreciate the games (by parents/guardians that teach that), they have and how to better spend their money but some will just go the online multiplayer route like here then the offline multiplayer without a subscription, or play other games, or not follow Youtubers/Streamers all the time (giving their money to them all the time either) or well playing singleplayer, getting whatever you can out of that to then well keep it or get another game.

I never go for groups but it's clear the responses here.

This makes me sad and mad…The publishers have been pushing this on us because it is more profitable for them with no manufacturer or retailer or distribution to pay and still charge the same as well as killing the second hand market all at the same time…we are sleep walking into a digital only future people! I have swapped games with my cousins for 20 years+ and the benefit was obviously we could coordinate to get all the games we wanted that we wouldn’t have been able to afford and still have the physical games to keep or trade in. My son is a rarity in that he likes to collect gaming stuff and is obsessed with Sonic ( our dog is called Mikes Prower and the cat is Robotnik!) He has every Sonic game ever made…I imagine he will be sad when the next big Sonic release will be digital only…..bah…come the zombie apocalypse you digital apologists will be sorry!

Not really wanting any physical games, sure I'm ok with that, especially considering both PS and Xbox have digital only options, my main thing is with asking for digital currencies. Like subscriptions, sure PS Plus and Game Pass are awesome gifts, my uncle even got me PS Plus one year for Christmas, but idk man digital currencies feel like the saddest thing to get on Christmas because it just feels so disposable. Like getting PS Plus or Game Pass, while not giving you access to one individual game, at least opens you up to 100's of games you might be willing to try. Digital currency is just so disposable because that currency isn't owning an experience or a ticket to rent/check out many different experiences, it's just another way to have kids addicted to the skinner boxes most of the popular games have been dedicating towards to maximize profit. Plus getting an actual physical game is so much cooler to unwrap and see then just a gift card imo

Well thats incorrect. Even when i was a kid i just wanted money. But it was so i could buy the game i wanted. Even as a parent now i wont buy them games because idk what they played already since there are so many games on the subs. Ill just give them a gamestop or walmart giftcard in their stocking along with whatever else.

501 really isn't a representative sample.

@OnceaThief 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

@Kanji-Tatsumi Today's kids will create their own magical memories.

Today's kids should enjoy what they want and make their own magical memories. I'm a gamer dad, I also have a serious career and I exercise a lot and do dad duties, take my younger kids to parks and chauffeur kids to hobbies, but I sneak in a game every now and then. Roblox isn't the type of game I'd play for myself, but I don't expect my kids to share my tastes, they are encouraged to develop their own tastes and favorites.

My kids and I currently aren’t getting any games for Christmas, which is unheard of for us, but I don’t think it’s as simple or 1 sided as a lot of these comments make it seem.

First, my 1 kid has grown into a PC gamer. When was the last time any of you bought a physical PC game? And a lot of kids play on phones and tablets where physical games were never a thing.

Last year for Christmas I got my kids Sonic Frontiers and Mario & Rabbids 2 for $20 each, and they still haven’t played them yet. I was going to get my kid Spider-Man 2 but for $70 they said they’d wait. I am buying them FF7R 2 for their birthday next year, so that’s something. I was going to buy myself GoW:R for $35 but it’s on the shelf in my library, I’ll borrow it some day.

So I don’t think it’s all Roblox and V-bux, it’s PC and mobile being digital, new games costing $70, but only for a couple of months.🤑

Times change in tech and media all the time. This is normal to see the shift. I have been all digital since the start of the PS4. Tho i ain’t bother that physical is still in demand with certain gamers. I think the thing to take away from this is kids and adults are still very engaged to the video game industry and however they choose to spend their money is all good for the big 3 and us gamers. Choice is good and while most on here don’t want or like games as a service, just look at all the JRPG’s coming in 2024. There is plenty for everyone and their tastes. To me a good game is a good game no matter the genre or form of media it comes on.

@BetaRabbit64 I mean. You have new games included in subscription. So you are kinda asking for new games.

Makes it easier for Santa, subscription codes aren't as heavy to carry. Easier for the elves too, just need a laptop and a printer so they can work from home.

Oh, who cares that US children wants, if you live in other country?😅

@Rob_230 Definitely a missed opportunity. I'm sure they did everything the could to try to make it for the holiday season. Once they realized it wasn't gonna happen though the probably took their foot off the gas a bit which might be why the date hasn't been announced yet.

Only gift I’m getting this year is an Apple Pencil 2 for my iPad mini from my girlfriend. Which I’m excited as hell for. She’s also getting me and our son matching suspenders with an American flag detailed shirt for the next Fourth of July when we grill out with my friends. Which I’m also excited as hell for.