Most players don't finish games

Report suggests players have short attention spans

Words: Tom_Goulter on August 23, 2011

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eliguy83 - August 23, 2011 8:01 p.m.

I think there are lots of factors that influence whether a game gets finished: The level of enjoyment you get out of it (which I guess correlates roughly with whether or not it's well designed, i.e., "good"); whether or not it immerses you (which can correlate with difficulty, I think, though not necessarily); the level of your OCD. Cases in point: I enjoyed the hell out of Shadows of the Damned in spite of its faults, which many have pointed out, and not only finished it but had it platinumed in a few days. Same with Portal 2. I'm on my 3rd playthrough now, simply because it is *such a good game* and the feeling of immersion is so total. On the OCD end, I didn't enjoy FFXIII so much but sort of forced myself to finish (and eventually platinum it) simply because I wanted to see it through. The neat trophy icons didn't hurt either. (And I realize that 100%ing a game is by no means a metric for completeness, but I figured I'd mention it.) By this diagnostic, then, I probably won't finish a game that I either don't enjoy, don't feel compelled to finish, or don't feel immersed in. Which sounds about right to me, but I guess everyone's different.
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KillerTofu - August 23, 2011 7:53 p.m.

I don't want shorter games with more DLC...I wan't shorter and fewer games, period. I'm overwhelmed!
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ObliqueZombie - August 23, 2011 7:39 p.m.

Personally, yes, I beat every single game I buy, even if it's repetitive. Of course, that doesn't mean I enjoy every single one, but it's an utter waste of money to NOT beat it. I mean, even if it's a bad or mediocre game, who knows? Maybe the end will make it all worth the trudge. But, I understand how people don't have time to finish it. With my college classes starting, I really DO have a lot to do, both inside and outside the class. And I can't imagine what people with careers have to do. But, as long as you plug through it one day at a time, you'll finish it nice and easy. Hell, even play other demos and games while you do it. I STILL need to beat Brotherhood, but with Space Marine demo hitting the markets, classes, girlfriend, and my constant Gears of War 2-ing, it's kinda hard. But enjoyable. Hell, it makes me enjoy it MORE when I space it out. So I may continue to do so, so it doesn't get boring in a week.
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ObliqueZombie - August 23, 2011 7:40 p.m.

Are my paragraphs showing?! It looks damn messy on my screen.
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KREATIVEassassin - August 23, 2011 7:21 p.m.

I own 166 Xbox 360 games, and I have only finished 26 of them. I don't finish most games because they're too long.
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ObliqueZombie - August 23, 2011 7:41 p.m.

This is why we can't have nice things. Err... really, since you bought all those damn games, I guess we can. So keep buying!
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FauxFurry - August 23, 2011 6:10 p.m.

I might have to check to see the correlation between game scores,sales and completion percentage. I have a decently sized backlog but I do intend to get back to them. I'm going to get an achievement in Hard Corps someday soon...honest!
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FauxFurry - August 23, 2011 6:05 p.m.

Player metrics are always fascinating, making membership with Raptr a must for anyone curious about play patterns, in-game achievement completion percentages(there is hardly a greater testament to one's dedication to good times as that save Boyscout Merit Badge sashes or maybe meth sores)and most played games, especially if one is of an artistic bent and are contemplating making games of one's own. It's free market research mixed with video game voyeurism.
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Sentient - August 23, 2011 5:27 p.m.

Using Red Dead Redemption as an example isn't really fair. Open world sandbox games, such as GTA or Just Cause, are designed to be extremely non-linear; in the genre the main story progression is usually seen as a secondary priority compared to more linear structured games such as Bioshock or Deadspace.
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Ninja-Monkey-91 - August 23, 2011 4:49 p.m.

I always try to finish my games but if I don't like it or can't get into it I find it very hard to (Case in point: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow). Also due to less time to play games I have a fair stack built up I have yet to play through :(
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avantguardian - August 23, 2011 4:49 p.m.

over the years, i've seen, and experienced, the phenomenon(especially with bigger games, like rpgs) where one will get pretty close to the end of the game, then either stop, or take a long break. in games, such as RDR, immersion in the game world is the most satisfying aspect(imo). the idea of wrapping everything up, and not giving yourself a reason to dive back into it when hit with a wave of nostalgia or desire to be back in that world could affect your subconscious in a way that actually has you avoiding, or putting off, the end of the game. it happened with me more as a youngster, as i was typically far more immersed in any given game's world. i also had FAR less games to play... i beat most of the games i play these days, unless it just doesn't seem worth it. i am surprised, though; i would expect cheevos and trophies to motivate (for whatever reason) people to finish more games...
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FPL4293 - August 23, 2011 4:04 p.m.

It seems DLC has kept alot of people playing the same game longer. DLC for CODblops has been releasing year round and the DLC in borderlands mostly kept me playing for longer. I used to take alot of time on one game at a time like RDR but more recently Ive been playing a little bit of every game. Its definitely led to less games completed and it definitely means I usually get less gamerscore out of a game but alot of that can be attributed to sequels and new IPs every year as well as the expanded downloadable releases.
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Love - August 23, 2011 4 p.m.

Idk if 90% is true but a lot of gamers don't finish all their games and unfortunately I'm amongst them but I just have too many and I try beat them all I just don't have the time to beat all of them
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Darth_Griffin - August 23, 2011 3:55 p.m.

I always finish the game I start. Unless it turns out to be cringlingly horrible in every aspect.
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Octoboy - August 23, 2011 3:42 p.m.

I agree 100%, KNITEpanda. There are so many games that I play just for the sake of playing them that I just don't have the time to finish them all. For instance, Shadows of the Damned. I played that, thought it was alright, but definitely not worth finishing. But every now and then games come along that I will really put time into, just like Red Dead Redemption or Mass Effect. But generally I tend to not finish every game I play.
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IceBlueKirby - August 23, 2011 3:36 p.m.

In years past I had a bad habit of starting new games as soon as I bought them, which led me to not finish whatever I was playing at the time. Recently I've taken it upon myself to actually see games through if I feel like they're worth it. For example, I bought Vanquish and Splatterhouse a few days ago, I've played Vanquish for 4 hours and Splatterhouse for 30 minutes, and I'm keen on finishing Vanquish because it's a really fun game and I enjoy playing it, whereas Splatterhouse doesn't do much to keep my attention, thus I don't put effort into finishing it. So when I start a new game I try to play it long enough to see if it will hold my attention for the time required to finish it before I actually go to the trouble. On a side note, I did finish RDR. I felt like there had to be some sort of closure that the "ending" didn't give, so I went searching and managed to find the actual final mission.
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GreekBeastX - August 23, 2011 3:29 p.m.

I feel bad for the 90% who did not finish the last mission on red dead redemption. That game had one hell of a story and a even better ending. Game of the year for a reason..but to add to this story I will say when I buy a game I can tell within the first 15 minutes if I am going to finish it or just return it..What I have done is turn my gamestop into my new rental store I buy pre owned games and if they end up being trash they get returned for a full refund...if in the rare occasion a game strikes me as good and worth keeping then it gets added to my collection the only games that get my money on the day of release are core titles that I know will be played like Gears of War 3.
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ericthesmith - August 23, 2011 3:26 p.m.

I've only recently started to actually finish games, so the opposite is true for me. Before this year, the only game I had completed the story mode on was God of War. Now I've gone back and completed many games I had never finished before. PLUS I finally got a current generation console (360) and completed several more. I'm working on Red Dead at this time.
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flautist8807 - August 23, 2011 3:26 p.m.

I've actually started finishing more games than I used to. Sometimes it takes a while but I do eventually finish most of them. I didn't really care about beating games when I was a kid.
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MeanwhileGuy - August 23, 2011 3:23 p.m.

What's the point in buying a game if you're not going to finish it? Yes, I have a few games in my collection left to finish, but that's mostly because either they're not that great (Resi 5), b@stard hard (Castlevania on insane) or both (Dead Rising 2). But every game I buy I go into with the intention of finishing it, even if it takes a few months. And as far as I'm concerned that statistic has to be total crap. There's no way people can't even get through a game that lasts only a few hours, like COD, Homefront or Kane and Lynch, otherwise they're not gamers.
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