Study suggests that publishers should avoid releasing demos

Which game would you rather buy? The game whose trailer you watched, or the game whose demo you played? According to a new study, games that only have a trailer sell more, suggesting that developers should avoid releasing demos altogether. More details in the full article.

High profile games such as BioShock and Heavenly Sword usually have both demos and trailers. If you bought either game (or both, for that matter), which would you say was the selling point – the trailer you watched, or the demo you played?

According to a new study by the Electronic Entertainment Design and Research Group (EEDAR), gamers are more likely to buy games if publishers only release trailers for it. So Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots has the right idea?

The study suggests that studios shouldn’t release a demo, and should only release trailers if they want to sell more games. Their data (images above) show that trailer-only games sell, far and away, more than games that have demos, or both trailers and demos.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that studios should do away with demos. There are some games that just do better with demos than they do with trailers. But that’s just one guy’s opinion. What do you guys think?

Via MTV