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Open Insights

Open Insights are free to download reports and are intended to provide information on under represented communities. These are full market reports and purposely kept outside a paywall. 

 

Contact us if you want to discuss a current or past research study. 

Open Studies:

Costume & Cosplay Convention Interest & Preferences 

A savvy group of costumers want to host a costume focused convention and are looking for information from the community to help them get started. ​The event would be for anyone interested in costuming, including cosplay, historical costumers, costume designers, and aficionados. 

 

If you love to wear costumes (handmade, purchased, thrifted, etc.) or are interested in joining that community, please answer this short survey.

 

The data from this survey will be shared in an open-source report on this page, so anyone who needs it can benefit from the data. ​​See the Past Studies section below for examples of past open studies. 

Survey open from January 16, 2025 through March 30, 2025.

 

Results tentatively scheduled for release May 2025. 

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Past Studies:

Live-Action Role-Players Survey

LARPing is a niche hobby with a large audience. There wasn't any business level data for someone starting a new larp, or someone looking to understand it as a formal market. 

​

We created a survey to capture insights for this audience and received over 300 responses and provided a much needed analysis of the business dynamics. 

​​

We've been able to help several new game owners develop a larp using this data set as a guide for some decision-making. Our expertise in gaming research was pivotal in the success of this project. ​

Image by Joseph Ogbonnaya

Our research study broke barriers and shattered some long-standing stereotypes.

 

Some highlights from the report include; ​

  • Traditionally, stereotypes on this audience indicate a heavy dominance of men. Over 56% of players identified as female, non-binary, genderfluid or Other.  

  • Over 75% of this market is driven by word of mouth marketing. Providing materials players can easily share with friends is recommended.  

  • Players don't care about complex rules systems, they deeply care about story and a healthy community. ​

  • Player safety is a major priority for a vulnerable section of the sample. Several mentioned having to leave the community due to a lack of standards.  

  • Over 75% of players were interested in a live-combat aspect to their game, ranging from lightest touch to full-contact. 

  • Active players are heavily invested. Some may attend several events monthly; 28% of the sample travel 5+ hours to play. 

  • While Medieval and Vampire themed games are the most popular genres, the majority of players are open to play any genre.

  • Players aged 30+ are the most likely to drop out of the hobby because of competing priorities. They'd be most likely to return if they had access to a non-campaign, family-friendly game to join. 

  • To grow a player base, marketing to table-top or video gamers would be recommended based on overlapping interests. More than 80% of players indicated they did one or both of these hobbies in addition to larping. 

  •  There is a high opportunity for games to increase customer satisfaction and loyalty by developing intervention or retention activities for players who are leaving/have left the game. 

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