The UK-based GameShadow has announced that it is now offering a metrics service based on data collected via its free game patching service. In addition, it has offered some examples based on its data that question how much groupings like “genre” influence gamer purchasing decisions.

According to the statement, the company has provided its automatic game patching and updating software to over one million users. From this user base they are able to cull detailed, anonymous data on gamer’s playing habits and purchasing decisions.

As examples, GameShadow announced that a very high percentage of gamers who played Call of Duty 4 also played games like Company of Heroes and Battlefield, while eschewing FPS entries like Crysis, BioShock and Quake 4—implying that a game’s subject matter is more important than its genre when it comes to gamer preferences. The company also stated that 29% of FPS players use Geforce 8000 series graphic cards, making this series the most popular among the demographic. On the other side of the spectrum, “20% of gaming PCs have less than 1GB of RAM installed.”

Founder and COO of GameShadow Tony Treadwell said regarding the company’s new offering, “We realized that this level of accurate data is an incredibly valuable marketing tool for publishers, developers, ISVs and hardware vendors to understand gamers' habits. The data is structured to allow customers to drill down and perform analysis dynamically.”

He added that while the service protects GameShadow users “so that nothing can be tracked back to individuals,” that “every publisher and developer can check up on their titles alongside the other 2600 titles in a matter of seconds" using the metrics offering.