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Skins can be appealing purchases even when they add no new levels, missions, or abilities. They let players shape an avatar’s identity, signal status, share a look with friends, or support a game they enjoy. But “skins sell better” is not a proven industry-wide rule: studies explain why players buy virtual goods, not whether cosmetics earn more than gameplay expansions across games.
What a skin offers that a new mission does not
A gameplay expansion gives a player something new to do or access. A skin changes how the player appears while doing it. That difference matters in games where people repeatedly use the same character, weapon, or avatar, and where other players can see it.
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Identity and self-expression
Appearance can become part of how players express taste and shape their presence in a shared game world. Interviews with 20 active players living in France identified personal goals and achievement among the reasons people use cosmetic items. Because this was a qualitative study of a small, geographically limited sample, it describes possible motives rather than how common each motive is worldwide. Koles, Nagy, and Vollet, “How Players Make Use of Cosmetic Items in Video Games: A Persona Approach” (2025).
Social connection and visibility
Cosmetics can be most meaningful when other people are present to see them. A distinctive look may help players feel part of a group, coordinate with friends, or stand out in a shared match. In interviews with 32 League of Legends players, Marder and colleagues identified social motives alongside hedonic and utilitarian reasons for buying nonfunctional items. The sample was an interview study, not a representative survey of all players. Marder et al., “The Avatar’s New Clothes: Understanding Why Players Purchase Nonfunctional Items in Free-to-play Games” (2019).
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Status, novelty, and personal goals
Some players may value a cosmetic because it is rare, prestigious, or a visible marker of an achievement. Others may simply enjoy a new appearance. The 2025 interview study identifies prestige seeking, status signaling, and novelty among its reported motives; it does not establish that every player interprets a skin this way.
Buying as a way to support a game
The League of Legends interview study also found that some participants described the purchase itself as a way to transfer money to the developer. In that case, the buyer’s perceived value is not limited to what the item does or how it looks: purchasing can be a form of support for a game they enjoy.
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Why cosmetics can be easier to sell than paid advantages
A cosmetic item can give a buyer a visible reward without explicitly selling stronger abilities or an objective competitive advantage. That can make cosmetics a less contentious monetization choice than paid upgrades that affect competitive outcomes. Marder and colleagues framed nonfunctional items as providing no objective competitive advantage, which helps explain why developers may favor them when pay-to-win concerns matter.
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That distinction is not always clear in practice. Players interviewed in the 2025 study perceived that some cosmetic appearances or clothing could confer advantages in particular game contexts. A skin’s label alone therefore does not prove that it is mechanically neutral or that players experience it as neutral.
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Gameplay content can have strong purchase appeal too
New content can provide more play, unlock access, create shared activities, or offer perceived value. It is a mistake to assume players care less about gameplay purchases simply because skins have strong appeal.
Hamari and colleagues surveyed 519 respondents about in-game content purchases and developed 19 concrete purchase reasons, which they grouped into six dimensions: unobstructed play, social interaction, competition, economical rationale, indulging the children, and unlocking content. Unobstructed play, social interaction, and economical rationale were positively associated with spending. The study covers in-game content broadly; it does not compare skin sales with gameplay DLC sales. Hamari et al., “Why do players buy in-game content? An empirical study on concrete purchase motivations” (2017).
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Skins and gameplay content meet different buyer needs
| Purchase | What the buyer may value | What the cited evidence establishes |
|---|---|---|
| Skins and other cosmetics | Appearance, self-expression, social belonging, status, novelty, achievement, or support for a game. | Interview studies identify these motives in particular samples; they do not quantify market-wide demand or revenue. |
| Gameplay content | More play, access to locked content, social activities, competition, or perceived economic value. | A survey of 519 respondents found several purchase-motivation dimensions and positive associations between some motives and spending; it did not isolate DLC versus skins. |
The practical difference is the payoff: cosmetics change how a player presents themselves, while gameplay content changes what they can play or access. Which matters more depends on the game, its audience, and how players experience those purchases.
Does the evidence show that skins sell better?
No market-wide conclusion follows from these studies. They investigate player motivations—through interviews or a survey—not transaction totals comparing cosmetic purchases with new levels, missions, or expansions. The evidence supports why skins can appeal and why developers may choose them; it does not establish a universal sales or revenue winner.
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- It's easy—apply it to your Nintendo eShop account in seconds.
- It ensures that you’ll always have funds on hand to help with purchases of new games and applications
- It’s designed for your Nintendo eShop purchases—no credit card required.
- The perfect gift for anyone who loves to play—including you. Choose from over 1,000 new, classic and indie games – delivered directly to your Nintendo Switch system.
To prove that skins sell better in a particular game, one would need comparable sales or revenue data for that game and a clear definition of “better”—for example, units sold, gross revenue, or share of players purchasing. The studies cited here do not provide that comparison.
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