September 13, 2007Gaming market - MMORPGs revenues to explodeThe estimate for total gaming revenue for 2011 is $48.88 billion, and Strategy Analytics expects MMO revenues in that year to equal $5.728 billion, which would put MMO titles at 11.7 percent of the market. If the numbers are accurate, they suggest that MMORPG revenue will almost double in the next four years. Report: MMORPGs revenues to explode over next few years - Source Link By Ben Kuchera | Published: September 12, 2007 - 11:45AM CT The online gaming space is growing. While some analysts are saying that games with strong online components make more money than games without, the "Online Games: Global Market Forecast" report by Strategy Analytics goes further with its predictions: they believe revenues from online games will reach $11.5 billion by 2011, a 25.2 percent compound annual growth rate. That's significant, but when compared to overall market estimates for gaming through 2011, the numbers show revenues from MMO titles almost doubling to 11 percent of the marketplace. * Burning Crusade sells 3.5 million units, prepares to invade China Strategy Analytics estimates that by the end of last year, there were 30 million subscriptions in total across all MMORPGs, with the vast majority—73 percent—coming from the Asia-Pacific region. These numbers are mirrored in sales: 189 million games were sold online in 2006, with 74 percent of the sales coming from the Asia-Pacific region. North America, it seems, is a bit player in the MMORPG world. The report sees the increased availability of broadband around the world as key to the growth of MMORPGs. "The main driver for the rapid growth in the online games market will be the continued uptake of broadband services around the world throughout the forecast period—the global broadband user base will grow from 665 million in 2006 to almost 1.3 billion in 2011," the report states. The report estimates that by 2011 there will be 80 million subscribers to various MMORPG titles, and online sales will swell to 659 million downloads of for-pay games. When you cross-reference these numbers with the $31.63 billion the gaming industry earned in 2006, you see that the report's estimates of the MMO revenue of $2 billion represents 6.5 percent of the total marketplace. The estimate for total gaming revenue for 2011 is $48.88 billion, and Strategy Analytics expects MMO revenues in that year to equal $5.728 billion, which would put MMO titles at 11.7 percent of the market. If the numbers are accurate, they suggest that MMORPG revenue will almost double in the next four years. Related Article on China Invasion by Blizzard Burning Crusade sells 3.5 million units, prepares to invade China By Frank Caron | Published: March 07, 2007 - 11:13AM CT According to Blizzard, the first major World of Warcraft expansion has managed to sell 3.5 million copies worldwide. Though these numbers are impressive, the game has yet to release in WoW's largest market, China, which will assumedly ring in another huge batch of sales. Blizzard president Mike Morhaime was understandably happy about this milestone: We're thrilled about the overwhelming response that we've received for The Burning Crusade. We have worked hard to build upon nearly every aspect of World of Warcraft with this expansion, and it's gratifying to see that players and reviewers are enjoying the new content. As the subscriber count rises, WoW continues to exert its dominance as the undisputed king of the MMO world—and rightly so. It's hard to dispute how successful the business model of masked "casual" play has been for Blizzard, and many can't help but fall under that trademark Blizzard spell. I've spent countless hours in the world of Azeroth, though I have since fallen away from the game in favor of something less time-consuming. The only remaining question is if WoW will be able to keep this momentum going once some real competition enters the battlefield. I'm looking at you, Age of Conan and Warhammer Online. Posted by staff at September 13, 2007 08:20 AM |