Online games
Internet: The Most Influential Medium For Reaching Gamers
Sep 16th
According to a recent UK survey conducted in July 2011 by YouGov, the Internet is the most important channel for users keen to learn about, research and purchase new game titles.
Some of the key findings from this report are highlighted below. At every stage, Internet plays the starring role:
1. To learn about new games:
Internet is the biggest source of information about new game releases
» 53% cited that they heard about new games online, versus 15% citing TV.
2. To research new games:
Internet is the main source used for researching games to purchase
» 73% of gamers interviewed put online as the top source for game research before making a purchase decision.
3. To purchase games
Internet is also the dominant purchase channel
» 56% of gamers said that buying physical copies online is their most common method of purchasing games, compared to only 32% who do so from high street retailers.
More than a Quarter (27%) of All European* Mobile Subscribers Play Mobile Games
Sep 14th
According to a recent report from comScore on mobile usage for July 2011, 27% of mobile subscribers in Europe* play games on their mobile phone.
For the five European countries included in the report, the United Kingdom and Italy take the lead:
• 33.7% of British mobile subscribers have played mobile games,
• 30.3% of Italians mobile subscribers are mobile gamers.
*Europe=EU5 (France, Spain, UK, Germany, Italy)
Over 50% of Global Gamers Spend Money on Games
May 6th
According to Newzoo’s 2011 National Gamers Surveys, the majority of gamers are actively spending money on games, regardless of whichever country they reside in. Germany has the highest proportion of paying gamers at 66%, followed by Mexico (57%), Russia (53%) and the UK (52%).
The Netherlands turned out to be the lowest of the countries surveyed, with only 37% of paying gamers.
The surveys were performed over a 3-month period, involving more than 20,000 “invitation-only” respondents from national panels representative of the total online population of 10-65 years old.
Please click here to download the press release.
Europe’s Digital Gaming Revenue to Nearly Double by 2015 to Reach €3.3 billion
May 4th
According to the market research firm DFC Intelligence report titled “Monetizing the European Market for Virtual Currency”* released in March 2011, 88% of European PC gamers have bought digital gaming content in 2010 for an amount totalling €1.7 billion ($2.2 million).
Europe’s digital gaming revenue from PC gamers is expected to nearly double between 2010 and 2015 and will be worth €3.3 billion ($4.2 billion) by 2015.
Varied types of digital gaming content were purchased. For instance, 33% of European PC gamers who have bought digital game have purchased a full game and 32% of them have purchased game add-on levels.
*Methodology of the survey: 2,800+ PC gamers in Europe were surveyed and transaction data from 300,000+ consumers in 27 countries in Europe was analyzed in 2010.
European Users are Ready to Pay for Digital Content
Mar 24th
The report conducted by Forrester Research* at the end of 2010 reveals that European consumers are willing to pay for digital content and highlights the trend that consumers’ appetite for paying for content is rising:
• 31% of them would be willing to pay for online music in the future, up from 26% in 2009.
• 30% of them would be willing to pay for online movies in the future, up from 26% in 2009.
• 24% of them would be willing to pay for eBooks in the future, up from 21% in 2009.
This trend is confirmed by the increased dematerialization of the consumption of media and entertainment:
• In the book market, for instance, according to recent research titled “E-book” from Idate, global eBook sales is predicted to account for 17% of the total book market sales in 2014, which would represent more than a 3-fold increase between 2010 and 2014.
• In the gaming industry, digital gaming accounts for 39% of the overall gaming market in 2010, up from 32% in 2009, according to IFPI and PwC.
*Source: Forrester Research, European Technographics Media, Marketing, and Social Computing Online survey Q3 2010; base:14,246 consumers ages 12+
US/UK: Nearly 2/3 of Mobile Gamers Expected to Buy Games in 2011
Mar 9th
According to a new report from PopCap Games and Information Solutions Group (ISG), more than half (52%) of US and UK mobile phone owners surveyed have played a game on a mobile phone at some time in 2010. About a third (33.6%) of respondents have played a game on their mobile phone handset in the past month and are classified as mobile phone gamers, while 24.6% are classified as avid mobile phone gamers, those who played a game on their phone within the past week.
Nearly 2/3 (65%) of US and UK mobile phone gamers are expected to buy at least one mobile phone game in 2011. That figure rises to 71% of avid mobile phone gamers.
The study highlights a positive trend upwards with respect to the number of mobile phone gamers who have purchased or plan to purchase one or more mobile phone games. Indeed, more than 4 in 10 mobile gamers upgraded a free version to a paid version: 43% of the mobile phone gamers and 50% of the avid mobile phone gamers, upgraded a free mobile phone game trial or free mobile phone game app to a paid version in 2010.
The full report is available for download here: http://bit.ly/eSoDPx
Methodology: Data is from the report conducted by Information Solutions Group for PopCap Games and titled “PopCap Games Mobile Phone Gaming Research”. The results are based on 814 qualified responses completed by mobile phone owners ages 18+ in the US and UK between January 25 and January 31, 2011.
About 70% of all European Gamers Play Some Type of Casual Game
Feb 10th
According to Newzoo’s National Gamers Surveys 2010, about 70% of all European gamers and about 90% of US gamers play casual games on a gaming portal, social network or mobile device.
On average, online casual game destinations reach two-thirds of the online audience. For instance, in the US, 66% of online users play casual games.
This study shows, as many reports, the impact of gaming on social networks and mobile devices on the total number of “casual” gamers. It also highlights a significant overlap between the individual platforms. Consumers choose their platform depending on time of day, location and social setting. People who play on all three platforms are becoming more numerous and are now about a third of all casual gamers.
For more info, please click on the following link: http://www.newzoo.com/ENG/1577-Casual_Gaming_(2010).html
Hi-media Payments: Allopass, compliant with all virtual currencies
Feb 8th
A proprietary technology dedicated to the online video game market
Hi-media Payments, the leading ePayment business unit of Paris based Hi-media Group announced that it has launched a new Allopass script dedicated to virtual currencies.
Virtual currencies, a growing market!
Virtual currencies usage recently strongly grew on Asian, US and European gaming platforms. They allow these platforms to manage with high flexibility their community and to implement “freemium” business models which mix a free user experience and a premium part inside the game scenario.
This market, which already worth several billions of dollars worldwide, represents a huge market opportunity and Hi-media Payments intends to continue to accompany its clients in this specific segment.
A “plug and play” proprietary technology
Thanks to its new optimization algorithm, Allopass is now able to automatically generate the most accurate price points and method of payments in a given geographical area and targeted audience in order to optimize the purchase of virtual currencies on online gaming platforms.
Hi-media Payments also implemented a set of key performance indicators (KPIs) in its solution to enable the publishers to closely monitor the users gaming habits and thus optimize their client relationships.
- Hi-media Payments will launch its VCS solution (Virtual Currency Script) during the Casual Connect Conference in Hamburg from 8th to 10th
Ad Spend on Mobile Games Will Reach Nearly $900 million Globally by 2015
Jan 12th
According to the study published by Juniper Research titled “Mobile Games: App Store Strategies, Business Models & Forecasts 2010-2015″, ad spend on mobile games should be a valuable source of revenue for game developers. Ad spend on mobile games will increase tenfold over the next five years. By 2015, ad spend on this platform will reach $894 million, up from $87 million in 2010.
The report underlines that despite this strong growth, revenues from content purchases such as pay-per-download will remain the primary source of revenue for players in this industry. Thus, in 2015, advertising spending will account for only about 10% of total mobile gaming revenues.
The mobile gaming market seems very promising fuelled by increasing brand interest in mobile as an advertising channel and end-users revenues (apps, in-app purchases…).
Germans are the biggest spenders on Games
Dec 30th
The report titled “Total Consumer Spend 2010” published by games industry market research Newzoo estimates that, amoung European countries, German consumers are the biggest spenders on games with software spending totaling €4.9 billion in 2010.
Newzoo’s report also reveals big changes in consumer spending with a drop in total spend on console games which has been almost completely compensated for the growth across all online and mobile game platforms. Whether the country, more than half of consumer spending on games software were spent in 2010 on computer and mobile devices. German consumers lead the way by spending 66% of their games budget on computer and mobile devices.
For more information, please click here: www.newzoo.com/press/NewzooTotalConsumerSpend2010.pdf
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