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Report: 64% of Chinese gamers spend money on online games

Justin Olivetti — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Economy, MMO industry, Free-to-play, Miscellaneous

Gaming in China is serious business, especially once you consider that a strong majority of players dish out money to support their habit every month. Analyst group Niko Partners polled 500 Chinese gamers and found that 64% of them dropped money on online titles monthly, including many free-to-play and MMO games. Considering that China has 180 million players and a $5.8 billion gaming market, the country continues to be watched closely as a major economic force in the online realm.

And while MMOs still account for a good portion of the income, they've lost some ground to other types of games, according to Niko Partners Managing Partner Lisa Cosmas Hanson. "Online games revenues are now more distributed among various platforms and genres than they have been in past years, when MMORPGs compiled the vast majority of domestic revenue," she said.

Other interesting details from this report include the news that players are spending less time per week on games and that one in 10 players in the country is over 40 years of age.

Report: 64% of Chinese gamers spend money on online games originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 03 Apr 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Market research firm predicts population explosion for virtual worlds

William Dobson — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Business models, Economy, MMO industry, News items, Virtual worlds

We all sort of knew that virtual worlds usage would continue to grow over the years, but a new report put out by Strategy Anayltics has given us some numbers to think about -- and they're pretty darn big. They've predicted that by 2015, the overall population of virtual worlds will go from what it is now at 186 million people all the way up to 640 million, or more than triple today's userbase. Here's the firm's breakdown of the populations today and in the future:

"Kids" in this case refers to those aged 5 to 9, and as can be seen in the above table, this group is predicted to grow the most over the years. As for how companies will cash in on all this growth, subscriptions are still listed as one of the key drivers of revenue, but 86% of revenue in 2015 will come from microtransactions -- this equates to a growth from 2008's microtransaction figure of roughly $1 billion, to $17.3 billion in six years time.

[Via Virtual Worlds News]

Market research firm predicts population explosion for virtual worlds originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 16 Jun 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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China's online gaming market now worth $1.8 billion

Samuel Axon — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: MMO industry, News items

At GDC, we considered the possibility that Asia is the "Hollywood of MMOs." The Chinese online gaming market is getting bigger and bigger. Case in point: a new report says the market is now valued at around $1.8 billion. That's up 66% since last year -- curiously exactly the same number of points leading publisher Shandra's profits went up in a similar period.

And it's just getting started. The report (from a group called i Research) also predicts that the value will be more than $5 billion by 2011. These numbers are a bit more optimistic than the China View numbers we reported on a few weeks ago, but the consensus seems to be, in layman's terms: online gaming in China equals big bucks.

Recently the Chinese government launched a campaign of sorts to temper the popularity of online games because addiction has become a big problem. Will that slow the growth of the industry? Probably not.

[Via PlayNoEvil]

China's online gaming market now worth $1.8 billion originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 07 Mar 2008 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CCP releases EVE QEN, says 250k subs by Q2, and plans Gross User Product report

Mike Schramm — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Economy, PvP, Making money, PvE

CCP has released their Quarterly Economic Newsletter for the 4th quarter of last year in EVE Online, and the word is "growth." They saw big increases in trade volume and value all over the place on the market. Which isn't surprising, considering how much their population surged late last year, thanks in large part to the well-received Trinity expansion. And the growth isn't done -- CCP expects to see 250,000 subscribers by the end of Q2 2008.

There are lots of great numbers in here -- apparently only 9% of players are out in low sec space (much lower than I'd thought). Jita is still a madhouse (no duh -- you'll already know that if you've ever tried to go in there on a weekend). Finally, they've introduced a new tracking variable, called Gross User Product, that is the value of all services and goods produced in a period of time, minus the amount of goods and services consumed. In other words, a GDP, but for a virtual world. They don't have a figure yet (because it has to be tracked over a period of time), but the next QEN should have some even more interesting information on how we might track virtual economies in MMO games.

CCP releases EVE QEN, says 250k subs by Q2, and plans Gross User Product report originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 20 Feb 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Local TV visits SOE San Diego

Mike Schramm — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 18:13:00 EST

Filed under: Video, EverQuest, EverQuest II, Culture, MMO industry

Scott Hartsman posted a link to local San Diego TV station KUSI, who invaded the SOE studios there for a "special report" about the people who make these things called Massively Multiplayer Online games. As mainstream news reports about our favorite pasttime go, it's actually not too bad, though there are a few chuckle-worthy moments-- apparently saying Dad "wasn't too happy" turns into his "outright horror" on local news, and is it just me or did anyone else have the thought that Sasha Foo is probably the most attractive person to ever enter the SOE game testing room? I kid, I kid!

But otherwise, it's a pretty solid report on what it's like making MMOs at SOE. If you're an artist, you can probably drool over that paintbox they're using, and there are also shots of Everquest 2 in wireframe, the making of casting animations, a look at some concept art for Rise of Kunark and a few other games and even some news about a new MMO aimed at a younger audience due out next year called Free Realms. Even if you watch it with the sound turned off, it's a cool look inside SOE studios and what it's like to work there.

Local TV visits SOE San Diego originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 05 Nov 2007 18:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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