Gaming Revenues To Rise 5.3% In 2005
Gaming industry revenues are forecast to total $35.3 billion by the end of 2005, a 5.3% rise from 2004 and are expected to increase significantly through 2010, when the market is estimated to be worth $51.3 billion, according to Informa Telecoms and Media.
According to Informa, gaming is branching out from just console gaming, with the sector being boosted by advanced features on mobile phones allowing mobile gaming to become a important part of the arena, currently worth $2.6 billion globally and forecast to rise to $11.2 billion by 2010.
Mobile gaming is already an accepted technology, with research from NPD Group showing that 27% of users play games on their handsets (see Mobile Game Downloading On The Rise).
Informa Telecoms and Media confirms this rising popularity, estimating total global revenues from games on mobile phones to reach $11.2 billion by 2010, increasing by a massive $8.6 billion from $2.6 billion this year (see Global Mobile Games Revenues To Hit $11.2 Billion By 2010).
Interactive television (iTV) is also becoming as popular portal for gaming, with revenues expanding by almost 10 times. iTV, is expected to enjoy substantial growth over the coming years, with projections seeing the technology reach 69 million subscribers in the US by 2009. In the UK, the iTV market looks set to rise to £2 billion by 2008, up from £577 million in 2004 (see Emerging Technologies In The TV Marketplace).
Gaming over a high-speed connection is also expected to enjoy strong growth over the coming years, with Informa forecasting the sector too see its revenues triple between 2005 and 2010.
The expected strong performance of the gaming industry opens another channel for advertisers to reach their audiences, with Kagen Research forecasting US game sales to increase to $16 billion by 2007, up from $10 billion in 2004, a rise of 16% (see Advertisers Devise Ways To Cash In On Games Industry).
One such way advertisers can cash in on this expanding market is by investing in ‘Advergaming,’ when games are designed around a product to promote it, and in-game advertising, in which products are placed in games in the background, in the hands of characters, or elsewhere (see Global Games Industry To Reach $58.4 Billion In 2007).
The in-game advertising market looks set to increase in popularity, with research from the Yankee group projecting the channel to total $562.5 million by 2009, up from $34 million in ad revenues in 2009, compared to $83.6 million in 2004.
Despite this form of advertising being relatively new, it is proving popular with advertisers, with computer games featuring the technology enjoying a 60% increase in awareness of products, according to a joint study by Nielsen Interactive Services and Double Fusion (see In-Game Advertising Increases Product Awareness By 60%).