Microsoft’s success in the digital gaming world will help the global games industry to grow from $35.3 billion in 2005 to $58.4 billion in 2007.
According to a new report from Informa Telecoms & Media, Microsoft’s latest XBox games console will boost the overall performance of the industry, with competitors Sony and Nintendo also planning to release offerings into the market place.
The gaming industry is forecast to enjoy massive growth, 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).
With such massive growth expected advertisers are looking for ways to cash in on this expanding industry, taking advantage of new marketing channels and ways to reach their audience.
US analyst, eMarketer, claims that there are two main ways which advertisers can do this. ‘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.
In-game advertising 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%).
Gaming is also proving popular in the mobile phone arena, with an increasing number of mobile phone users using the devices to download games, according to a new study from NPD Group claiming that 27% of users play games on their handsets (see Mobile Game Downloading On The Rise).
A recent survey from Ziff Davis Media, the number of US households using mobile phones to play games has risen by nearly 70% over the past 12 months, reaching almost 28 million (see US Mobile Gaming Users Hits 28 Million).
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).
Informa’s Mobile Game report predicts that downloads will account for around two-thirds of global revenues through 2010, with online multi player traffic forecast to start generating significant income for mobile operators.
Media research company, Screen Digest, revealed that worldwide consumer spending on mobile game downloads totalled $778 million in 2004, more than doubling 2003’s figure of $380 million (see Mobile Phone Gaming Revenues Enjoy Strong Growth).
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