mmo-sales-2009
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Chinese players outspend Americans in virtual worlds
Last week we talked about a report outlining MMO consumer spending in the US and Europe. Americans easily outspent Europeans, handing over $3.8 billion to gaming companies in 2009. A similar report came from CNN today , stating that Chinese consumers spent $5 billion on virtual goods last year. An interesting point to note here is that the article says "Research firms estimate the purchase of virtual goods in China reached roughly $5 billion in 2009 -- about five times more than the United States." After some extensive calculations and use of several spreadsheets, we here at Massively determined that $5 billion is not, in fact, "five times" $3.8 billion. So on one hand, it's all about who is crunching the numbers and how they're crunching them, but on the other hand, there is no doubt that the Chinese gaming market is huge. At first glance, the fact that a large percentage of the Chinese population is on a limited income makes it a bit surprising that the MMO market is booming. However, it's this very thing that is helping make it so successful: business models based entirely on microtransactions are the norm there, with individual item purchases hovering in the $1-2 range. Such a small amount makes less of a dent in a thin wallet. The full story is an interesting look at the Chinese gaming community, and well worth a read.
Study: America spent $3.8 billion on MMOs in 2009
Massively multiplayer online game players in the States allegedly spent $3.8 billion last year, according to the Today's Gamers MMO Focus Report by Gamesindustry.com and TNS. The report claims that the MMO market in the US has reached 46 million users, with 21 million paying for online games. The rest play without spending a dime (think "freemium"). In a shocking upset victory dripping in sarcasm, World of Warcraft was the most popular MMO with the US, besting NeoPets, Club Penguin, Disney ToonTown and Runescape. Ah freemium, where even the traditional MMO companies can make money. [Via Massively, Gamasutra]
Americans spend $3.8 billion on MMO gaming in 2009
Do you feel like you spent a lot on MMOs last year? Well, you're not alone. It's no secret that the MMO industry is a huge one, and all of those box sales, Steam downloads, sub fees, and item shop purchases added up to a pretty impressive number. Gamasutra reported today that MMO gamers in the US spent $3.8 billion on their hobby in 2009. What's interesting about this figure is that it follows the trend you find in free-to-play games these days: of the 46 million Americans playing MMOs, only 46% of them spent any money at all on games. The rest, approximately 25 million, were completely free-to-play. Even so, American gamers are clearly more enthusiastic about opening their wallets for games than other countries, with the total coming to about 15 times more than any European MMO market. You can take a look at the full report and more number crunching at Gamasutra.
