A new report issued by Strategy Analytics, Inc. this past Thursday forecasts that the global video game software market will continue it’s growth in the coming years. According to Strategy Analytics, 2009’s revenues are in the $46.5 billion ballpark, and will continue to grow to a massive $64.9 billion by the close of 2013, indicating a 40 percent growth rate over 4 years.
The report predicts both physical game software (console, handheld, and PC) growth, and digital download activity, IGA, sales of virtual goods, and subscription services. The online games revenues sector is expected to have a compound annual growth rate of 18.7 percent, reaching $24.8 billion by 2013, accounting from more than 38 percent of total video game software recenues.
“Strategy Analytics predicts more revenue growth from online sources instead of from traditional physical game sales as broadband adoption continues, which is similar to other media sectors. More gaming devices and games are being connected online and new online revenue models are appearing on the market,” said Martin Olausson, Director of Digital Media Research at Strategy Analytics.
The big winner in Strategy Analytics’ research is virtual goods sales in social networking based games. As to be expected, the Asian market is expected to lead this consumption, however North American and European markets will experience accelerated virtual goods sales growth.
Jia Wu, Analyst in the Strategy Analytics Digital Media Strategies (DMS) service and author of the report, added, “New online revenue streams, such as in-game dynamic advertising and sales of virtual goods, will spur rapid growth in online game revenues in the coming years.”
The Strategy Analytics “Global Video Game Market Forecast” is available from StrategyAnalytics.com and includes information on online gaming revenue streams, electronic sell through, subscription services, IGA, and virtual goods sales data. The report also includes country specific data from a wide range of markets including Argentina, China, Demark, Germany, Mexico, Russia, the UK and USA.
