According to a survey of approximately 160 members of the games industry, as conducted by VentureBeat, microtransactions took the number one spot in the ‘most impactful’ areas of the games industry.  Smartphones took the number two spot.

Sixty six percent of respondents voted for microtransactions as THE area to watch, while sixty one percent clocked smartphones.  The VentureBeat survey broke user generated content out into it’s own category, but this area has obvious microtransaction implications, and forty three percent gave UGC top ratings.  Without surprise, the current advertising rates freefall also factors into the survey, with only twenty one percent calling IGA the hot spot, and voice recognition rounds out the top four with an eighteen percent vote.
VentureBeat lead writer Dean Takahashi comments, “The trends match closely to what is currently being funded by the venture capital community”

When speaking of platforms with the most potential, naturally, Apple’s iPhone received kudos, receiving a massive seventy four percent vote of confidence from survey responders.  Never left out of a good party, Social Networking nabbed sixty five percent of the vote, casual, web-based platforms, sixty two percent,  and home consoles rounding out the top four in this category at fifty seven percent.

This survey was conducted as part of VentureBeat’s GamesBeat event, which kicks off today in San Francisco, literally just down the street from the GDC.

“The content of GamesBeat was designed to stimulate discussion and understanding of the current and future market trends and attendees will find each of the top trends on the agenda and under discussion both on stage and in the hallways,” says Takahashi.