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Gaming & Entertainment

Men. Women. Girls. Families. Seniors. What do these groups – the ones you most want to reach – have in common? Video games.

Video games are everywhere, and played by everyone. Games are in the living room, on cell phones and PDAs, on home computers, on airplanes, in the office, on handheld players, in hotel rooms, and the list goes on. Games are seen on the big screen, and movies are translated into games. Games can make musicians famous overnight, and famous musicians are the foundation of best-selling games.

The numbers speak for themselves. Sixty-eight percent of U.S. households now play video games. Forty-two percent of American homes have a video game console. The average gamer is 35 years old and has been playing for 12 years. Twenty-five percent of gamers are over age 50, half the parents in America play video games with their children, and 40% of all players are women, who represent one of the industry's fastest-growing segments. (Entertainment Software Association)

Everyone you want to reach. Everywhere you want to be.

Games are a big business that can help you grow your business. PricewaterhouseCoopers predicts that video game industry sales will grow 7.2% to $55 billion worldwide this year, up from $51.4 billion in 2008. In contrast, box-office and movie DVD sales are projected to grow just 1.1% this year to $84.8 billion, while music is expected to fall 7.7% to $28.4 billion worldwide.

According to the NPD Group, in March 2009, consumers spent one of every three entertainment dollars on video games, more than they spent on any other form of entertainment. And, over the past several months in 2009, the number of hours that gamers claim to be playing is at an all-time high, part of a rising trend in gameplay that began in 2007. (Nielsen)

While consoles, accessories, and software make up the lion's share of the market, new business segments are emerging and growing every day. New delivery methods like downloads, episodic games, add-on content, and streaming; new revenue options like micro-payments and virtual goods; the continuing expansion of virtual worlds, MMO's and MMORPG's — today's video game industry is a world of unlimited possibilities, but the one thing you can bet on is that it will be different tomorrow then it is today. Leading the way into the new frontiers of the industry are the following segments.

• Online Games: Online game sites attracted 87 million U.S. visitors in May 2009, up 22% year-on-year. In large part because consumers are increasingly seeking less expensive entertainment options, online gaming is growing at ten times the rate of the total U.S. Internet population and is now reaching nearly one out of every two Internet users. (comScore)


• Used Games/Game Rentals: From January through May, gamers bought an average of 3.4 used games, up 31% from the same period last year. Although gamers are still buying new games, one third of purchases were used titles, up 13% from last year. In addition, more gamers are renting games, with 13% renting games in May, up from 10.5% in May 2008. (Nielsen)


• In-game Advertising: Veronis Suhler projects that in-game advertisements will see a compound annual growth rate of 18.5% from 2008 to 2013. Media analyst Screen Digest predicts that within five years time, in-game advertising will soar to a value of more than $1 billion.

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Nintendo
Online Gaming
Playstation
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