US MMO Revenues Hit $4B Annually

That USD$4 billion (well, USD$3.8 billion ... but you get the picture) is a big figure, and it's how much gamers based in the United States are spending on massively multiplayer online games, according to GamesIndustry.com's Today's Gamers MMO Focus Report. Considering there are around 48 million MMO players in the United States, the figure translates to an average of USD$82 per player.

According to the survey, however, only 46 percent of the total 48 million players are paying customers. Taking that into consideration, we're looking at an average spending of $15.10 per player (although when I ran my own computations, the figure turned up as USD$179 per paying player).

Regardless of which figures are correct, that's how much US-based online games publishers are raking in. I can't even begin to imagine how much Chinese players spend to enjoy their favorite MMOs, both subscription and free-to-play.



Here's an excerpt from the press release titled "Americans spent $3.8 billion on MMO games in 2009":

Analysis of the consumer data coming from the Today's Gamers MMO Focus Report by GamesIndustry.com and TNS reveals that 21 million Americans spend an average of $15 per month on massively multiplayer online games.

More than 90 percent of this budget is spent directly online. Twenty-five million Americans play these games without spending any money. Revenues in main European countries are around $250 million with the United Kingdom having a slight lead over Germany; nowhere near the staggering amount of $3.8 billion spent in the United States. Growth is expected to come from countries such as Italy, Spain, Russia, Turkey, Poland and Sweden, and these countries are subject of the new MMO Emerging Markets Survey.

'Free to play' versus 'Pay to play'

The majority of American MMO players do not pay to play but still a significant share of 46 percent does. It shows that MMO games are being accepted as a type of game worth paying for. Of the hundreds of MMO games in the market, only a few require payment up-front, mainly by selling software to be installed on the PC.

Americans spent approximately $400 million on this, split up into boxed products and online downloads. About $2.4 billion is spent on monthly or annual subscriptions. Many free-to-play MMOs rely on selling in-game virtual items using direct micro-transactions or a virtual currency approach, grossing another $1 billion in revenues.

"The market for MMO games definitely still has a lot of growth potential. We were able to increase our revenue by 6,261 percent over the past five years. Delivering long-term quality and depth are major success factors in expanding our player base. And it definitely works—with more than 100 million registered users, we are growing fast and expect to continue this path," comments Klaas Kersting, chief executive officer of Gameforge.