Friday Fact Box - Online Gaming
by Ravi Reddy on 2010/06/04
In the words of the infamous entertainer, Marvin Gaye, “Whats going on?” More specifically, what's going on in the realm of online gaming? Gaming has come a long way since the days of Sega 16 bit megadrives. Gone are the days of non-interactive gaming, where it's only your lack of skill inhibiting your ultimate triumph. The statistics below reveal the growth in this niche and shows that business is good for the Microsofts and Nintendos of this world.
Image Credit: Picasa.
Still in the dark? The latest consoles like the Xbox Live and Playstation 3 (PS3) connect wirelessly to the Internet. This effectively opens the door for many digital marketing practices such as display advertising on PS3 browsers or the use of video viral marketing techniques to announce the emergence of a new console or game.
In the past year, various statistics derived from net playing platforms (such as the Xbox Live, PS3 and PC) have revealed the following:
- 20 million players worldwide have registered to play on the Xbox Live. As a result 17 billion hours has been spent on Xbox live.
- There are 40 million registered Playstation network accounts.
2009’s most popular online games in the United States between Xbox, PS3 and PC were as follows:
| Rank | Game | PS3 | PC |
| 1 | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 | Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of Patriots | Metal |
| 2 | The Sims 3 | Fallout 3 | Runescape |
| 3 | Prototype | Bioshock | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 |
Despite the considerable number of Playstation network accounts in comparison to the Xbox, it has the lowest average hours per week. This is broken down below:
You will notice that Xbox Live in the US claims the highest number of average hours of usage per week. This is largely attributed to a broad spectrum of games currently under Xbox Live’s umbrella brand, Microsoft.
In terms of US demographics, the average age group to participate in any form of online gaming is 25-44. According to Kotaku.com, in PC online gaming, despite a minor dip, Xbox Live subscriptions have increased by 5% for 13 - 17-year olds in the last year. This means that this age group is a worthwhile demographic for online game marketers to target.
Online gaming piracy seems to be rampant at the moment, particularly with the younger age group (13-17 year olds). Subsequently, Kotaku.com managed to combine the top game downloads (from BitTorrent.com) with the above mentioned consoles. Below is Kotaku.com has revealed the following:
For PC:
| Rank | Game | Downloads |
| 1 | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 | 4 100 000 |
| 2 | The Sims 3 | 3 200 000 |
| 3 | Prototype | 2 350 000 |
| 4 | Need for Speed Shift | 2 100 000 |
| 5 | Street Fighter IV | 1 850 000 |
For XBox:
| Rank | Game | Downloads |
| 1 | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 | 970 000 |
| 2 | Street Fighter IV | 840 000 |
| 3 | Prototype | 810 000 |
| 4 | Dirt 2 | 790 000 |
| 5 | UFC Undisputed 2009 | 720 000 |
It is clear that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, was the most downloaded game in 2009 on two platforms (PC and Xbox 360). This was not the case with the Nintendo Wii as their array of games is slightly different, despite containing similar titles in the form of “Call of Duty”, etc.
According to torrentfreak.com, Modern Warfare 2's PC version was downloaded on torrent sites 4.1 million times! The Xbox 360 version on the other hand was downloaded 970,000 times. The Nintendo Wii’s Super Mario Brothers was downloaded 1.15 million times considerably less than PC’s version of Modern Warfare 2, but impressive none the less.
In terms of most popular gaming genres, fantasy games lead the pack. Below is a breakdown of this:
So what can one establish from these statistics? For starters, the “Call of Duty” range is perhaps the most entertaining game in its genre and possibly a great buy for any gamer. If war scenarios and T-rated violence barely moves you, perhaps you may consider purchasing a Wii. The Nintentdo Wii is notably the most popular family entertainment console at present and consists of a variety of titles of which the most popular game being the classical Super Mario Brothers (a relic from the 80s).
As a marketer, one should consider developing campaigns targeted at several specific demographics as opposed to one core demographic. As an example, the 13 - 17-year olds should be exposed to different campaigns in comparison to their older counterparts. One demographic has the choice of purchase whereas the other doesn’t. In turn the younger demographic has the capability to drive the demand and influence their parents to make the purchase. This is possibly not the case for the older demographic. However, should you attend the number of LAN parties that I have, you might find this misleading.
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