"German online games publisher and developer Bigpoint made over 2 million euros of revenue this month on a single in-game item purchase.
The company's free-to-play MMO space shooter DarkOrbit, which launched in December 2006, has seen 66 million registered users in total over its five year life.
Earlier this month, BigPoint sold a special in-game item called 'The 10th Drone', which cost 1,000 euros to purchase, for a total of four days.
Simon Davis, producer on DarkOrbit, has now told Gamesbrief founder and Gamasutra contributor Nicholas Lovell that over 2,000 of these items were sold, meaning that over 2 million euros was spent on this single item over the course of four days."
Source: Gamasutra, 23rd November 2011
Showing posts with label gaming. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gaming. Show all posts
Friday, November 25, 2011
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Over 20% of the UK Nintendo 3DS owners Bought Legends of Zelda: Ocarina of Time in the first 2 days of release
"Nintendo enjoyed a good week for 3DS thanks to the Zelda re-release.
Ocarina of Time 3D made it to No.2 in the chart upon its debut last week, and according to GfK Chart-Track data was bought by over 20 per cent of the handheld’s userbase in its first two days.
That sets the device up well for the summer selling season – a natural uplift for handheld games according to Nintendo UK head David Yarnton – and the crop of strong first-party games on the horizon."
Ocarina of Time 3D made it to No.2 in the chart upon its debut last week, and according to GfK Chart-Track data was bought by over 20 per cent of the handheld’s userbase in its first two days.
That sets the device up well for the summer selling season – a natural uplift for handheld games according to Nintendo UK head David Yarnton – and the crop of strong first-party games on the horizon."
Source: MCV UK, 27th June 2011
Monday, November 21, 2011
European Mobile Benchmarks September 2011
Click to enlarge
Source: Data from comScore for the 3 months to September 2011, reported in a press release, 21st November 2011
Friday, November 18, 2011
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 generated $775m in the first 5 days of sales
"Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 brought in $775 million in sales in its first five days on the market, gunning down the previous record.
It beat the record for five-day sales for movies and books too, Activision-Blizzard said today.
Activision-Blizzard's previous Call of Duty game held that last record. Call of Duty: Black Ops brought in $650 million in its first five days on sale, and Modern Warfare 2 brought in $550 million.
Gamers bought 6.5 million copies of Modern Warfare 3 the first day it was on sale, bringing in $400 million for Activision Blizzard. Black Ops brought in $360 million on its first day last year. Modern Warfare 2 brought in $310 million."
It beat the record for five-day sales for movies and books too, Activision-Blizzard said today.
Activision-Blizzard's previous Call of Duty game held that last record. Call of Duty: Black Ops brought in $650 million in its first five days on sale, and Modern Warfare 2 brought in $550 million.
Gamers bought 6.5 million copies of Modern Warfare 3 the first day it was on sale, bringing in $400 million for Activision Blizzard. Black Ops brought in $360 million on its first day last year. Modern Warfare 2 brought in $310 million."
Monday, November 14, 2011
118.5m people in the US & UK play social games at least once a week
"PopCap Games, maker of some of the world’s most popular video games, today unveiled the results of a survey updating a 2010 report targeting social gamers in the U.S. and U.K. The survey found that 118.5 million people now play social games at least once a week, up 71%. Among other results in the new survey, players are now significantly more likely to spend real-world money to buy content within social games, with 31 million players having purchased in-game currency, up 86%.
The full report, conducted by Information Solutions Group is available for download at 2011 PopCap Social Gaming Research.
The report examines play habits, attitudes and regional/demographic differences among social gamers, who represent the fastest-growing segment of the video game industry. The social game sector is anticipated to generate $5 billion by 2015 according to market research firm Parks and Associates.
The survey found that 30%, or 35 million people who now play social games are new to the category since February 2010, and that 17% percent of people who play social games regularly are new to gaming altogether, having never previously played a video game, representing 20 million new gaming consumers. And while the average age of social gamers has gone down from 43 to 39, the average first time new social gamer is a 50+ year-old woman.
The report also uncovered regional differences in attitudes about cheating in social games, finding U.K. social gamers (11%) cheat at a higher rate than U.S. gamers (7%). Deeper insight into social gamers’ attitudes and habits surrounding cheating will be provided in a separate upcoming report.
Other key findings in the report include:
- 81 million people, or 68% of social gamers, play social games at least once a day
- 49 million people, or 41% of social gamers, play social games multiple times a day
- 33% of social gamers who played games on other platforms prior to playing social games reported spending less time playing games on other platforms
- Female social gamers outnumber men 55% to 45%
- The percentage of social gamers under 30 years old jumped from 19% to 30%
- 20% of all social gamers in the US are over 60, compared to only 7% in the U.K.
- Social gaming is a newer phenomenon in the U.K., where only 38% of social gamers have played for two years or more, versus 51% in the U.S."
Source: Press release from PopCap, 14th November 2011
Full report here
The full report, conducted by Information Solutions Group is available for download at 2011 PopCap Social Gaming Research.
The report examines play habits, attitudes and regional/demographic differences among social gamers, who represent the fastest-growing segment of the video game industry. The social game sector is anticipated to generate $5 billion by 2015 according to market research firm Parks and Associates.
The survey found that 30%, or 35 million people who now play social games are new to the category since February 2010, and that 17% percent of people who play social games regularly are new to gaming altogether, having never previously played a video game, representing 20 million new gaming consumers. And while the average age of social gamers has gone down from 43 to 39, the average first time new social gamer is a 50+ year-old woman.
The report also uncovered regional differences in attitudes about cheating in social games, finding U.K. social gamers (11%) cheat at a higher rate than U.S. gamers (7%). Deeper insight into social gamers’ attitudes and habits surrounding cheating will be provided in a separate upcoming report.
Other key findings in the report include:
- 81 million people, or 68% of social gamers, play social games at least once a day
- 49 million people, or 41% of social gamers, play social games multiple times a day
- 33% of social gamers who played games on other platforms prior to playing social games reported spending less time playing games on other platforms
- Female social gamers outnumber men 55% to 45%
- The percentage of social gamers under 30 years old jumped from 19% to 30%
- 20% of all social gamers in the US are over 60, compared to only 7% in the U.K.
- Social gaming is a newer phenomenon in the U.K., where only 38% of social gamers have played for two years or more, versus 51% in the U.S."
Source: Press release from PopCap, 14th November 2011
Full report here
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 sold 6.5m copies on the first day of sale
"Last week, the Call of Duty franchise yet again redefined our measly definition of “success” by selling 6.5 million copies of Modern Warfare 3 in one day, which translates into $400 million from just the U.S. and the U.K. That might be the single biggest currency-for-entertainment exchange in the history of pop culture. (By comparison, movie record-holder Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2 made a mere $91 million in its first 24 hours.) It’s the third straight record year for Activision Blizzard, which has essentially created a new early-November holiday by steadily releasing a new Call of Duty game every November. We talked to Activision CEO Bobby Kotick about the franchise’s mega-success, and the vision for the future."
Friday, November 11, 2011
US Portable Game Software by Revenue 2009-2011
Click to enlarge
Source: Lurry Analytics, NPD Group and other estimates, reported on the Flurry blog, 9th November 2011
Note - I don't normally put projections in, but this contains more real data than projections
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
A Call of Duty gamer plays for an average of 170 hours per year
"Even before the launch of Modern Warfare 3, the Call of Duty community is already one of the strongest there is. More than 30 million people have played online this year and 20 million players play each month. On average, the Call of Duty player plays 170 hours of the game per year. That’s as much time spent as watching the full series of the Sopranos and Lost, combined."
Source: Data from Activision Blizzard, reported by VentureBeat, 8th November 2011
Source: Data from Activision Blizzard, reported by VentureBeat, 8th November 2011
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
The demographics of American gamers
Click to enlarge
Also this killer stat:
"Women age 18 or older represent a significantly greater portion of the game-playing population (37%) than boys age 17 or younger (13%)"
Source: Entertainment Software Association, Essential Facts about the Computer and Video Games Industry 2011
Monday, November 7, 2011
Zynga has 58m active daily users in 175 countries
"The company updated its stats, noting it has 230 million monthly active users, down from 232 million when it first file for an IPO in June. It has 58 million daily active users in 175 countries. Those users play 2 billion minutes a day and engage in 4 billion in-game user-to-user connections a day.
Zynga said that, according to AppData, its games are played by more daily active players than the next 14 social game developers combined. Zynga said it has four of the top five social games on Facebook, based on daily active users."
Zynga said that, according to AppData, its games are played by more daily active players than the next 14 social game developers combined. Zynga said it has four of the top five social games on Facebook, based on daily active users."
Source: Data revealed by Zynga, and reported by VentureBeat, 4th November 2011
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Angry Birds has been downloaded 500m times
"Rovio today announced 500 million total downloads of Angry Birds games across various platforms. This remarkable milestone makes Angry Birds one of the most downloaded games in the history of gaming, with no signs of slowing down.
Angry Birds Fans around the world have so far played a total of 200,000 years of Angry Birds, with 300 million minutes of playing time daily. Moreover, more than 266 billion levels of Angry Birds have been played, with 400 billion birds launched into action, and over 44 billion Stars collected in the process."
Source: Press release from Rovio, 2nd November 2011
Thursday, October 27, 2011
49% of people exposed to Doritos ads on XBox LIVE subsequently went out and bought Doritos
"Doritos’ ‘Unlock Xbox’ competition invited fans to capture the essence of the snack in the form of a Doritos Xbox LIVE Arcade game with the opportunity to win a $50,000 gaming consultant project. The campaign put the votes of Xbox LIVE users at the heart of the contest, driving far-reaching engagement and ensuring huge interest in the final Doritos games. The field was narrowed to eight by an expert panel of judges, and then pared down to three by the votes of Xbox LIVE visitors. After a pitch at Microsoft headquarters, the two finalists (Doritos Crash Course and Harm’s Way – by Doritos) were launched for free download on Xbox LIVE, with gamers voting on their favourite.
Key results:
Throughout the contest, Unlock Xbox delivered exceptional engagement levels
The winning game became the fastest downloaded Xbox LIVE Arcade game in history with over 1 million downloads in the first two weeks
Over 50% of those exposed to the Doritos ads on Xbox LIVE clicked to learn more about the contest
40% voted for their favourite Doritos Xbox LIVE Arcade game
72% took action after seeing Doritos advertising on Xbox LIVE
24% told friends about the Doritos Xbox competition
49% went out and bought Doritos"
Key results:
Throughout the contest, Unlock Xbox delivered exceptional engagement levels
The winning game became the fastest downloaded Xbox LIVE Arcade game in history with over 1 million downloads in the first two weeks
Over 50% of those exposed to the Doritos ads on Xbox LIVE clicked to learn more about the contest
40% voted for their favourite Doritos Xbox LIVE Arcade game
72% took action after seeing Doritos advertising on Xbox LIVE
24% told friends about the Doritos Xbox competition
49% went out and bought Doritos"
Friday, October 14, 2011
50% of the players of The Sims Social are Zynga players
"Electronic Arts came out of nowhere when it launched The Sims Social on Facebook. The social game that simulates human life took off like wildfire, surpassing FarmVille and closing in on Zynga’s most popular game, CityVille. Now Raptr, the social network for gamers, has revealed some interesting data about just who is playing The Sims Social. As suspected, many of the players came from Zynga.
The majority of The Sims Social’s user base are Zynga players, according to data collected from 10 million people on Raptr’s gamer social network. EA’s own social games and The Sims 3 accounted for only 15 percent of the total players of The Sims Social. Zynga players, on the other hand, account for 50 percent of all of The Sims Social players. About 30 percent came from other social games, and 5 percent came from World of WarCraft.
The Sims Social is now the No. 2 game on Facebook with 66 million monthly active players, compared to 76 million for CityVille, according to AppData. If roughly half of those players came from Zynga, we’re talking about close to 33 million users. Of course, not every single one of the Zynga players has quit playing a Zynga game in order to play The Sims Social. But CityVille has dropped from more than 100 million players."
Source: VentureBeat, 12th October 2011
The majority of The Sims Social’s user base are Zynga players, according to data collected from 10 million people on Raptr’s gamer social network. EA’s own social games and The Sims 3 accounted for only 15 percent of the total players of The Sims Social. Zynga players, on the other hand, account for 50 percent of all of The Sims Social players. About 30 percent came from other social games, and 5 percent came from World of WarCraft.
The Sims Social is now the No. 2 game on Facebook with 66 million monthly active players, compared to 76 million for CityVille, according to AppData. If roughly half of those players came from Zynga, we’re talking about close to 33 million users. Of course, not every single one of the Zynga players has quit playing a Zynga game in order to play The Sims Social. But CityVille has dropped from more than 100 million players."
Source: VentureBeat, 12th October 2011
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
The differences between hardcore social gamers and casual gamers
"The social gamer sector is a large, and growing, market – 41% of all U.S. Internet users have played social games. That amounts to 98 million in the U.S. alone.
Hardcore Social Gamers resemble traditional core gamers demographically: While a majority of casual social gamers are women (61%) and over 40-years-old (62%), the reverse is true for hardcore social gamers: 55% of hardcore social gamers are male and 57% are under the age of 40 (with an average age of 37).
Hardcore Social Gamers are playing lots of games. Hardcore social gamers tend to play multiple games simultaneously (76% playing two or more). In fact, nearly half (47%) of hardcore social gamers are playing three or more social games, while 28% are playing 4 or more social games concurrently. Clearly, these are dedicated game enthusiasts.
Hardcore Social Gamers exhibit greater level of gameplay engagement - The level of commitment and engagement of gamer segments varies. When it comes to amount of gameplay time, hardcore social gamers far exceed casual social gamers. This research indicates that 68% of hardcore social gamers are playing three or more hours per day of any game, with 30% playing social games for more than an hour per session. By contrast, only 43% of casual social gamers spend three or more hours daily playing games of any type. And, they play social games in short bursts – 54% indicate their typical session length is 30 minutes or less."
Source: Press release from Kabam, 22nd September 2011
Note - A hardcore social gamer is defined as "players who play strategy, RPG, or other ‘core’ segment games (MMO, action, FPS, MOBA) on a social network site."
Full study here
Hardcore Social Gamers resemble traditional core gamers demographically: While a majority of casual social gamers are women (61%) and over 40-years-old (62%), the reverse is true for hardcore social gamers: 55% of hardcore social gamers are male and 57% are under the age of 40 (with an average age of 37).
Hardcore Social Gamers are playing lots of games. Hardcore social gamers tend to play multiple games simultaneously (76% playing two or more). In fact, nearly half (47%) of hardcore social gamers are playing three or more social games, while 28% are playing 4 or more social games concurrently. Clearly, these are dedicated game enthusiasts.
Hardcore Social Gamers exhibit greater level of gameplay engagement - The level of commitment and engagement of gamer segments varies. When it comes to amount of gameplay time, hardcore social gamers far exceed casual social gamers. This research indicates that 68% of hardcore social gamers are playing three or more hours per day of any game, with 30% playing social games for more than an hour per session. By contrast, only 43% of casual social gamers spend three or more hours daily playing games of any type. And, they play social games in short bursts – 54% indicate their typical session length is 30 minutes or less."
Source: Press release from Kabam, 22nd September 2011
Note - A hardcore social gamer is defined as "players who play strategy, RPG, or other ‘core’ segment games (MMO, action, FPS, MOBA) on a social network site."
Full study here
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
1m Angry Birds toys and 1m Angry Birds T-shirts are sold each month
"The Angry Birds brand isn’t all about the software, though, by any means. In a Fireside Chat with MG this morning, Rovio’s North American General Manager Andrew Stalbow revealed a few key details surrounding the sales of their real world goods.
Back in December of 2010, Rovio launched a series of Angry Birds plush toys. By March of this year, they had sold just over 2 million of ‘em. Today, they’re selling another million each and every month.
The same goes for their line of T-shirts: every month, they’re selling another million.
This is absolutely huge for them, and should serve as an important stat for app developers to keep in mind moving forward. Rovio is one of the few companies that has found success on iOS then managed to evolve their intellectual property into a proper full-blown license."
Back in December of 2010, Rovio launched a series of Angry Birds plush toys. By March of this year, they had sold just over 2 million of ‘em. Today, they’re selling another million each and every month.
The same goes for their line of T-shirts: every month, they’re selling another million.
This is absolutely huge for them, and should serve as an important stat for app developers to keep in mind moving forward. Rovio is one of the few companies that has found success on iOS then managed to evolve their intellectual property into a proper full-blown license."
Source: Techcrunch, 12th September 2011
Monday, September 12, 2011
The Sims Social has over 36m monthly active players on Facebook
"Game publishing company Electronic Arts‘ newest social game, The Sims Social, has passed social gaming supergiant Zynga’s Farmville and now has 36 million monthly active users just under a month after its launch, according to AppData.
The Sims Social has held the top spot as the fastest growing application on Facebook for more than a week. The game picked up more than 1.7 million new users on Sunday, and picked up a total of about 8.3 million new users last week. It’s seen enough growth to knock off FarmVille and become the fourth most popular social game on Facebook, behind Zynga’s own Empires & Allies, Cityville and Texas HoldEm Poker. Zynga’s Farmville now has 35.7 million monthly active users."
Source: Data from AppData, reported by VentureBeat, 12th September 2011
The Sims Social has held the top spot as the fastest growing application on Facebook for more than a week. The game picked up more than 1.7 million new users on Sunday, and picked up a total of about 8.3 million new users last week. It’s seen enough growth to knock off FarmVille and become the fourth most popular social game on Facebook, behind Zynga’s own Empires & Allies, Cityville and Texas HoldEm Poker. Zynga’s Farmville now has 35.7 million monthly active users."
Source: Data from AppData, reported by VentureBeat, 12th September 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Two thirds of US Tablet owners have used the device to watch full-length movies
"A recent study of over 1,400 U.S. consumers conducted by Boston-based custom research firm, Chadwick Martin Bailey found that smartphones and tablets are not only more popular than ever, they are replacing relatively new technology like portable gaming systems as well as devices that have long resisted substitution like TVs and laptops.
The increase in quality and capabilities of mobile devices has sparked major changes in consumer habits. For example: over half of smartphone and tablet users play games on their device and two-thirds of these people are using other devices less for gaming (particularly portable gaming systems). Additionally, nearly two-thirds of tablet owners have used these devices to watch feature-length movies. As tablets become more mainstream, the data indicate that stand-alone DVD players will go the way of the horse and buggy.
“The increasing ubiquity and capabilities of smartphones, tablets and the mobile networks that support them is having enormous implications for the entertainment and consumer electronics industries,” says Chris Neal, Vice President of Chadwick Martin Bailey’s Tech and Telecom Practice. “Content owners and advertisers of all stripes stand to benefit, while many specialty device manufacturers will need to course correct if they haven’t already.”"
Source: Data from Chadwick Martin Bailey, reported in a press release, 18th August 2011
The increase in quality and capabilities of mobile devices has sparked major changes in consumer habits. For example: over half of smartphone and tablet users play games on their device and two-thirds of these people are using other devices less for gaming (particularly portable gaming systems). Additionally, nearly two-thirds of tablet owners have used these devices to watch feature-length movies. As tablets become more mainstream, the data indicate that stand-alone DVD players will go the way of the horse and buggy.
“The increasing ubiquity and capabilities of smartphones, tablets and the mobile networks that support them is having enormous implications for the entertainment and consumer electronics industries,” says Chris Neal, Vice President of Chadwick Martin Bailey’s Tech and Telecom Practice. “Content owners and advertisers of all stripes stand to benefit, while many specialty device manufacturers will need to course correct if they haven’t already.”"
Source: Data from Chadwick Martin Bailey, reported in a press release, 18th August 2011
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Angry Birds is downloaded over a million times a day
"Speaking at Mobile 2.0 Europe – openIDEAS Conference, Rovio’s “Mighty Eagle” Peter Vesterbacka announced that the company now sees over a million downloads a day of its Angry Birds games.
The announcement comes just two days after Vesterbacka told Techcrunch that the company had surpassed the 250 million downloads milestone, noting that the company was also going to release a cookbook and integrate more NFC features into its titles."
The announcement comes just two days after Vesterbacka told Techcrunch that the company had surpassed the 250 million downloads milestone, noting that the company was also going to release a cookbook and integrate more NFC features into its titles."
Source: The Next Web, 16th June 2011
Friday, June 10, 2011
Online game Moshi Monsters has 50m registered users
"Moshi Monsters, the UK based social network aimed at kids that takes many a visual cue from Nintendo's Pokemon series, has hit a landmark 50 million registered users. The figure means that now 1 in 2 UK children aged between 6-12 own a Moshi Monster account, with 1 new sign up every second from over 150 nations across the globe.
Letting kids interact and play online in safe, colourful environment, Moshi Monsters lets kids care and nurture for their own little online monster pet."
Letting kids interact and play online in safe, colourful environment, Moshi Monsters lets kids care and nurture for their own little online monster pet."
Source: Tech Digest, 6th June 2011
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