If you’ve ever doubted the popularity of online games in the U.S., the numbers might be shocking.
According to an article on Financial Express, it is estimated the revenues from U.S. online gaming services will triple by 2009. A report from Park Associates estimates just the U.S. figures alone will climb from 2005’s figure of $1.1 billion to $3.5 billion in 2009.
MMOGs will remain a strong favorite while other forms of online gaming such digital downloads will make their presence known, too. And although online games will climb in popularity, it’s the entire industry that’s showing some major boom action. In 2004, gaming sales topped Hollywood box office receipts – not Hollywood’s total income, but still pretty impressive.
This should be great news to gaming developers like Blizzard and EA and even better for gamers who enjoy their favorite online games and fear the fun might someday go away.
Many say that the gaming industry across the globe has taken off and has a long way to go, and hopefully pretty fast. Once a niche market and considered by some as a curiosity in mid-1970s – when it started first – the video game industry took in about $31 billion in 2004. Contrary to a popular belief, the video game industry is not bigger than Hollywood yet. The US film industry made $44 bn in the same year. However, the video game sales in the US have exceeded the movies’ total box-office revenues (excluding ancillary revenues from sales of DVDs, sales to foreign distributors, cable TV, satellite TV and broadcast TV networks) each year since 1996.”
Financial Express
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