Game Industry Forecast Shows Solid Growth

The global post industry get break through generate $60 billion in revenue enhancement for 2011, and is call forthing at 10% annually according to a new research report by industry analyst Colin Sebastian for RW Baird. That branch rate should see all overall industry revenue hit $80 billion by 2014, but the some areas of the personal credit line provide remain flavorless or even deterioration, while different areas will be maturement at an annual rate of 15% to 20%. The process areas that Sebastian sees are in online and mobile ventures, driven earlier by downloadable content (DLC) and mobile games and cordial games to a lesser extent.These areas will be growing annually at a rate of 15% or more for the next several years, Sebastian believes. Unfortunately, other areas of the game problem wont be faring as well. He sees packaged software gross revenue staying flat this year, with the growth in Xbox 360 and PS3 gross revenue creation delete by the decline in Wii and handheld game sales. This quarter will see smashed sales with many big titles coming out, but that positive sales picture will only be enough to pull the sales out of the loss category for the year.The good news for the game assembly line is that its the only media business with a strong positive growth foretaste for the next several years. Newspapers, magazines, music, TV and other media businesses are struggling with the alteration to a digital distribution model, but the high level of debut in the game industry has kept the overall picture positive. Thats not to say there are no problems Sebastian sees many video game companies will continue to struggle through this transition. Sebastian sees the mobile market as bringing in $2 billion in revenue this year, with growth continuing due to rapid adoption of smartphones and tablets.He cites studies showing that games are the starring(p) applications on smartphones, and consumers consumers have been very willing to pay for games or for in-app purchases with freemium hgames, which this instant represent the majority of revenues for mobile games. Sebastian believes tablets can be the next gigantic market for games, given that the form factor is better than a smartphone for contend games. Studies also show that gaming is the number one usage of tablets, with over 70% of tablet owners playing games on the devices.The difficult business climate for tralatitious game companies means there are fewer give-up the ghost winners to invest in right now. Sebastian sees GameStop as a good holiday play given the large number of AAA titles coming out this quarter, and beyond that he picks Activision and Electronic liberal arts as the best performers for semipermanent investors, followed by Take Two. The nature of the game market is changing in the USA, according to studies cited by Sebastian. He points to the Entertainment Software Association exact showing 72% of US households play games, with the average ag e of gamers being 37.Additionally, more than half of gamers play on their phones and other handheld game devices, and women now represent 42% of the gamer population. Its a far cry from the traditional our market is teenage boys of all ages that used to be the only demographic for game companies to care about. Sebastian sees hope for the core games segment, in that the broad salute of casual games may get more people interested in gaming, and eventually looking for the deeper experiences that console games and PC games can offer. He sees the PC game market doing better in 2012, mostly on the energy of hit releases like Diablo III.Handheld devices, lead by the Nintendo 3DS and the Sony PSP (and soon the PS Vita) will be flat in 2012, with the launch of the PS Vita helping to offset the shift to smartphones, at least for a while. Sebastian believes the PS Vita may be able to take the leading position from the 3DS. Finally, Sebastian sees social games continuing to grow and develop in depth and richness, eventually being able to allurement more to core gamers. Console games will add more social elements, too, and eventually social games outside of Facebook will become more popular.He sees growth rates surpassing 10% annually for the next 3-5 years. The current leaders are Zynga, with 262 million monthly average users (MAU), followed by Electronic Arts with 203 million MAU. Overall, its a complex portrait of a rapidly growing and changing industry. Clearly there are dangers ahead for many companies as business models are changing, and once-profitable businesses are seeing their audiences depart for other types of gaming. in(predicate) companies will be the ones who stay flexible as conditions continue to channelize rapidly. Whats your opinion on the future of the game industry?