A report by Strategy Analytics has revealed that online gaming is now officially outselling both video and music in the digital entertainment market.Now, this is only addressing digital sales. However, couple it with with news that there are predictions for gaming titles to hit 400 million in sales, and what you get is a medium that seems to have finally grown into its own. Gaming has numbers that not only compete with other mainstream media, but perhaps can consistently overtake it. This means a lot for future advertising dollars and investment numbers. EA has been capitalizing on this for a long while now. I can look at all their sports games in the past that I've played, and advertising has become more and more apparent in them as each year goes by.
The firm has stated that the online games market generated $3.8 billion dollars in 2006 and is predicted to grow to $11.8 billion dollars by 2011, with online sales accounting for one third of all software revenue.
Its a shift in thinking for a lot of people. I wonder how much this makes the other media moguls worry....
However, hopefully this turns a lot of the focus on video games and virtual media away from just as something nerdy people do to goof off, and towards where it should be; a true mass media that is part of our current culture and has serious implications on our way of life. Something that has value as an engine for behavioral study (such as this article on potential behaviors from viral outbreaks learned from World of Warcraft). I personally have been observing economic behavior for a few years now in online games, and while the environment is unlike the real world, many behaviors can give insight and direction for studies.
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