The U.S. market for virtual goods will reach $1.6 billion in 2010, with social gaming contributing $835 million of that, according to a new report released Tuesday by research firm Inside Network. Virtual good sales were expected to clear $1 billion in 2009, a substantial increase year-over-year.
International sales of virtual goods have outpaced the U.S. rather dramatically, as witnessed by the explosive growth in South Korea and China, which had 2009 sales estimates of $3.5 billion to $4 billion with the market expected to reach $5.5 billion by 2012.
"Inside Virtual Goods: The Future of Social Gaming" shows not just the potential for revenue growth but how many opportunities are still available for game developers to better leverage virtual goods in place of advertising and offers.
Also interesting is the fact that the bigger vendors don't all have offerings in each of the gaming segments. Zynga, for example, has a strong presence with four resource management and simulation games, but only one game in the gambling space.
International sales of virtual goods have outpaced the U.S. rather dramatically, as witnessed by the explosive growth in South Korea and China, which had 2009 sales estimates of $3.5 billion to $4 billion with the market expected to reach $5.5 billion by 2012.
"Inside Virtual Goods: The Future of Social Gaming" shows not just the potential for revenue growth but how many opportunities are still available for game developers to better leverage virtual goods in place of advertising and offers.
Also interesting is the fact that the bigger vendors don't all have offerings in each of the gaming segments. Zynga, for example, has a strong presence with four resource management and simulation games, but only one game in the gambling space.
