What are casual games?
Casual games are video games developed as a fun pastime with the general public and families as their target audience. They are easy to learn and play. The games are platform agnostic, meaning they can be played via the Internet, PC and Macintosh computers, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo DS, Wii and even mobile phones and PDA. They are nonviolent, arcade-style games that involve puzzles, words, board and card games, game show and trivia. Popular games are Mahjong, Tetris, Solitaire, Bejeweled, Cake Mania, Mystery Case Files, and Luxor.
Statistics from the Casual Gaming Industry
Hare are some interesting reports from the Casual Games Association, RealArcade and Microsoft games (2006 Summary Report, 2007 Summary Report)
Size
200 million people worldwide play casual games via the Internet. Yankee group estimates this number to rise to 700 million by 2010.
In 2007, the world wide connected casual games industry had revenues in excess of $2.25 billion on mobile, PC, Mac and Xbox LIVE Arcade platforms
Demographics
It is interesting to note that women are not onlythe pre-dominant casual game players but also pre-dominant paying customers for casual games
| Gaming Demographic | % Who Play | % Who Also Buy |
|---|---|---|
| Female | 51% | 74% |
| Male | 49% | 26% |
| Over 35 years | 62% | 72% |
| Under 35 years | 38% | 28% |
Major Publishers:
- Big Fish Games, Seattle, Washington
- Electronic Arts Casual Entertainment Group, Redwood Shores, California
- Funkitron, Boston, Massachusetts
- GameHouse, Seattle, Washington
- iWin, San Francisco, California
- Microsoft Casual Games, Redmond, Washington
- MumboJumbo, Dallas, Texas
- Oberon Media Seattle, Washington & NYC
- PlayFirst, San Francisco, California
- PopCap Games, Seattle, Washington
- RealArcade, Seattle, Washington
- Sandlot Games, Bothell, Washington
- Zylom, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Zynga
Zynga specializes in casual games you can play with your friends on social networks. Some of its hits include Texas Hold’Em (with four million hands of poker played daily), Attack, and Scramble. Al told, they attract 2.9 daily active users across Facebook, MySpace, and other social networks. On Facebook alone, Zynga’s games have 1.6 million daily active users (right behind Slide, RockYou, and SA Ventures).
In conclusion
200 million casual game players on the Internet in 2007 rising to 700 million in 2010, with 1.6 million on Zynga alone today. These are staggeringly large numbers. Add mobile phones to this mix and the market opportunity is HUGE!
Dude, how do we monetize this?
(*Starry-eyed*) Sumit
Technorati Tags: online gaming, mobile gaming, gaming revenue, Casual Games Association, game monetization
