Online skill Games

The Phenomenon of the Online skill Games Market

It's a fact: That the internet is the fastest growing market ever and within this marketplace the sector known as online skill games is moving four times faster than the internet itself.

Just imagine for a second...an online business growing four times faster than the internet overall. Yes! online skill games accounted for $3.4 billion USD in 2005 and is set to exceed $13 billion USD by 2011 (according to recent figures obtained from the analyst firm DFC intelligence)

Today's market is worth approximately $5.2 billion USD - that equates to $164 USD per second being spent on online skill games and over the next 156 weeks this figure will grow to a staggering $412 USD per second! That's every second of every day (24/7).

If you took just 15 minutes to read this site by the time you finish another $147,600 USD would have been spent. Just today alone $14,169,600 will be spent on playing online skill games. This is growing at an exponential rate.
These figures can't be ignored!

The definition of 'skill-based games'

A report by the International Game Developers Association IGDA  “A ‘skill based game’ is a web game played in a tournament format, with each player paying a cash entry fee to play and with a cash or merchandise prize going to the winner or winners of the tournament. Skill based games are named accordingly because the outcome of each competition is based on the players’ ability and performance, with any elements of luck either eliminated or greatly reduced. This is critical in order to be legal and avoid falling under anti-gambling statutes.”

OK, What about the money?

European internet analyst, Alex burmaster of Nielsen/NetRatings (a global leader in internet media and market research) said of online skill games, "Take the fact that the online games sector is growing at four times the rate of overall internet growth together with the increasing numbers online, it is easy to see why companies such as MTV Networks are looking to get a piece of the action."

What is the Dynamic force behind this trend?

High speed Broadband connection is mostly responsible for the increase in this trend as well as an increasing acceptance of playing games of skill online. The overall result is an increase in demand.

Homes in the U.S. have seen a 72 per cent increase in broadband connections

Nearly three-quarters of all U.S. broadband users have connected from home in May 2006 according to Nielsen/NetRatings. That's an increase of 15 per cent over the previous year!  Research has also revealed that users of broadband are more likely to take advantage of newer technologies, such as blogging and RSS feeds. Current market leaders Asia are expected to be challenged by north America for this online game play; and casual online games/online skill games in Europe are already benefiting from this desire to play and be entertained. 28% of UK internet users (That's 7.6 million) logged on to the online games sector in June 2006 and on average spending and hour and a half playing skill games.

The online skill games sector has been identified as a natural progression in online entertainment for people of all ages, playing by their millions from all over the world and at any one time there are game networks with hundreds of thousands of players online.

IGDA's Casual Games SIG/Whitepaper/Market Overview has reported that while the average core gaming audience is male and aged between eighteen to thirty-four, casual gamers are more likely to be both men and women between the ages of thirty-five and sixty-five, with a slight demographic tendency towards women and a wide variety of users now see the internet as the main entertainment medium for casual games and online skill games. All this comprises a main staple of the entertainment value for the internet as the demand for online entertainment grows so does the amount of money spent on feeding this industry.

TV audiences (for the first time in history) have been affected by online entertainment and this is not good news for the broadcasters because people are seeking to be entertained on line. The result of this is reduced viewing figures and advertising revenue.

Staking their claims in the casual games/online skill games market are major TV networks such as MTV and SKY TV as they realise that in-game advertising is projected to increase by 70 per cent year-on-year and reaching $1 billion USD in the next three years.

Tonight when you go to bed, there will be someone somewhere cashing in on the casual games market. Don't worry, you haven't missed the boat because you can do something about it. Join uVme!!!