Comments on: Virtual worlds are big: market research http://www.metaversejournal.com/2008/11/07/virtual-worlds-are-big-market-research/ Coverage of news, issues and events occurring in virtual worlds or those who create those worlds Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:32:13 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Vili Lehdonvirta http://www.metaversejournal.com/2008/11/07/virtual-worlds-are-big-market-research/comment-page-1/#comment-206844 Vili Lehdonvirta Tue, 25 Nov 2008 02:18:16 +0000 http://www.metaversejournal.com/?p=1723#comment-206844 The figures are in line with what I have seen elsewhere, but the problem with these forecasts in my opinion is that the concepts tend to be incredibly ambiguous. What's a virtual world? Do MMO games count? Do avatar-based 'social gaming' apps on Facebook count (an industry that is experiencing a lot of growth atm)? If the goalposts are this flexible, the predictions will always be true. 1 Bn users is almost 75% of all Internet users today.<br><br>That said, perhaps the revenue estimate is a bit on the low side. Online gaming is already a 1-2 Bn USD market, and real-money trading of virtual items is around 2 Bn USD as well:<br><a href="http://virtual-economy.org/blog/how_big_is_the_rmt_market_anyw" rel="nofollow">http://virtual-economy.org/blog/how_big_is_the_...</a><br><br>More about revenues:<br><a href="http://virtual-economy.org/blog/revenue_data_and_other_metrics" rel="nofollow">http://virtual-economy.org/blog/revenue_data_an...</a><br><br>p.s. nice site, stumbled here for the first time! The figures are in line with what I have seen elsewhere, but the problem with these forecasts in my opinion is that the concepts tend to be incredibly ambiguous. What's a virtual world? Do MMO games count? Do avatar-based 'social gaming' apps on Facebook count (an industry that is experiencing a lot of growth atm)? If the goalposts are this flexible, the predictions will always be true. 1 Bn users is almost 75% of all Internet users today.

That said, perhaps the revenue estimate is a bit on the low side. Online gaming is already a 1-2 Bn USD market, and real-money trading of virtual items is around 2 Bn USD as well:
http://virtual-economy.org/blog/how_big_is_the_…

More about revenues:
http://virtual-economy.org/blog/revenue_data_an…

p.s. nice site, stumbled here for the first time!

]]> By: Vili Lehdonvirta http://www.metaversejournal.com/2008/11/07/virtual-worlds-are-big-market-research/comment-page-1/#comment-164888 Vili Lehdonvirta Mon, 24 Nov 2008 10:18:16 +0000 http://www.metaversejournal.com/?p=1723#comment-164888 The figures are in line with what I have seen elsewhere, but the problem with these forecasts in my opinion is that the concepts tend to be incredibly ambiguous. What's a virtual world? Do MMO games count? Do avatar-based 'social gaming' apps on Facebook count (an industry that is experiencing a lot of growth atm)? If the goalposts are this flexible, the predictions will always be true. 1 Bn users is almost 75% of all Internet users today.<br><br>That said, perhaps the revenue estimate is a bit on the low side. Online gaming is already a 1-2 Bn USD market, and real-money trading of virtual items is around 2 Bn USD as well:<br><a href="http://virtual-economy.org/blog/how_big_is_the_rmt_market_anyw">http://virtual-economy.org/blog/how_big_is_the_...</a><br><br>More about revenues:<br><a href="http://virtual-economy.org/blog/revenue_data_and_other_metrics">http://virtual-economy.org/blog/revenue_data_an...</a><br><br>p.s. nice site, stumbled here for the first time! The figures are in line with what I have seen elsewhere, but the problem with these forecasts in my opinion is that the concepts tend to be incredibly ambiguous. What's a virtual world? Do MMO games count? Do avatar-based 'social gaming' apps on Facebook count (an industry that is experiencing a lot of growth atm)? If the goalposts are this flexible, the predictions will always be true. 1 Bn users is almost 75% of all Internet users today.

That said, perhaps the revenue estimate is a bit on the low side. Online gaming is already a 1-2 Bn USD market, and real-money trading of virtual items is around 2 Bn USD as well:
http://virtual-economy.org/blog/how_big_is_the_…

More about revenues:
http://virtual-economy.org/blog/revenue_data_an…

p.s. nice site, stumbled here for the first time!

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