Abstract
This IDC study forecasts the U.S. online PC games market through 2012, covering
growth in mass-market or casual games to hardcore games. Growth of U.S. online
PC gamer population is projected. The forecast breaks out revenue streams from
discrete business models, including subscriptions for games and game-related
services, paid digital downloads of games, and game-related items, including
microtransactions and advertising/sponsorship spend.
"While games industry metrics at traditional retail are reported fairly
accurately, the online PC games sector remains the least recognized growth and
innovation driver in the market," says Billy Pidgeon, IDC' s Consumer Markets:
Gaming Research manager. "With over 145 million online PC gamers generating
$3.5 billion in the United States alone, the PC is likely to continue to
dominate market share for the foreseeable future."
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