If you thought that Americans used their internet chiefly to view YouTube or interact with other Americans on MySpace or Facebook; then you were wrong! According to a research by Parks Associates, most U.S. adult Internet users prefer to play online games rather than watch short clips or visit social networking websites.
The report is titled as Casual Gaming Market Update. It indicated that 34% of the online users in the U.S. play games, 29% watch short online videos while a minuscule 19% head to the social networking websites. Here are more details of the report by Parks Associates: “The year-over-year growth rate for frequent online gamers was 79%, significantly higher than the growth rate for users of social networking (46%). However, the growth rate for frequent users of video streaming sites was 123%, which could pose a significant challenge to the gaming industry in capturing the online leisure time of Internet users.”
James Kuai is a research analyst at Parks Associates. He explains, “Despite the growing popularity of YouTube, MySpace, and Facebook, gaming remains the king of online entertainment, driven largely by casual gaming activities. Gaming also has business advantages. Unlike sites for social networking and video streaming, which rely only on advertising revenue, casual gaming has more mature and diverse revenue models, including web-based and in-game advertising, try-before-you-buy, subscriptions, and micro-transactions. The casual gaming industry cannot rest on its laurels. In order to counter the growing competition from other online activities, the industry needs to continue to grow its fan base and find ways to better monetize its existing audience.”
The research was carried out for the second quarter of 2007. Parks Associates’ main aim behind publishing the Casual Gaming Market Update is to offer analysis of the existing dynamics and future direction of the swiftly growing casual gaming industry. Video games are always fun to play with, whether they are console-based, hardcore PC or casual games, one always feels refreshed after playing video games!