Virtual World Growth Set to Soar

As predicted, the recession can only be good news for some sectors of industry - notably those which involve staying home and spending only very small amounts!

Market research firm Strategy Analytics today released its forecast for growth within the virtual worlds sector and to say it sees growth would be an understatement. Overall, the firm said it sees the global population of virtual world users growing from 186 million today to almost 640 million by 2015 -- that's almost one hundred million new players a year, a nearly 25 percent compounded annual growth rate.

Of especial interest to my company, which offers user-safety consultation and moderation of virtual worlds for children, is the predicted growth in the kids/teen/tween market. The fastest growing demographic is 'kids' between the ages of 5 and 9 which the company predicts will grow 27 percent; the current largest segment of virtual worlds players, 'tweens' and 'teens', should grow by some 21 percent, according to the company. Looking at the numbers, from 2009 to 2015, Tween/Teen registrations are set to rise from 125 to nearly 400 million worldwide, and kids registration from 50 to nearly 210 million. This rate of growth far outstrips the predicted adult growth (though that's not small either - from 11.5 to 32.5 million registrations).

Overall, as virtual worlds continue to improve the user experience, Strategy Analytics see a conversion rate from registrations to active users at a growth rate of 38 percent through 2015.
"The high conversion of registrants to active users demonstrates that users are finding value -- in the form of entertainment, engagement, and social interaction." That is according to Barry Gilbert, Vice President of the Strategy Analytics Gaming Sector and author of the company's just-released Virtual Worlds Market Forecast 2009-2015.

"Virtual worlds have largely overcome enabling restrictions in terms of broadband access, computing power, and ease of use, and are now experiencing significant interest among major brands, as well as traction among targeted demographics," added Harvey Cohen, President of Strategy Analytics.

When it comes to revenue growth, the key drivers, the company says, will be microtransactions, subscriptions, and advertising/sponsorships, with microtransactions expected to grow from slightly over $1 billion in 2008 to $17.3 billion in 2015. Microtransactions will account for approximately 86 percent of all revenue generated by virtual worlds.


Thanks to Virtual World News for bringing me that bit of info - see their article in full here, and you can buy the full report from Strategy Analytics here.