Online and Mobile Gaming - US - December 2005

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Introduction and Abbreviations
• Introduction
• Other relevant reports
• Definition
• Abbreviations and terms
• Abbreviations
• Terms
• Executive Summary
• CAGR of 42% since 2002
• Sales expected to double by 2008
• Technology enables game play; content satisfies consumer preferences
• Women, adults, casual gamers
• PC gaming continues to gain popularity
• Competition from other gaming formats and free games
• Market participants wear many hats
• Established content providers gaining traction
• Consumer trends
• Future trends
• Market Drivers
• Hardware and communications penetration
• Broadband
  • Figure 1: U.S. broadband household projections, 2000-10
  • Figure 2: Types of PC games played, by type of Internet access, October 2005
• Mobile phones
  • Figure 3: U.S. Mobile phone subscribers and penetration rate, 2000-05
• Download-enabled phones
• Advances in cell-phone technology and mobile games
• Variety of content available
  • Figure 4: Number of games offered by the major cell phone carriers, 2005
• Adults, women, important markets for online and mobile games
  • Figure 5: Computer and console gamers, by age, 2005
• Women and online gaming
  • Figure 6: Target markets for PC Games, by type of game
  • Figure 7: Genres of games played online, by gender, October 2005
• Women and mobile gaming
• Leisure/lifestyle changes
  • Figure 8: Favorite leisure-time activities, 1995-2004
• Gaming
• Competition from other gaming platforms and free content
• Game consoles and console software
• Free content
• Advergames
• Market Size and Trends
  • Figure 9: Total U.S. sales of online and mobile games, at current and constant prices, 2002-05
  • Figure 10: Graph: Total U.S. sales of online and mobile games, at current and constant prices, 2002-05
• Market Segmentation
• Overview
  • Figure 11: Sales of online & mobile games, segmented by type, 2003 and 2005
  • Figure 12: Graph: Sales of online & mobile games, segmented by type, 2003 and 2005
• Web and downloadable games
  • Figure 13: Sales of Web & downloadable games, at current and constant prices, 2002-05
• Multiplayer Online Games (MMOG)
  • Figure 14: Subscription sales of MMOGs, at current and constant prices, 2002-05
  • Figure 15: MMOGs ranked by worldwide subscribers (excluding Lineage, Lineage II and Ragnarok online, May 2005
• Mobile Games
  • Figure 16: Sales of mobile games, at current and constant prices, 2002-05
  • Figure 17: Mobile game purchases by type of game and gender, Feb-April 2005
  • Figure 18: Best-selling mobile game titles, Feb-April 2005
• Supply Structure
• Overview
  • Figure 19: Market participants by segment
• Company profiles
• Airborne Entertainment
• The Beijing Digital-Red Mobile Software Co. (Digital-Red)
• Blizzard Entertainment (Vivendi Universal)
• CCP
• Digital Chocolate
• Disney
• Electronic Arts
• Funkitron
• GameHouse
• Gameloft
• Glu Mobile (formerly Sorrent)
• Gravity Online
• HipSoft
• iFone
• I-Play (formerly Digital Bridges)
• In-Fusio
• iWin
• Jagex
• JAMDAT Mobile (EA)
• MFORMA
• Mythic Entertainment
• Namco America
• NCsoft
• PlayFirst
• PopCap Games
• Reflexive Entertainment
• Sony Online Entertainment
• Sprout Games
• Square Enix
• Superscape Group
• THQ Wireless
• Turbine Games
• Advertising and Promotion
• Overview
• Company Activity
• AOL Games
• Cingular Wireless
• GameHouse/RealArcade
• GameTap
• Oberon Media
• PlayFirst
• PopCap Games
• Pogo.com
• Shockwave.com
• Yahoo! Games
• Revenue from advertising
  • Figure 20: U.S. online gaming advertising revenue forecast, 2004-08*
• Retail Distribution
• Overview
• Web and downloadable game distributors
• AOL Games
• AtomShockwave/Shockwave.com
• Big Fish Games
• Happy Puppy
• Microsoft Zone
• Pogo.com (Electronic Arts)
• RealArcade/GameHouse
• Yahoo! Games
• Aggregators to third-party websites
• Trymedia
• Oberon Media
• Mobile Game Distributors
• Introduction
  • Figure 21: Operating revenue for wireless service providers in the U.S., 2002 and 2004
• Verizon Wireless
• Cingular Wireless
• Sprint Nextel
• T-Mobile USA, Inc.
• Alltel
• Third-Party Mobile Game Distributors
• Nokia
• MMOG Distributors
• The Consumer
• Introduction
• Participation in online gaming
  • Figure 22: Frequency of online game play, May 2004-May 2005
• Frequency of game play
  • Figure 23: Mean monthly occasions of online game play, by select demographics, May 2004-May 2005
• Influence of console and portable gaming on online gaming
  • Figure 24: Online game play cross-tabulated with game console ownership, May 2004-May 2005
• Attitudes of online gamers compared to users of online services
  • Figure 25: Attitudes of online gamers compared to online service users, May 2004-May 2005
• Types of games played
  • Figure 26: Types of games played on the PC, by gender, October 2005
  • Figure 27: Types of games played on the PC, by age, October 2005
  • Figure 28: Graph: Types of games played on the PC, by age, October 2005
• Mobile games
  • Figure 29: Interest in mobile games, by age, October 2005
  • Figure 30: Graph: Interest in mobile games, by age, October 2005
  • Figure 31: Interest in mobile games, by household income, October 2005
  • Figure 32: Interest in mobile games, by marital status, October 2005
  • Figure 33: Interest in mobile games, by presence of children in the household, October 2005
• Sources of purchase information for games
  • Figure 34: Sources of information about games, by gender, October 2005
  • Figure 35: Sources of information about games, by age, October 2005
  • Figure 36: Sources of information about games, by marital status, October 2005
• Genres of games played online on the PC
  • Figure 37: Types of online games played on the PC, by gender, October 2005
  • Figure 38: Types of online games played on the PC, by age, October 2005
  • Figure 39: Types of online games played on the PC, by marital status, October 2005
  • Figure 40: Types of online games played on the PC, by presence of children under 18, October 2005
• Purchase behavior toward mobile phone games
  • Figure 41: Opinions about mobile gaming, October 2005
• Spending on online and mobile games
  • Figure 42: average spending on online and mobile games, October 2005
• Summary
• Future and Forecast
• Future trends
• Overview
• Broadband penetration to push online gaming
• 3G wireless networks to push gaming
  • Figure 43: 3G status and forecast for leading U.S. carriers, 2005
• Release of next generation consoles will draw attention to this platform
• In-game advertising to become a significant revenue stream
  • Figure 44: U.S. in-game advertising revenue forecast, 2003-09
• Lines between platforms will continue to blur
• Increased competition from portable game players
• MARKET FORECAST
• Online and mobile games
  • Figure 45: Forecast of total U.S. sales of online and mobile games, at current and constant prices, 2005-08
  • Figure 46: Graph: Forecast of total U.S. sales of online and mobile games, at current and constant prices, 2005-08
• Web and downloadable games
  • Figure 47: Forecast of U.S. sales of web and downloadable games, at current and constant prices, 2005-08
• MMOGs
  • Figure 48: Forecast of U.S. subscription sales of MMOGs, at current and constant prices, 2005-08
• Mobile games
  • Figure 49: Forecast of U.S. sales of mobile games, at current and constant prices, 2005-08
• Forecast factors
• Appendix: Trade Associations
• Appendix: Game Magazine Circulation
  • Figure 50: Paid circulation in game magazines
• Appendix: Cohort Definitions
• Appendix: Research Methodology
• Consumer Research
• Greenfield Online
• ICR Surveys EXCEL
• Simmons National Consumer Surveys
• Technometrica TechnoExpresssm
• Trade Research
• Informal trade research
• Formal trade research
• Desk & Internet Research
• Sources
• Definitions
• Forecasts
• Mintel Group
• Mintel Reports
• Mintel Premier
• Mintel GNPD
• Mintel Menu Insights
• Mintel Comperemedia
• Mintel Custom Solutions