DFC Intelligence today released a report that forecasts the market for English language client-based free-to-play (F2P) games on the PC  as:

• $250 million in 2009
• $2 billion by 2015

Other interesting data points includes:

• By the end of 2010, it is expected that English language client based F2P games will have a combined total of 128 million registered users
• 8 of the top 12 cities in terms of internet connection speed, are in Korea

According to Pearl Research with its new “Online Games Market in Korea” study, the online games market in Korea is forecasted to exceed $2 Billion in 2011. Other key points from the report include:

VGMarket and PlaySpan, released their 2010 Digital Goods Report on Wednesday. The report reveals consumer behavior patterns among existing customers of third-party and first-party online game marketplaces.

The median spent on digital goods in 2009 was:

• $50 per year for Social Networks
• $40 per year for MMOs
• $40 per year for Casual Games
• $40 per year for Free to Play Games
• $37 per year for PC Games with Online Play
• $20 per year for Console Games with Online Play

Other key points include:

• 32% of respondents made purchases within social networks
• Males are playing significantly more games and are the primary drivers of total digital goods sales
• North American women 25 and older are spending disproportionately large sums of money on digital goods
• The average female spent $55 dollars on Social Network games compared to $30 for males

Dean Takahashi at GamesBeat has some data on virtual goods from a research study commissioned by PlaySpan today:

• 31% of the people who have bought virtual goods have also sold them.
• In-game virtual currency is the most frequently traded virtual good between players
• Sellers of virtual currency have earned a median of $22 in the past year
• 49% of social network gamers who have bought virtual goods also made a sale (median earning $50)
• 25% of virtual goods buyers also made a sale (median earning $98)
• 69% of buyers of virtual goods have not sold virtual goods, however 30% were interested in doing so
• Sellers had a median age of 21, an annual household income of $30K and 89% were male

Our friend Dean Takahashi over at VentureBeat wrote a story today about the virtual goods market, citing the Inside Social report on the industry.

• The U.S. virtual goods market is on target to exceed $1 billion in revenues in 2009
• This is more than double 2008 revenues
• In 2010, revenues are estimated to hit $1.6 billion

JLM Pacific Epoch reported that The9 is now offering a monthly subscription for Granado Espada (GE). The subscription is 60 RMB ($8.79 as of today’s exchange rate), while all of The9′s other titles are free-to-play and monetized through an item model. The9 has been a poor performer over the past year, while almost all other online game companies in china are up over their trading price one year ago, The9 continues to languish. The loss of World of Warcraft earlier this year was a big blow to the company, it will be interesting to see how successful the subscriptions are for GE and if the operator finds a way to grow its revenues again.

Niko Partners, the leading analyst firm covering China’s market for games, announced the release of their 2009 Annual Report and 5 Year Forecast. Findings include:

In March 2009, DFC Intelligence (DFCI) released two surveys of high-end PC gamers from 1.2 million GameShadow users.  One survey was on MMO players and the other was FPS players.  The surveys give insight into the hardware systems and other software used by PC game consumers, including:

• 236,080 consumers had at least one FPS title installed
• 52,800 unique users that had at least one MMOG title installed
• The user base skewed heavily male, over 96% in the case of MMOGs and 97% for FPS titles
• 26% of FPS players are under 25
• 25% of FPS players are over 45
• 54% of Counter-Strike players are under 25

Here’s a chart of the top installed titles:

City of Heroes Top Installed Titles

Total installed titles for users of listed title by number installed 2/3/2009

GameShadow also monitored the actual hardware installed on the players’ PCs, so below is info on the systems:

Top Graphics Chipset for FPS Users

DFC Intelligence has deeper data from the survey if you’re interested. research products and custom research services go to: http://www.dfcint.com/

PC Gaming Alliance (PCGA) unveiled some findings in August from its “Horizons” Report, a research study of the PC gaming industry worldwide and found:

• PC gaming was a $10.7 billion industry during the year of 2007
• Retail sales accounted for 30 percent of total revenues ~ $3.21 Billion
• Online PC gaming revenue accounted for $4.8 billion, nearly double the worldwide retail sales numbers for PC games.
• Digital distribution sales approached $2 billion
• Advertising revenues from websites, portals, and in-game ads was $800 million