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

Newzoo recently released a report on gamers in North America and Europe. Here are the key data points from what they released there is a huge market of more than 290 million game players across North America and Europe:

• USA – 183,500,000
• UK – 31,300,000
• GER – 35,500,000
• FR – 25,400,000
• NL – 9,300,000
• BE – 4,700,000

Consoles

• USA – $15,140,000,000
• UK – £2,390,000,000
• GER – €1,540,000,000
• FR – €2,430,000,000
• NL – €315,000,000
• BE – €310,000,000

PC games

• USA -$4,150,000,000
• UK – £740,000,000
• GER – €1,320,000,000
• FR – €690,000,000
• NL – €170,000,000
• BE – € 150,000,000

Game portals

• USA – $2,780,000,000
• UK – £270,000,000
• GER – €430,000,000
• FR – €190,000,000
• NL – €55,000,000
• BE – €60,000,000

Mobile devices

• USA – $1,100,000,000
• UK – £190,000,000
• GER – €180,000,000
• FR – €100,000,000
• NL – €10,000,000
• BE – €10,000,000

MMOs

• USA – $2,120,000,000
• UK – £190,000,000
• GER – €180,000,000
• FR – €160,000,000
• NL – €45,000,000
• BE – €40,000,000

The Full Industry Report is available at: www.gameindustry.com for €299.

DFC Intelligence today announced the release of a series of new reports with comprehensive forecasts on the video game and interactive entertainment industry. These new forecasts provide an overview of the global game industry for console, PC, portable and online video games.

• Worldwide revenue for the video game industry is expected to grow from $60.4 billion in 2009 to $70.1 billion in 2015
• Online game revenue for the PC is expected to exceed $20 billion in 2015
• Console online game revenue is expected to nearly quadruple from 2009 to 2015
• DFC forecasts that following a fairly significant decline in 2009, the overall market will actually continue to experience a downturn over the next few years, with most of the predicted growth occurring in the 2013 to 2015 timeframe
• Most of this decline is due to a slowdown in the current console systems from Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony
• While PC and online platforms are experiencing substantial growth, the growth in those markets is not expected to be enough to compensate for the slowdown in console platforms

Niko Partners, the leading market intelligence firm on China’s video game industry, today reiterated the vibrancy of China’s video game industry, based on findings from its newly published 2010 Chinese Video Game industry Annual Review & Five-Year Forecast report.

“Niko forecasts that by the end of this year 93 million Chinese gamers will play a mix of PC online, offline, console and handheld games, yet only the online segment generates legitimate revenue,” said Lisa Cosmas Hanson, managing partner of Niko Partners.

• Niko’s recently forecasted online games revenue in 2010 at $4.52 billion
• There is strong demand for digitally downloaded PC offline games as well as consoles and handhelds, in spite of piracy and the regulation that bans consoles
• Niko calculated that total Chinese game software and services revenue, including PC offline, console, handheld, and (primarily) online games, reached $4.61 billion in 2009, up 28 percent from 2008
• Chinese consumers are entering the online game market at a rapid pace thanks to casual games such as social networking service (SNS) games and other growth drivers.
• China’s 165,000 Internet cafés are used for social entertainment and competition as home PC penetration rises and gamers spend more time gaming at home.
• Chinese console gamers have eschewed previous generation consoles in favor of the Xbox 360, Wii and PlayStation 3.
• The regulatory landscape continues to be burdensome for game companies.
• China could have 100 million new gamers over the next 2-3 years, driven by social networking games, MMOs and casual games.
• Chinese gamers prefer the Free-to-Play (F2P) model of online games in which online operators generate revenue via the virtual economy, rather than the time-based model in which access is provided for a fixed number of pre-paid hours.
• 63% of gamers surveyed increased their spending on online games in the past year.
• Social Networking Sites (SNS) games have gained popularity among Chinese consumers, and 88% of the gamers Niko surveyed claim to play SNS games.
• The primary reasons gamers with PCs at home go to an Internet café are to be social with their friends and to participate in gaming competitions.
• At least 65% of gamers use Internet cafés at least part of the time.
• There were 68 million online gamers in China by our definition at the end of 2009 and by 2014 the number should reach 141 million, a 15.5% CAGR.

The 2010 Annual Review & Forecast report is available now for $8,000, and a subset version focused on online games, the 2010 Chinese Online Games Market Review & Forecast report, is available for $5,000. To purchase, contact: info@nikopartners.com

New research from The Diffusion Group (TDG) finds that one-third of U.S. broadband households now use a game console that is connected to the Internet:

• 78% of PS3s are online
• 73%of Xbox 360s are online
• 54% of Wiis are online

IE Sherpa Opinion: Data isn’t available on the ARPPU from digital purchases on any of the platforms, however having purchased from each of the systems, XBLA and PSN are very similar in how easy it is to transact. My preference would actually be PSN since you don’t have to purchase points that tend to result in small unused balances in your account. This is the easiest for consumers with a credit card. The Wii is the most difficult to navigate and given the audience should be the easiest to purchase on, but it isn’t.

According to Flurry:

• Apple has grown its U.S. market share from 1% in 2008 to 5% in 2009.
• In 2009, console video games accounted for 71% of game revenue
• Portable (handheld)  games was 24%
• iPhone accounted for the remaining 5%
• iPhone game software accounted for 19% of all revenue in 2009
• Sony PSP games accounted for 11% of all revenue in 2009

According to an article in Forbes, VinaGame has 65% of Vietnam’s gaming market. The article also gives market estimates for India, Korea and China.

According to a story in Adweek today, a new report by Deloitte estimates that:

• 58% of U.S. households owned a videogame console last year
• 44% of  U.S. households owned a videogame console in 2006

The story also states a significant decline in people that had played a game in the last six months. It would seem they haven’t heard of Farmville or somehow it isn’t being included considering the groups they cite with the greatest declines are the ones that have the greatest number of active social gamers. If the report is console focused, this would make sense since social gaming is creating new gamers, but also cannibalizing the time people have for console and other PC games.

Niko Partners is the leading analyst firm covering the China Games Market – according to today’s Niko Partners’ newsletter:

• There are now 134,000 licensed Internet Cafes in China.

Niko states: “The previous number was 114,000, though we know that provinces had the right to override the ban in tier 3 and 4 cities as demand warranted new licenses. The Niko estimate for licensed and unlicensed cafés of 30 or more seats is 170,000.”

You can sign up for the newsletter here if you are interested in following the game market in China.