Free PC Gaming Blog

comScore has released their World Metrics global study of online gaming sites. The study looks at unique visitors across sites that provide online or downloadable games (not including gambling sites). They claim that 28% of the total worldwide online population, or one in four people online in the month of May visited a gaming site. A study like this can only benefit gamers… it brings more awareness and legitimacy of the industry to the deep pockets out there. The only problem is that it may become more an more difficult to sort out the good stuff from the over hyped adver-games popping up around the web. That’s what we’re here to make some noise about!

Next year we should to see Kongregate on this list!! Robert Scoble did a post recently on Kongregate. He stated that the site’s traffic in May was 300,000 unique visitors while the traffic in June was up to 750,00, so they are definitely on their way. Spread the word and keep it going! Scoble also has a few videos posted with Jim Greer, co-founder of Kongregate. They are making all the right moves… I believe we’ll see this site just continue to explode as they continue to expand on their already great features and games (and achievements!).

Here’s an excerpt from the comScore Online Game Web Site study press release:

Worldwide Online Gaming Community Reaches 217 Million People

Online Gaming Web sites Average Nine Visits per Visitor Each Month

LONDON, UK, JULY 10, 2007 - comScore (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released the results of a global study into online gaming, showing the number of unique visitors to these sites to have reached almost 217 million worldwide - a year-on-year growth of 17 percent.

The comScore World Metrix study took into account all sites that provide online or downloadable games, excluding gambling sites. The sector attracted 28 percent of the total worldwide online population in May and recorded an average of 9 visits per visitor. Said Bob Ivins, EVP and managing director of comScore Europe:

“With one in four Internet users visiting a gaming site, playing games online is extremely popular. The fact that these websites are pulling in over a quarter of the total worldwide Internet population shows what a global phenomenon gaming has become. The potential of the online gaming arena should be especially appealing for advertisers, as the average online gamer visits a gaming site 9 times a month.”

Yahoo! Games was the largest property, attracting 53 million unique visitors. MSN Games followed in second place, having grown by 16 percent since May 2006 to reach 40 million unique visitors in May 2007. Both properties provide a mixture of strategy, trivia, arcade, and board games, with puzzle and card games proving to be the most popular choices for gamers in both cases. The fastest-growing Top 10 gaming property was WildTangent Network, a US company that makes online and downloadable games, which grew by 398 percent year-on-year to attract 11.5 million unique visitors in May 2007. The site also attracted an average 12.2 visits per visitor, notably higher than any of the other top 10 gaming properties.

Regional Breakdown of Top 10 Worldwide Gaming Properties Ranked by Worldwide Unique Visitors May 2007 vs. May 2006 Total Worldwide, Age 15+ - Home and Work Locations* Source: comScore World Metrix
Property		Total Unique Visitors (000)			May 2007
		May-06	May-07	% Change	% Reach	Average Visits per Visitor
	Total Internet : Total Audience	705,644	771,997	9.4	100.0	54.8
	Online Gaming	185,992	216,715	16.5	28.1	8.9
1	Yahoo! Games	52,969	52,796	-0.3	6.8	4.2
2	MSN Games	34,915	40,335	15.5	5.2	2.5
3	MINICLIP.COM	25,554	30,249	18.4	3.9	3.8
4	EA Online	30,525	21,220	-30.5	2.7	9.3
5	Shockwave.com Sites	N/A	15,689	N/A	2.0	2.5
6	FREEONLINEGAMES.COM	10,050	13,660	35.9	1.8	2.3
7	ADDICTINGGAMES.COM	N/A	13,161	N/A	1.7	4.7
8	RealArcade Sites	15,950	12,520	-21.5	1.6	2.7
9	Zylom	7,271	12,471	71.5	1.6	5.7
10	WildTangent Network	2,329	11,584	397.5	1.5	12.2

* Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.

Read the full press release here.

   

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 11th, 2007 at 1:23 am and is filed under Flash Games, PC Games. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.