|
|
|
|
|
200 Youth-Oriented Virtual Worlds Live or In
Development NEW YORK, New York - January 27, 2009 - Engage Digital Media, a leading provider of trade events and media for virtual worlds and games, today released its updated Youth Worlds Analysis. Based on comprehensive research available through its Virtual Worlds News web site, Show Initiative found that there are now over 200 youth-oriented virtual worlds live, planned, or in active development. In addition to tracking target demographics and development status the new report examines business models and demographic focus. The report is available online at http://www.engagedigitalmedia.com/research/2009/youth-01-26-2009.html . "Looking across the range of worlds available, the majority of virtual worlds monetize their user base with a combination of revenue streams, mixing subscriptions, advertising, and virtual goods sales," said Christopher Sherman, Executive Director of Show Initiative. "Out of those, microtransactions and subscriptions are the most popular, with 59 and 57 worlds using them respectively. Another 46 worlds include advertising in their mix." Additional analysis will be discussed at the Engage! Expo taking place March 10-11, 2009. In terms of overall users, the report brakes the market down into worlds targeting kids (7 and under), tweens (8-12), an teens (13+). There's significant overlap between the demographics with kids and tweens looking aspirationally upwards and a surprising number of young adults and teens enjoying worlds aimed at younger audiences. "The kids market is the clear leader," said Joey Seiler, editor of VirtualWorldsNews.com. "107 worlds are aiming for at least part of their main audience to fall in the under-7 range. Tweens lead the next bracket with 90 offerings, while teens are still a relative open space with only 78 worlds targeting them. That's a significant change from our last look at the market in August, when tweens led the pack with 88 offerings followed by kids at 72. Teens were then, as now, confronted by the fewest options with 60 worlds." As could be expected, most microtansaction and advertising-based worlds target tweens and/or teens as their primary user base. With rising concerns for children's safety in advertising and the lack of credit card/payment options increasing the lower in age you go, the two models become harder to implement. Accordingly, subscription, while popular across all demographics, picks up steam among the younger crowd. With many children's worlds emphasizing education offerings and parental zones as premium options, subscriptions are an easier sell for a monthly service. "While virtual worlds are still a growth market with 81 worlds in various stages of development, the majority of these titles (112) are already live and in the market," added Sherman. "36 worlds, though, are in open beta and presumably close to launching, though another 41 are listed as in early stages of development. With the economic pressures of next year and continuing decline in investment both overall and in the virtual worlds space, it's likely that not all of these projects will ever make it to market. That's not to say that the industry or market will go away. Far from it: with this many worlds already in place and more on the way, 2009 seems almost inevitably a time of consolidation and downturn for the space." The report is available online at http://www.engagedigitalmedia.com/research/2009/youth-01-26-2009.html . Additional market research, including the companies that have invested in the space and companies which have taken investment can be found at http://www.engagedigitalmedia.com/research About Show Initiative Show Initiative LLC is the leading provider of trade events and media for virtual worlds and games. Show Initiative's Virtual Worlds Management division provides comprehensive media and events including Engage! Expo Conference (March 10-11, 2009 in New York) and 3D Training, Learning and Collaboration taking place April 20-21, 2009 in Washington DC. The company also publishes the Virtual Worlds Weekly email newsletter, the daily www.VirtualWorldsNews.com blog and the www.VirtualGoodsNews.com blog. More information about Engage Digital Media can be found at http://www.engagedigitalmedia.com . Contact: Tim Williams
|