KefSensei WebLog about the Game Industry and Games

Casual Games Report 2007

January 3rd, 2008 Posted in Game Industry

Logo CGAThe Casual Games 2007 Report indicates that the profile of the casual gamer is broadening. Although women still make up the majority (74%) of all paying players online, men now represent about half of the much-larger non-paying player universe. The report also shows that the market has become more dynamic with increased competition. The number of games being submitted to major online portals has doubled over the past two years, suggesting an increase in new publishers developing more titles. The rapid growth of the casual games market has prompted companies to create games for more audiences and also for more platforms, including the Internet, PC and Macintosh computers, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo DS, Wii and even mobile phones
and PDAs.

The past year has also seen a strong increase in new capital investment in casual ames. The study estimates that in the last year investors spent over $200 million to
acquire interest in casual game industry assets. Of particular interest was the $35+ illion investment in massively multiplayer online (MMO) casual games.

The report also found that in 2006 the most popular casual games were:

  1. Mystery Case files
  2. Diner Dash
  3. Cake Mania
  4. Bejeweled
  5. Slingo

According to the CGA:

  • Casual games are a $2.25 billion a year industry.
  • The casual game market is growing at 20% a year.
  • Over 200 million people play casual games each month over the Internet.
  • Men make up 48.3% of casual game players, women 51.7%. However, women account for 74% of paying casual game players.
  • Casual gamers who pay for a subscription and/or are community users average 7 – 15 hours of online play a week.
  • Heaviest play times are right after dinner from 7pm – 9pm and during lunch from 11am – 2pm.
  • The majority of online portals feature catalogs of over 1,000 games and add between 75 to 300 new games to their catalogs each year.
  • Casual games are usually played for a short period of time increments, from five minutes to 20 minutes — though it’s common for people to play one game after another for many hours.

Seems that great times are coming for casual game industry!!!! :-)

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