Online Games Thrive in Weak Economy

With Xbox games going for more than $35 each are frugal gamers turning to free, ad-sponsored online games?

That may be the case according to a report from New York-based web analysts, eMarketer, that cited a comScore, Reston, Virgina survey showing a 27-percent growth in unique visits to ad-sponsored online in December 2008 compared to December 2007.

"comScore's measurements highlight the ongoing shift from high-cost, console-based gaming toward free, browser-based alternatives," said Paul Verna, an eMarketer senior analyst. "This trend has been underway for some time, but the economic crisis has accelerated it. Given current economic and consumer behavior patterns, we expect to see ad-supported, casual games continue on an upward trajectory in 2009."

That upward trajectory could be very good news for gaming sites and the advertisers that drive their revenue.

Spil Games Had Most Traffic Growth

Spil Games, Hilversum, The Netherlands, enjoyed the most growth. The company's sites had about 1.8 million unique visitors in December 2007, but grew 269 percent to 6.7 million unique visitors in December 2008. Founded in 2000, Spil games has been a leader in developing games for girls and operates girlsgogames.com, one possible source of the company's outstanding traffic growth.

WildTangent Network Grows Traffic 74 Percent

Another clear winner in traffic growth was WildTangent which saw unique visits grow from 7.6 million in December 2007 to 13.3 million in December 2008, adding the most actual users of any online gaming site.

Lead by former Microsoft Corp. multimedia strategist, Alex St. John, WildTangent has also created exclusive game service relationships with HP, Dell, Toshiba, and Gateway, making it the largest and fastest growing privately held online gaming network.

Resources

- comScore's Game On! Online Gaming Surges as Gamers Seek Out Free Alternatives in Tight Economy

- eMarketer's Traffic Spikes for Ad-Supported Online Games