Screen Digest released a report entitled Subscription MMOGs: Life beyond World of Warcraft, shows that the MMO market grew by 22 per cent in 2008, with consumer spending levels of USD 1.4 billion in North America and Europe. Piers Harding-Rolls, senior analyst and head of games at Screen Digest forecasted that MMO subscription revenue, the major income of virtual gaming worlds, will reach USD 2 billion by 2013.
"Industry commentators have for some time been using the example of the Asian online games market to proclaim the death of subscription business models in the West, praising the accessibility and flexibility of free-to-access games that generate revenue by encouraging players to make micro-transactions as part of the gaming experience," said Harding-Rolls, "Screen Digest has always advocated a mixed model approach for the markets in North America and Europe. Subscriptions remain an important and lucrative way of monetizing MMOGs in the West across all game settings and consumer groups, and the results in 2008 support this view."
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World of Warcraft,claiming a 58 percent share of the subscription-MMO market in the West, has provided publisher Activision-Blizzard with USD 2.2 billion in subscriber fees,since its launch in 2005.
"As a share of the total ex-WoW 2008 market, consumer spending on premium subscriptions grew by 11 percent year-on-year, from 35 percent to 46 percent," explained Harding-Rolls, "This swing towards premium subscriptions has helped reinvigorate a diverse market that was threatening to be overwhelmed by the dominant success of World of Warcraft."
He concluded: "Overall, the outlook for subscription-based MMOGs remains positive over the next five years. By 2013, we expect the subscription market to top USD 2 billion in consumer spending and for it to maintain its role as a key business model for monetization alongside micro-transactions."
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