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While the Eastern hemisphere has an uncontested foothold in the online gaming sector, Electronic Arts' director of E-commerce, John Burns, believes that online gaming in the Western front will also rise to the occasion. He claimed that in three years time, the world's online gamers could be spending up to GB£ 2.18 billion (US$ 4.4 billion) every year.
At a two-day conference held by the Interactive Software Federation of Europe, Burns spoke on the potential growth spurt that the online games industry would experience in the coming years. "Not only is gaming a significant industry in size now but online gaming is an important step for us as an industry," said Burns, being careful to point out that even the rise of female online gamers cannot be barred by the concept of "hard-core" games.
"It is very broad and widespread. There are many people playing online games of all ages, male and female," he added. Burns figured that around 100 million online gamers are spread across the world and its highly likely that the number would increase steadily in the coming years.
If the European situation is any indication, Burns pointed out that broadband penetration in the region has grown from 35% since 2006. He predicts that in about five years' time, it could rise past 45%. "Household penetration of broadband is also exponential - and we are looking at that growing in Europe from 40 per cent now to over 60 per cent in 2012," he concluded.
Taiwan, China, and South Korea have enjoyed an early boost in the MMORPG market, with millions of gamers and game companies contributing to its growth. The player base in some games, like the 60 million user base in Wizet's MapleStory, inflated due to the availability of affordable broadband connections and the spread of Internet cafes.
Burns noted that the sense of community is driving gamers to the online front, where interaction with other human beings through a virtual world entices both the experience and the imagination. "Online games expand your world. And players can replicate in a larger [online] world what they have in the off-line world," he said.
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