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Virtual Worlds Are Worth 1 Billion Dollars

Posted by Zonk on from the that-little-huh dept.

IronWilliamCash writes with a link to a BBC article letting us know some unsurprising news: Massively Multiplayer games are a Billion dollar industry here in the west. They're worth even more in countries like China, South Korea, and Taiwan, but the recognition of the MMOG genre's appeal in Western nations is quite laudable. "Games such as World of Warcraft and worlds like Habbo Hotel are fast becoming "significant platforms" in the converged media world, the report said ... Revenues from subscriptions to MMOGs will hit $1.5bn by 2011. But the growth in MMOGs remains limited compared to developing markets such as video on demand, which is expected to be worth $11.4bn from revenues in four years' time." The article goes on to cover the diversification of the genre and the rise of casual titles in the Massive space.

6 of 56 comments (clear)

  1. Already there by afidel · · Score: 3, Informative

    Lets see, 8.5 million WoW subscribers * ~$12/month * 12 months = ~$1.2 Billion.

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  2. Re:It's only a matter of time... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 3, Informative

    MMOs may exist in the virtual world but they're still taxed in the real world. The business entities that owns MMOs are already being taxed as most business are. However, I wouldn't be surprised if a "vice tax" is added to monthly subscription fees that users pay.

  3. MMORPG now = Television 1960's by El+Torico · · Score: 2, Informative

    I expect that MMORPGs will evolve into the second most popular form of entertainment within ten years. It is likely that the developers of MMORPGs will become as significant as television content creators (studios) are.

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  4. Habbo what? by The-Bus · · Score: 2, Informative

    What? Habbo Hotel? Even their website states they only have like 3,750 users online. I'm not sure that was the best example.

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    1. Re:Habbo what? by LordRobin · · Score: 2, Informative

      Habbo used to have more users, but they all left when the pool was closed due to AIDS. ------RM

  5. Re:dr. evil by Rob+T+Firefly · · Score: 2, Informative

    I don't know what's more awesome, that photo or its URL.

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