In-Stat: Virtual Goods Revenue Up 245% Since 2007

Research firm In-Stat has issued a new report today, Virtual Goods In Social Networking And Online Gaming, which finds that revenue generated specifically by sales of virtual goods has increased 245% since 2007. The report found that virtual goods was a $2.1 billion market in 2007 but in 2010 is a market worth $7.3 billion.  The top ten earning companies in the virtual goods business account for 73% of the market’s value. Social games in 2010 account for $2.3 billion of the total market. The Americas and EMEA (Europe/Middle East/Africa) regions account for 30% of all virtual goods sales, with Asia/Pacific accounting for the other 70%.

In-Stat says that the virtual goods market will be worth more than $14 billion by 2014.  The firm also forecasts that “several legal and tax issues” will create a new multi-million market. In-Stat’s report examines the virtual goods region by category, region, registered accounts, monthly users, company total revenues, and company virtual goods revenue. It also contains an overview of key players in the market, including payment service providers, social networks, casual games, social games, mobile app developers, virtual worlds, and MMOs.

The report also breaks down revenue by region for the Americas, EMEA, and Asia/Pacific. Revenue and user forecasts are provided for social networks, 2D apps/worlds, and 3D apps/worlds through 2014. Virtual goods revenue is forecast by category and year through 2014. Companies profiled in the report include Tencent, Zynga, NHN Corp, Nexon, Shanda Interactive, Giant Interactive, Perfect World, GREE, Changyou, Gameforge, NCSoft, Bigpoint, DeNA, Facebook, Linden Lab, Microsoft, Playfish, Playdom, Sulake, i-Jet Media, CrowdStar, LOLapps, Digital Chocolate, Slide, IMVU, Stardoll, PopCap, Aeria Games, RockYou, Neopets, and WeeWorld.

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