Gamers are spending more money making in-game purchases while playing console-based games, presenting an important new monetization opportunity for console game developers.
Here are the key data points:
- In-game purchase volume grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14% between 2010 and 2013, with sales rising from $235 million to $352 million, according to Super Data Research.
- That's faster than the growth in monthly active console users, which grew at a CAGR of 11%, rising from 1.4 million in 2010 to 1.9 million in 2013.
- In-game purchase volume was stagnant between 2011 and 2012, but then took off after the release of the Xbox One and PS4, both of which feature new games with virtual goods that can be purchased.
In-game purchases made through gaming consoles like the PS4 and the Xbox One create virtual economies within games. The idea is to give gamers the option to purchase virtual goods like a customized vehicle that can enhance game play. A number of top game titles including Borderlands, Grand Theft Auto V, and Assassin’s Creed III now offer virtual currencies for making these types of purchases.
While the volume of sales from purchases within console games is tiny compared to revenue from sales of the games themselves — consider that Call of Duty Black Ops earned $650 million in just 5 days— it still provides console game developers with an ongoing revenue stream after the initial purchase of the game. It may even begin to make developing free-to-play console games economical, a model which dominates social and mobile games.
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