Benjamin Joffe of Plus Eight Star recently posted his presentation given to over 500 execs at the Virtual Goods Summit in San Francisco at the end of 2009. As the US approaches the US$1 billion mark in virtual goods revenue, Asia has already been paving the way with over the equivalent of US$7 billion. Between China, Japan and South Korea, virtual goods (defined by Joffe as “any digital product sold within a game, a social network or virtual world that is used within the service [excluding music downloads]“) is booming in particular in the mobile sector which, he points out, is really not the same as the web. Joffe clarified that his figures came from adding up the market sizes of:
- Online games (China, Japan, Korea)
- Virtual goods revenue from social networks (especially China and Japan)
- Virtual goods revenue from virtual worlds
It’s worth noting that Asian online games are a mix between 3D and 2D games and are chocked full of virtual goodies. Hence, online games comprise most of the revenue while virtual worlds contribute only a fraction. Of the major online gaming company players, nine are listed on NASDAQ and HKSE. Joffe puts the total Asian market value at US$52 billion, twice as much as Blizzard, EA, Ubisoft, and Take Two combined. He believes the US virtual goods market value could reach US$35 billion.
For more in-depth info on the major players in the Asian market, see Joffe’s presentation below.
Filed under: brand innovation, technology branding, virtual branding, virtual worlds | Tagged: brand innovation, virtual branding, virtual brands, virtual goods, virtual worlds | 2 Comments »
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