| 20
March 2003 - With hundreds of millions - and eventually
billions - of dollars up for grabs, online gaming
represents a budding new industry, which is just
beginning to spread its wings, reports In-Stat/MDR
(http://www.instat.com).
The high-tech market research finds that while online
gaming won't take over the world, even a moderate
number of gamers (such as 10% of the game consoles),
playing for relatively short periods of time (5
hours a week), would consume more than 5% of all
of the American Backbone Traffic by the end of 2003.
|
 |
Online
gaming is a real industry, which will make real money,
and has some fairly significant consequences for the
companies involved. The biggest risk to any company
that is even marginally affected by online gaming is
to dismiss it out of hand or put plans on the backburner
until they think it matures. There are a lot of companies
that are working very hard to grow this industry quickly
so, odds are, they will help to move things along, faster
than some expect. Of all the companies out there, In-Stat/MDR
reports that Broadband Service Providers are at the
most risk for not only missing an opportunity for additional
revenues in the long run, but also having their networks
being negatively affected by this online gaming trend,
in the short run, if they don't act soon.
In-Stat/MDR
has also found that:
- In
2002, it is estimated that roughly 9% of the traffic
sent back and forth over the US backbone was due to
online gaming. As the number of gamers climb, the
amount of time they spend online will also grow. At
the same time, as the performance of gaming silicon
gets better, this will naturally create an environment
where faster connectivity is needed. Microsoft's Xbox
Online service is already a broadband only program,
so this will likely be one of the big areas where
high throughputs will yield a truly stunning experience.
- All
three of the major console makers have some kind of
online gaming strategy. By far, Microsoft's Xbox Live
program is the boldest. It is currently the only one
that mandates a yearly subscription, but it is also
a broadband only program that is likely to pay dividends
long term.
- The
combined data throughput for both paid and free online
console gamers will top 285 Petabits a month by 2007.
At the same time, the paid console subscriptions will
bring in just under $650 Million. However, as it currently
stands, none of that money will end up with the broadband
providers that are handling these hundreds of Petabits
of additional data.
- While
free online console players will out number the paid
through to 2004, in 2005, that trend is expected to
be reversed as other console makers adopt the "pay-to-play"
model.
- The
online console market will see a 9% average penetration
rate by the end of 2007. Places with high broadband
access, such as the U.S., Japan and Korea, are expected
to have higher than average penetration rates.
This
Market Alert is drawn from the In-Stat/MDR report, "Online
Gaming Affects More Than You Think", which peals
back the myths behind online gaming and breaks it down
into real world numbers that every company needs. From
the money to be made, to the number of subscribers,
this groundbreaking study covers online gaming from
all angles - including the percent of backbone traffic
to be consumed from 2002 to 2007.
SOURCE
Instat Press Release Back
to News Reports
|
