来自市场咨询公司VGMarket和PlaySpan的联合监测数据显示，社交网络游戏的持续火爆推动了游戏行业虚拟交易市场的增长。

该调查数据显示32%的受访者他们在社交游戏中实施过虚拟交易行为。其中25岁及其以上的女性用户每年的游戏虚拟交易金额在55美元左右，这个数值远远高于男性的30美元。

在各个游戏类型的玩家贡献上，社交游戏玩家单人的虚拟交易贡献50美元每年，高于网络游戏的40美元、休闲游戏的40美元、在线游戏的37美元和掌机游戏的20美元。

VGMarket总裁Michael Gluck表示该调查数据将对开发者和发行商产生积极的引导作用。

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VGMarket, a market research firm specializing in the video game industry, and PlaySpan, the global leader in monetization solutions for online games, virtual worlds, social networks, and videos, today announce the full availability of their 2010 Digital Goods Report that reveals consumer behavior patterns among existing customers of third-party and first-party online game marketplaces.

The PlaySpan/VGMarket landmark study quantifies digital goods purchasing behavior at the genre and item levels and also also provides statistics on 1st party purchasing directly from publishers and 3rd party purchasing through online marketplaces, and those who sell digital goods directly to other players.

Social Network Games Drive Revenue

Comparing information from 1st party sites, Social Networks lead the way with the median spent on digital goods coming in at $50 per year. This was followed by MMO ($40), Casual Games ($40), Free to Play Games ($40), PC Games with Online Play ($37) and Console Games with Online Play ($20). Also worth noting is that overall 32% of respondents made purchases within social networks.

It was also reported that although males are playing significantly more games and are the primary drivers of total digital goods sales, North American women 25 and older are spending disproportionately large sums of money on digital goods. When looking at the median spent on 1st party purchases within Social Network games, the average female spent $55 dollars, compared to only $30 for males. Females also spent twice as much ($50 compared to $25) when comparing purchases of in-game currency and the median overall expenditure was higher for females than males, at $80 to $60 respectively.

“The report demonstrates a number of significant trends and monetization opportunities available to both first-party publishers and third-party marketplaces through the sale of digital goods. Each type of digital good has a unique level of demand, and the amount of money that a consumer spends on digital goods continues to vary widely by genre,” said Michael Gluck, President, VGMarket.

“As a leader in monetization, our goal with this report is to shed light on the rapidly changing digital goods industry, while providing our clients, partners, and others with valuable information they can use to make timely and informed business decisions. Welook forward to continuing working with established researchers such as VGMarket to publish the latest industry data and trends, so that others can better understand the dynamics of the marketplace,” said Eric Hartness, Chief Marketing Officer of PlaySpan.

The VGMarket survey was comprised of responses from a sampling of 2,221 customers between the ages of 13 and 64 across the PlaySpan Marketplace, Facebook via Spare Change, and Ultimate Game Card.