据独立分析机构Business Insights最近的研究报告显示，社交游戏在2010年的用户超过了6亿人，目前这个市场的总营收已达15亿美元。

该报告还预测，因为玩家数量的持续增长，各个开发商会想方设法通过每名用户创收，所以社交游戏到2015年的市场规模将达40亿美元。游戏邦获悉，日本、韩国和英国有超过50%的用户可能会玩社交游戏。

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Business Insights的消费者技术分析师Richard Absalom表示，社交游戏的主力军是女性玩家，这一群体占全球社交游戏用户的56%，他们的调查还显示，中年妇女对社交游戏最有兴趣，这其中又以30至59岁年龄段的女性最为典型，而那些18岁以下的群体对社交游戏并没有这么大的热情，他们更倾向于体验其他类型的电脑游戏。

据游戏邦了解，社交游戏有三种主要的创收渠道：广告赞助；虚拟商品交易；付费体验或内容订阅服务。目前全球社交游戏每年的ARPU（每用户平均收益）是2.6美元，预计到2015年将增长至3.7美元，但因为发展中国家的社交游戏用户规模正日益庞大，所以这个ARPU值将会根据各个地区的不同情况而出现差异。

Absalom认为，社交游戏是极少数可以说服用户为在线内容付费的成功创收模式之一，它不但吸引了传统游戏用户，而且还引起了著名传媒、娱乐和互联网公司的高度关注，这些企业已经意识到了这一行业的巨大发展潜力，从迪士尼和谷歌的收购潮中就可以看出这一迹象。

该报告还指出，社交游戏在社交网站营收中所占的比例，将从2010年的22%，上升至2015年的29%。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，转载请注明来源：游戏邦）

Playing games with middle-aged women: The $4bn Social Gaming explosion

Bharatbook.com announces the launch of “The Future of Social Gaming”More than 600 million people played games over social networks in 2010(http://www.bharatbook.com/detail.asp?id=169850&rt=The-Future-of-Social-Gaming.html ), generating a social gaming market worth $1.5 billion according to latest research from independent analyst, Business Insights.

By 2015, Business Insights is predicting that this relatively new market will be worth $4 billion, as the number of players steadily rises and companies learn how to make more money from each player. In fact, by this date, more than 50% of all people in Japan, South Korea and the UK will play social games.

Richard Absalom, consumer technology analyst at Business Insights, comments: “Famously, social network gaming is majority-female – our research suggests that 56% of players worldwide are female.

Our research also shows that middle-aged groups are most attracted to social gaming – people between 30 and 59 years old are over-represented, whilst under 18s are less likely to engage in social gaming than they are in other computer gaming activities.”

There are three main models for social games to generate revenue: advertising/sponsorship; the sale of virtual goods; and pay-to-play or subscription-based content. The current average revenue per user (ARPU) for social games players globally is $2.60 a year. This is expected to rise to $3.70 a year by 2015, with far larger rises across each individual country being offset by an adverse revenue mix as the proportion of players in developing countries increases.

Absalom adds: “This is great news for social networks as social gaming is proving to be an important way for them to monetize their user bases – and, more widely, is one of the few areas where a successful model has been created in persuading consumers to make small payments for online content”.

“It’s little surprise then that this market is extending beyond the traditional gaming segment not just in terms of users, but also in terms of companies involved. Big name media, entertainment and Internet companies that have not been particularly involved in video gaming until now are seeing the potential that social gaming offers. Acquisitions by Disney and Google to get into the space are good examples of this.”

The proportion of total social networking revenues generated by social gaming will increase, from 22% in 2010 to 29% in 2015. （source:prlog）