Report – MMO market is up, but down 10% in average revenue

By Stephany Nunneley

Screen Digest has issued a report showing the MMO market was up for 2009, but average revenue was down.

According to the market analyst’s latest report, the total worth of the MMO market in Europe and North America came in at $1.6 billion in 2009, compared to $1.4 billion in 2008.

The firm predicts the market will be worth $2 billion by 2014, even with free-to-play offerings on the rise. However, the bad news, is that the average revenue per user declined by 10 percent within the year.

The report found 56 percent of the MMO market in western territories could be attributed to North America, with 13 million in subscriptions for the total western market being estimated.

Screen Digest also found World of Warcraft’s share of the subscription market had declined 6 percent in 2009 to 54 percent of the market share,where as in 2008 it claimed 60 percent of it.

The Asian market not taken into consideration.

Back in August, Strategy Analytics estimated that MMO revenues would continue to climb, eventually reaching $8 billion worldwide in 2014.

Via GI.biz.