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Study: MMOG revs top $1.4 billion in 2008

By Tom Magrino, GameSpotPosted Mar 24, 2009 5:07 pm PT

Screen Digest research finds online gaming market rose 22 percent last year in NA, Europe; World of Warcraft leads top 10 list in terms of spending.

According to leading game-industry stat-trackers the NPD Group, US PC game retail sales tanked in 2008, dropping 23 percent year over year to $701 million. The key word in that sentence is "retail," as online game revenues and alternate forms of PC-game distribution continue to rise. A new study by analyst firm Screen Digest indicates that massively multiplayer online gaming in particular saw a substantial jump in 2008, reports the BBC.

Screen Digest's study found that the North American and European MMOG markets rose 22 percent in 2008, achieving total revenues of $1.4 billion. The leading contributor to that tally is, of course, Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft, which had surpassed 11.5 million subscribers worldwide through 2008. WOW's success, Screen Digest notes, has helped drive the market, as competitors attempt to mimic the title's meteoric rise, to varying degrees of success.

"Some games are eroding World of Warcraft's (WOW) position--Warhammer Online and Age of Conan being the two most significant--but that's more down to their growth rather than any decline on WOW's part," said Screen Digest senior analyst Piers Harding-Rolls to the BBC. "WOW's market share was 60 percent in 2007 and 58 percent in 2008, but in terms of revenue, it went up year-on-year."

The study notes that there are now more than 220 titles that fall into the MMOG category, though Screen Digest says that many are exclusive to South East Asia. Harding-Rolls went on to say that the continued rollout of new MMOGs, as well as the various payment systems and demographic-specific titles, have helped the market defy the current economic recession.

"If you look at the example of RuneScape, this is a game pitched at a teenage audience," said Harding-Rolls. "You can play it for free or you can pay a premium and get a better service without advertising. It's an effective way to build a subscription base, rather than the traditional routes that involve PR, hype and having a service that has to be almost perfect from day one."

Screen Digest's study also broke down the 10 most popular subscription-based games in terms of spending. According to the research firm, the list does not reflect total user base, and some games, such as Mythic Entertainment's Warhammer Online, were released too late in the year to impact the accounting. Screen Digest's top 10 revenue generators are listed below.

10 Most Popular Subscription Games in Terms of Spending
1) World of Warcraft
2) Club Penguin
3) RuneScape
4) Eve Online
5) Final Fantasy XI
6) The Lord of the Rings Online
7) Dofus
8) Age of Conan
9) City of Heroes
10) EverQuest II

70 Comments

  • ChiefZane

    Posted Oct 4, 2009 9:50 pm PT

    All of those are great except for club penguin, My vote goes on Runescape

  • patronato

    Posted May 4, 2009 11:05 am PT

    just spend money in aoc ^^ the rest is crap or kids games like wow and club of penguins..

  • Jakeamalake

    Posted Apr 28, 2009 4:53 pm PT

    Glad to see Final Fantasy is still kicking.
    I miss that game sometimes.
    But for now, GO AoC!

  • tonyhawksP8

    Posted Apr 16, 2009 4:54 am PT

    LOL Club Penguin; that must be 2nd because of the kids spending parents money.

  • jeffhardy141

    Posted Apr 15, 2009 3:03 pm PT

    yaaa go runescape

  • TMoney999

    Posted Apr 15, 2009 1:29 pm PT

    I think CoH is the best. DUH! Of course its the best.

  • TMoney999

    Posted Apr 15, 2009 1:29 pm PT

    I think CoH is the best. DUH!

  • NCA-Legend

    Posted Apr 4, 2009 4:50 am PT

    DARK AGE OF CAMELOT! WHOOO!!

  • gameking5000

    Posted Mar 29, 2009 11:06 pm PT

    @24k_Solid_Gold

    To be honest with you I don't really think Guild Wars is THAT popular. There's only one game that would CERTAINLY make that list. That's the game in Number 1 on "10 Most Popular Subscription Games in Terms of Spending"

  • 24k_Solid_Gold

    Posted Mar 29, 2009 2:57 pm PT

    I wish they made a list of most popular mmos instead of who spends the most money on them, that way some of the better, and real mmos (not best, better) would make the list, like Guild Wars.

  • gameking5000

    Posted Mar 28, 2009 10:20 pm PT

    @joelgaragan

    Club Penguin is a game that well is designed and created for kids. It's very child friendly and to be is a children's version of a MMO.

  • Ohno_Kateh

    Posted Mar 27, 2009 9:52 pm PT

    FFXI is crap

  • joelgargan

    Posted Mar 27, 2009 8:53 pm PT

    Can someone please tell me what exactly Club Penguin is?!

  • -Inertia

    Posted Mar 27, 2009 5:17 pm PT

    Club Penguin what?

  • matte989

    Posted Mar 27, 2009 4:22 pm PT

    tldr for the people with ADHD.. and I'm not even a WAR fan. No ill against them either though.

    "and some games, such as Mythic Entertainment's Warhammer Online, were released too late in the year to impact the accounting"

  • krazilec

    Posted Mar 27, 2009 12:19 pm PT

    Even tough EVE has such elitist community, it really bring home the bacon. A hip hip hooray for EVE.

  • burn6

    Posted Mar 26, 2009 10:18 pm PT

    i only played 4 games listed here, wth is club penguin? i wish WAR can make it to top 10, come on Mythic, you can do this! do something, to make us interested again.

  • Mr_Versipellis

    Posted Mar 26, 2009 3:55 pm PT

    Can't believe CP/RS2 at 2 and 3... Club Penguin isn't a true game and Runescape's a disgrace to RPGs.

  • cool_beans1

    Posted Mar 26, 2009 11:42 am PT

    Very impressive numbers although I do wonder how that chart might change next year with the Old Republic coming out in 2010 and how much more revenue may be made for MMO's as well.

  • DDRManiac2003

    Posted Mar 26, 2009 10:25 am PT

    Woo, to FFXI at 5th. I just recenetly got back into the game. WoW gets boring after awhile, you get tired of grinds, and raiding, and running sh!t!

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