Social Gaming Market to Top $1 Billion This Year: Research

Just 18 months after Zynga released FarmVille on Facebook, “social gaming” is poised to become a billion-dollar business, according to research firm eMarketer. Nearly 62 million U.S. Internet users, or 27% of the online audience, will play at least one game on a social network monthly this year, up from 53 million in 2010. Along with the audience growth will come increased consumer spending on virtual goods, eMarketer reports. “Even though fewer than 6% of U.S. social gamers spend money on virtual items, these avid players will produce revenues of $653 million in the U.S. alone this year,” says eMarketer analyst Paul Verna. The firm’s audience estimate jibes with figures released by the NPD Group last August, which claimed 56.8 million U.S. consumers aged 6 and older had played a social game over the previous three months.