Last Week to Pre-Order Inside Virtual Goods: Spending and Usage Patterns of the Social Gaming Audience

If 2009 is remembered as the year that casual gaming stormed social platforms, 2010 is quickly becoming the year that the industry started to mature. Facebook is getting more involved in the monetization ecosystem, last year's hit games are fighting for their lives, and new developers and games are climbing the leaderboards. At the same time, the M&A ecosystem is alive and well, as larger players are consolidating smaller studios and teams, and large media companies and traditional game developers continue to plot their social gaming strategies. Get the Annual Membership Get Annual Membership (Includes Report + 3 Additional Quarterly Issues): $2,495 $1,995 USD* OR Buy Single Report: $995 $695 USD* * Pre-order discount ends June 21, 2010. All pre-ordered reports will be delivered on June 21, 2010. That's why we're excited to announce a new original study in our Inside Virtual Goods series that is exclusively focused on spending and usage patterns in the social gaming market, entitled Inside Virtual Goods: Spending and Usage Patterns of the Social Gaming Audience. It will be released in one week on Tuesday, June 22, but is available for discount pre-order now. Most of the studies on player spending and usage patterns in social games over the last year have actually been conducted by industry vendors. Inside Virtual Goods: Spending and Usage Patterns of the Social Gaming Audience is our exclusive independent look at the virtual goods spending and behavior patterns of social game players on Facebook -- data you won't find anywhere else. About the Report Inside Virtual Goods: Spending and Usage Patterns of the Social Gaming Audience gives you an inside view of the market at this critical juncture in the intersection of social networking and online games. We have surveyed nearly 2,000 players of social games on Facebook from around the world and across the demographic spectrum. Inside Virtual Goods: Spending and Usage Patterns of the Social Gaming Audience is the most in-depth independent survey of player behavior and spending patterns in the social gaming market. What We Cover Spending Habits and Payment Methods in Top Games - It's easy to compare games based on audience numbers, but which games monetize better? What payment methods do players use most often in top games? We investigate how spending patterns compare across top social games. Frequency of Play and Methods of Game Discovery - As Facebook cuts down on developer access to viral channels, designing an engaging and viral game is becoming both increasingly important and challenging. We investigate which games people play most frequently, and which methods of social game discovery are most effective for top games. Demographic Differences by Region, Age, and Gender - While the social gaming market is becoming increasingly global, the audience is also becoming increasingly diverse by age and gender. How do different segments of the audience differ in terms of spending and usage patterns inside social games? We take an in depth look. Brand Recall for Social Games - How important are brands, and how well can users identify developers of top games? We investigate brand recall amongst social game players. See the full table of contents below: Table of Contents I. Methodology and Respondents 1. Introduction About Inside Virtual Goods About the Authors Survey Objectives 2. Research Methodology Target Population Respondent Acquisition Method Survey Structure Potential for Bias 3. Survey Respondents Description of Total Respondent Population Total Number of Respondents Overall Breakdown II. Overall Results 4. Favorite Game Distribution of Favorite Game Frequency of Play Favorite Game Discovery With Whom Do You Play? Spending on Favorite Game 5. Payments Frequency of Payment Methods 6. Play Patterns, Spending, and Brand Recall for Top Games Frequency of Play in Top Games Spending in Top Games Aided Brand Recall for Top Games III. Demographic Differences in Usage Patterns and Monetization 7. Regional Differences Game Discovery and Spending Favorite Game Payment Types 8. Age and Gender Differences Who are the Social Gaming "Whales"? Spend Across Games Index of Charts and Graphs 4.1 Distribution of Favorite Game 4.2 Frequency of Play of Favorite Game 4.3 Method of Discovery of Favorite Game 4.4 Who Players Play With 4.5 Monthly Spending on Favorite Game 5.1 Frequency of Payment Methods 6.1 Frequency of Play in Top Games 6.2 Spending in Top Games 6.3 Aided Brand Recall Rates for Top Games 7.1 Method of Discovery of Favorite Game By Region 7.2 Who Players Play With By Region 7.3 Monthly Spending on Favorite Game By Region 7.4 Favorite Game By Region 7.5 Most Popular Payment Types By Region 7.6 Frequency of Offer Use By Region 7.7 Frequency of PayPal Use By Region 7.8 Frequency of Credit Card Use By Region 7.9 Frequency of Mobile Phone Use By Region 8.1 Top Spenders By Gender 8.2 Top Spenders By Region 8.3 Number of Games on Which a Player Spends More Than $25 8.4 Frequency of Top Spending By Game and By Gender 8.5 Proportion of Top Spenders Who Report Spending on a Given Game Appendix Survey Questions More Data, More Actionable Insights In 2009, social games began to show what kind of value can be created on top of social networks. 2010 will be an even more important year. Social gaming, powered by virtual goods, is this year’s industry to watch. If you’re involved, or are considering jumping in, Inside Virtual Goods will be one of your most important tools. One year of original data and exclusive in-depth reports delivered on a quarterly basis is $2,495 and contains: A detailed overview of the current state of the industry Specific estimates on market size by segment Diagnosis of key opportunities and issues by segment Get The Annual Membership Get Annual Membership (Includes Report + 3 Additional Quarterly Issues): $2,495 $1,995 USD* OR Buy Single Report: $995 $695 USD* * Pre-order discount ends June 21, 2010. All pre-ordered reports will be delivered on June 22, 2010. Although the report will not be released until next Tuesday, June 22, we are offering a special pre-order discount for those who purchase now. A one year subscription is $1,995 until June 22, at which point the price will go to US $2,495. The one year subscription includes three quarterly updates on key developments in the space, including future editions of our annual reports, Inside Virtual Goods: The US Virtual Goods Market 2009-2010 and Inside Virtual Goods: The Future of Social Gaming 2010. Or, you can download just this report. The pre-order price is $695 until June 22, at which point the price will go to US $995. About the Authors Justin Smith Founder, Inside Network Justin Smith is the founder of Inside Network, the first company dedicated to providing news and market research to the Facebook platform and social gaming ecosystem. Justin serves as co-editor of Inside Facebook and Inside Social Games, and manages Inside Network's AppData service as well. Prior to Inside Network, he was formerly Head of Product at Watercooler, one of the leading application developers on the Facebook Platform. Prior to Watercooler, Justin was an early employee at Xfire, the largest social utility for gamers, which was sold to Viacom in 2006. Justin holds a degree in Computer Systems Engineering from Stanford University. Charles Hudson Former VP Business Development, Serious Business & Host, Virtual Goods Summit Charles Hudson is the former VP of Business Development for Serious Business, a leading social games developer on the Facebook platform. Charles Hudson also organizes two of the leading conferences in the social gaming and free-to-play games industries, the Social Gaming Summit and Virtual Goods Summit. Prior to Serious Business, he was formerly the Sr. Director for Business Development at Gaia Interactive, a leading online hangout for teens. Prior to Gaia, Charles worked in New Business Development at Google and focused on new partnership opportunities for early-stage products in the advertising, mobile, and e-commerce markets. Prior to joining Google, he was a Product Manager for IronPort Systems, a leading provider of anti-spam hardware appliances that was acquired by Cisco Systems for $830 million in 2007. Charles holds an MBA and BA from Stanford University.

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Last Week to Pre-Order Inside Virtual Goods: Spending and Usage Patterns of the Social Gaming Audience

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