• by June 29, 2007

Ad spending on digital games in the U.S. will grow from $370 million in 2006 to more than $2 billion in 2012, according to market research firm Parks Associates, one of four research concerns to release studies Thursday on various aspects of the video game industry. In addition to Parks' study of advertising, CMP unveiled its first "Game Developer Census," The Diffusion Group weighed in the multimedia future of consoles, and IBM & Seriosity found that playing online role-playing games can result in better business leadership skills.

The new Parks report, titled "Electronic Gaming in the Digital Home: Game Advertising," said that from now until 2012, Pagame advertising will achieve a compound annual growth rate of 33%--higher than that of TV, radio, print, and the Internet.

Parks said that in-game advertising will experience the highest growth rate of all gaming categories, increasing from $55 million in 2006 to more than $800 million in 2012. Specifically, Parks added that dynamic in-game advertising (in PC, console, mobile, and casual games will grow from 27% of the in-game ad market in 2006 to 84% in 2012.

"Advertising in electronic games had an average monthly household expenditure of less than 50 cents in 2006, while broadcast TV was at $37, meaning advertisers are not using the gaming medium to its full potential," said Yuanzhe (Michael) Cai, director of broadband and gaming, Parks Associates. "If executed correctly, game advertising can provide a win-win solution for advertisers, developers and publishers, console manufacturers, game portals, and gamers."

Elsewhere, the CMP Game Group's Game Developer Research division issued what it said aims to be the first-ever accurate list of all companies in the business. The "Game Developer Census 2007" found that there are 39,700 professionals developing or publishing games in the U.S., and another 8,100 in Canada. The report lists nearly 600 companies in North America. External business associated with the industry, such as ad agencies and licensers, were not included in the initial census, but CMP said they will be at a later date.

The Diffusion Group said that, although 80% of households with game consoles can use them for DVD playback or online downloads, only 13% have actually used the equipment for that purpose. And among those who own a console connected to the Internet, 42% have used it to watch an Internet-based movie on their TV. The study, titled "On the Use of Game Consoles for Movie Viewing," also found that about half of all broadband households have at least one game console in the house. Finally, the IBM Research Center's Global Innovation Outlook teamed up with Seriosity to discover "significant parallels between online gaming and the future of work." Stated Jim Spohrer, director of services research for IBM Research center: "Smart organizations are recognizing valued employees who play online games and apply their skills and experience as virtual leaders to their 'real world' jobs."