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30 Oct

Updated Radar charts for Q3 2009

Education, Kids/Tween Worlds, KZero Clients, Teenage+ Worlds, Virtual Research

Earlier this week we published the updated Universe charts for Q3 2009. You may have noticed we’ve slightly changed the format between the Universe and Radar – the Universe chart now only shows live or open worlds. Worlds in development, semi-stealth and closed beta are now only shown on the Radar chart.

In terms of new virtual worlds, growth is slowing down in the casual gaming and socialing segments for KT&T.  This is actually a good sign because there’s some over supply here, caused by a rush of VC money into the space in late 2007/early 2008 – we call it ‘Chasing the Penguin’.

Segments seeing an uplift in terms of pending worlds include fashion (Chasing the Stardoll?), education and development (here’s an interesting podcast on this theme) and thirdly branded worlds. We expect branded worlds to be a dominant force in 2010 – real world brands creating virtual platforms for their IP. In fact, we’ve just completed a business planning and strategic project for Ubisoft in this category – more about that later.

Here’s a segment from the Radar chart. The full set can be seen and high-res versions ordered here.

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29 Oct

Talking with RezEd about education in virtual worlds

Education

rezed_banner0222Our friends over at RezEd continue to be great ambassors and advocates of the VW space – their speciality being educational usage. RezEd  is an ‘online hub providing practitioners using virtual worlds with access to the highest quality resources and research in the field to establish a strong network of those using virtual worlds for learning‘.

I was interviewed for their latest podcast, discussing growth areas in the educational virtual worlds space as explained further in our latest report – Virtual Worlds 2010+. The podcast also features Raph Koster from Metaplace.

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29 Oct

Habbo and Stardoll show largest growth in Q3 2009

Kids/Tween Worlds, KZero Clients, Teenage+ Worlds, Virtual Research

Overall growth in registered accounts grew by 92m to 671m in Q3 2009. From the 92m total growth figure, 53% came from the top eight virtual worlds.

Drilling down into the major players, Habbo and Stardoll grew the greatest, with 13m and 12m increases respectively.  The graph below shows quarterly growth (from Q2 to Q3) for the ‘big eight’. Habbo and Stardoll quarterly growth accounts for over 25% of the total market growth.

Although it’s the Grand-Daddy of the sector, Habbo continues to show dominance in the virtual worlds sector from a user acquisition perspective, with an increasing number of brands chosing them over other worlds to market into the teen segment – the latest being MTV and the EMA’s. Stardoll is also attracting brands in-world, the latest being the Baby Phat range from Kimora Lee Simmons.

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28 Oct

New KZero report: Virtual Worlds 2010+

Virtual Goods, Virtual Research, Virtual World strategy

We’ve been rubbing our crystal balls again, thinking about the growth areas for the virtual worlds sector. And, we’re delighted to say our findings are now contained within the latest KZero report – Virtual Worlds 2010+.

The report can be requested here and is ideal for companies considering entrance into the virtual worlds market as well as Investors seeking insight into the key growth areas and emerging business models. An overview presentation is here.

The report covers the following areas:

Continue reading →

28 Oct

VW registered accounts increase by 92m to 671m in Q3 2009

Virtual Research

Overall total registered accounts in the virtual worlds sector increased by 92m to hit 671m in Q3 2009. This growth represents a 15.9% quarter-on-quarter increase (from Q2 to Q3), compared to a 38.2% increase from Q1 to Q2. So, a strong increase of close to 100m new registered accounts, albeit at a slower rate. Full universe charts can be ordered here.

Overall quarterly numbers by age group are shown below. Note: account data is aggregated to the overall average age of each world.

The youngest age segment (five to ten year 0lds) was the dominant sector in terms of growth, with 38m new registered accounts, a 33.3% quarterly increase. 15 to 25 year olds had the second largest % increase, growing 18.2% from Q2, representing 18m new registered accounts. The ten to 15 year old group increased by 33m in Q3, an 9.9% increase.

Secondly, quarterly increases by age segment.

Continue reading →

28 Oct

Updated Universe chart for Q3 2009

Virtual Research

The Q3 2009 Universe Chart is now available. Commentary and analysis will follow in subsequent posts. The major headline is that overall total registered accounts in Q3 2009 increased by 92m to 671m from Q2.

The Universe Chart segments can be seen (and high-res versions ordered) here. Here’s the five to ten year old group, just to tickle your tastebuds…

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Strategy

Business Planning

Marketing/Media

Product Development

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