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Findings From 2007 Casual Game Report

The casual games industry is riding a wave of strong growth fueled by a shift toward casual games within the overall game-playing audience, according to preliminary findings from the Casual Games 2007 Report, an annual study put out by the Casual Games Association (CGA).

“The casual games industry has been a sleeping giant, but now it’s becoming part of every household and a favorite pastime for both young and old, individuals and families,” said Jessica Tams, managing director of the Casual Games Association. “We are witnessing a resurgence of something very basic: fun. Gamers have gravitated to casual games because they offer a different and engaging side of gaming that is fun, inexpensive, and mentally stimulating.”

The preliminary findings from the Casual Games 2007 Report were released this morning at the Casual Connect Seattle conference. With over 1200 attendees, Casual Connect Seattle is the largest casual gaming conference in the world. Designed for industry professionals and executives who are interested in creating, marketing, and distributing games for players worldwide, the conference is taking place between July 17th and 19th at Benaroya Hall in Seattle, WA.

Preliminary Findings from the 2007 Casual Games Study
The Casual Games 2007 Report indicates that the profile of the casual gamer is broadening. Although women still make up the majority (74%) of all paying players online, men now represent about half of the much-larger non-paying player universe.
The report also shows that the market has become more dynamic with increased competition. The number of games being submitted to major online portals has doubled over the past two years, suggesting an increase in new publishers developing more titles. The rapid growth of the casual games market has prompted companies to create games for more audiences and also for more platforms, including the Internet, PC and Macintosh computers, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo DS, Wii and even mobile phones and PDAs.

The past year has also seen a strong increase in new capital investment in casual games. The study estimates that in the last year investors spent over $200 million to acquire interest in casual game industry assets. Of particular interest was the $35+ million investment in massively multiplayer online (MMO) casual games.

The report also found that in 2006 the most popular casual games were Mystery Case Files, Diner Dash, Cake Mania, Bejeweled and Slingo.

About the Casual Games 2007 Report
The Casual Games 2007 report will be completed in early fall. It is comprised of aggregated data from casual games developers, publishers, distributors and retailers. Those interested in receiving the final report should visit http://www.casualgamesassociation.org or send an email to datastudy@casualgamesassociation.org