New data released by Pando Networks, a leading game delivery network for free-to play MMO games, reveals tremendous growth in the free-to-play gaming industry globally.
The increase in people downloading games is being driven by several industry factors including the transition from a “paid” to a “free-to-play” business model as evidenced by Turbine’s Lord of the Rings Online and Blizzard’s World of Warcraft; as well as the release of new hit games such as League of Legends from Riot Games. “While the media is saturated with stories about the rapid growth of social and casual games from the likes of Zynga and Rovio, the free-to-play MMO genre also continues to grow swiftly. It may get overshadowed by trendier genres, but our data shows that free-to-play MMOs are an increasingly significant presence in the game industry,” Pando Networks’ CEO Robert Levitan said. “We expect continued robust growth as traditional game publishers move to full digital distribution and embrace the free-to-play model.” The explosive growth of game downloads is happening on a global basis.
In the United States, data shows the number of people downloading games using the Pando platform increased by 162% from October of 2009 to October 2011, from 4.8 million to 12.6 million. In Latin America, the number increased 595% during the same period while Europe’s growth was even more explosive, climbing 1025% over two years. Developing nations such as Turkey are claiming an increasingly large share of global game downloads. With a rapid expansion of infrastructure and Internet connectivity, Turkey is quickly becoming an important market for free-to-play games. During the past 12 months, the number of gamers in Turkey using the Pando platform to download a free-to-play game has risen to more than 5 million, an increase of 534% from the previous year. 