Social games market to hit $1.5bn in 2014

The total value of the social network games market will reach $1.5bn by 2014, according to a new report from Screen Digest.

In 2009 that total stood at around $639m with 500m active monthly users, suggesting that the sector is set to grow by over 100 per cent in the next four years. This would represent an overall slowdown due to the fact that social network games are now far more established than in the past.

In 2008 social network games were worth just $76m. The USA remains the single largest market, with the UK claiming second place.

Facebook remains single biggest driver in the sector, though in terms of monetisation Zynga is by far the leader with annual revenues thought to be around $100m.

The market remains dominated by the distribution power and massive userbase of Facebook, but this market is by no means a one network opportunity,” the report reads. Screen Digest is tracking millions of users on alternative social networks that are playing games, especially in markets where Facebook is not highly penetrated such as China, Russia and Japan.

And with monthly active users of games reaching over 500m at the end of 2009, from a much smaller base of 60m in 2008, it is clear that much of the recent growth in the PC casual games market is now being driven by social games.”

For more details about the report, which is entitled Social Network Games: Casual Games’ New Growth Engine, click here.