Skill gaming, which often involved playing online multiplayer games, was once a niche sector but is now rapidly gaining mass market traction.
When I think of the online gaming market, I imagine pale, spotty school boys sitting mesmerized in front of their computer monitors for hours finally playing the latest game release. I believe this prejudice does ring true in many cases, especially in the hardcore console-based gaming sector.
Global Role Playing Games Market
However, there have been some noticeable changes that have taken place in the online gaming arena over the last few years that are sure to surprise me some what. Whereas the gaming console market is dominated by a majority of young males, the skills games market finds a lion’s share of its businesses from 35-65 years of age, with a slight bias towards women.
Skill gaming, which often involved playing online multiplayer games, was once a niche sector but is now rapidly gaining mass market traction. This is mainly due to the fact that internet access, especially broadband, has now made the search for online entertainment no longer exclusively Western entertainment. In addition, games of skill are not considered gambling and as such they fall outside the country’s anti-gambling laws; Therefore, these games can be enjoyed in most countries around the world.
Another reason for the tremendous growth of these online multiplayer games is because of their addictive nature as well as their simplicity. Skill games are browser-based games played in a tournament format, with each player paying a cash entry fee to play and with cash prizes going to the winners. They are often very short games only minutes in length and have only a few simple rules to learn before they progress. This means that they can be enjoyed during rest periods at work and it has even been suggested that they not only increase the productivity of people at work but can also reduce work-related stress.
Global Massively Multiplayer Online
Sites offering such games often give players the option of challenging specific individuals or selecting random people on the gaming network to pair with them. This online multiplayer game really adds some interesting dynamics, especially when there is a bet on the game. In major multiplayer tournaments a sizable cash prize can be won at the end of one of these simple but exciting games.
All of these criteria have helped propel the online skills gaming sector into the mainstream of online entertainment with an expanding mass-market demographic participating. This has led to an influx of people who would never have previously thought of themselves as online gamers per se.
Experts predict that the online skills gaming sector will treble in size by the 2011 Psychology Articles, reaching a growing global audience as well as a widening age range.