Mobile may be the hottest game market, but massively multiplayer online games on the PC are expected to grow from $11 billion in 2014 to $13 billion by 2017, according to market researcher SuperData Research.
Joost van Dreunen, the CEO of SuperData Research, wrote that the MMO market has changed dramatically in revenue, player preferences, and the size of its potential audience. One of the clear winners from the changes is the free-to-play League of Legends, a multiplayer online battle arena game (MOBA) where five players take on five in a game with a furious pace. Riot Games’ League of Legends has already generated $946 million so far in 2014, accounting for 11.9 percent of the overall market.
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Online games are 21 percent of the overall digital games market. SuperData has looked at the spending habits of 37 million digital gamers.
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The latest data shows that incumbent titles like SmileGate’s Crossfire ($897M) and Nexon’s Dungeon Fighter ($891M) are holding on to their leadership positions, and Valve’s Dota 2, a MOBA with $136 million in revenues, is coming on strong.
Asia remains the biggest market for free-to-play MMOs, with $4.2 billion in revenues. That compares to $3.1 billion in North America and $2.1 billion in Europe.
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