World Of Warcraft, the most successful MMO has an estimated annual revenue of USD m. Here are some initial facts that you may find interesting: Only one of the top-ten MMOs Lineage was launched in the 's whereas all others have been launched in this decade.

MMOs are distributed fairly equitably around the most significant global market territories i. North America, Europe, Asia Korea, Japan and China. Many of these games target global markets and are active in various territories. MMOs have a wide diversity of styles and demographically targeted groups with children, teenage and young adult markets all well-represented.

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The majority of the top-ten MMOS are in the fantasy genre. This is typical of emerging game markets. Fantasy is typically the first successful genre to be commercialised because it tends to attract early-adopter gamers first. Subsequent genres such as sports, children, family, adventure, action genres find their place in the market as new entrants carve out niches and segment the market for second and third tier adopters. Successful MMOs clearly can realise significant profits for their operators and investors.

The early stages of the MMO market were dominated by a traditional and relatively unsophisticated commercial model. Retail was a dominant factor in the industry value chain and large game publishers i. EA, Sony, Ubisoft were the principle financing source for the majority of MMO products.

Publishers sold a boxed version of their product in established retail channels, which was then played and updated online, with revenue coming from a combination of retail sales and subscription fees. This model is still quite popular with World of Warcraft the primary example. This model was developed in the time between the cross-over from dial-up to broadband. It made sense to distribute on CD or DVD because there was no other way to distribute the required large amounts of data files to enough users.

Early generation MMOs such as Everquest and Ultima Online had to be concerned over the download speeds that most users had and tailor their technology accordingly. Those restrictions still exist today World of Warcraft updates come on multiple DVDs and most users still don't have the means to download so many gigabytes of data in one sitting but are for most practical concerns considered irrelevant in the modern market.

Now that operators have the ability to develop sophisticated and targeted MMOs and a means to distribute them, the business model is very different.

Top MMO Games of - MMOBro

Distribution may be cheaper, but MMOs are increasingly competing for user attention, and so user expectations of what they exchange for their attention have changed.

Within this context there are two new mechanisms by which MMOs in todays market typically monetise: Subscriptions and Virtual Goods. A large proportion of western i. USA, Europe based MMOs are based on monthly subscriptions.

Customers pay the operator a monthly fee typically ranging from about GBP. The difference between this model and the older retail model is that the initial install version of the game is free. Users typically are given a gratis period in which to try out the game, or a limited sub-set of features, and they are encouraged to become subscribers.

This mechanism was popularised in the East i. In a virtual-goods based game, users are typically allowed to play the game as long as they want, but have the option of buying some form of property within the game. A virtual good might be something of tangible benefit to a player's character or a visual customisation.

Virtual good items are typical of small monetary 01p - 5. This model is sometimes called micro-transactions. Hybrid Some MMOs use a hybrid approach of subscription and virtual goods, either offering different versions of a game for subscribers or virtual goods buyers, or combining the two.

This trend toward sophistication throughout the methods available to monetise customers of MMOs is ongoing, but the hazard of a hybrid approach is that it can over-complicate the value proposition for the customer. Top Ten MMOs 1. Western MMORPG; client install with 3D graphics Revenue sources: Monthly subscription, retails sales, prepaid cards in Asia DFC estimated revenue: How Do MMOs Make Money?

Retail The early stages of the MMO market were dominated by a traditional and relatively unsophisticated commercial model.

Subscriptions A large proportion of western i. Virtual Goods Sales This mechanism was popularised in the East i. USD million-plus Read more on the next page Editor's Recommendation: Jail Parents For Giving Kids Violent Games?

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