Gaming $5 Bn revenue
By Sandhya

Just how lucrative social gaming will become?  International research firm Parks Associates, which works with a number of Fortune 500 companies, has publicly released its research.

Parks Associates forecasts revenues in the social gaming market will increase by five times from 2010 to 2015, due in large part to advertising revenues and sales of virtual items. These factors already pushed revenues over $1 billion in 2010, according to the international research firm, which will present research from the new report Social Gaming: Market Updates at the Game Investment Conference (GIC) in Austin, Texas, on April 13.

“Gaming on social networks has quickly become the most visible category of online games," said Pietro Macchiarella, Research Analyst, Parks Associates. "Right now more than 250 million people play games like Zynga's CityVille and FarmVille on Facebook every month, and both game developers and marketers have taken notice. Big brands such as McDonald’s and 7-Eleven have carried out cross-promotions with existing social games.”

Macchiarella adds the social gaming industry has improved user monetization. While early entrants often missed revenue opportunities, new gameplay innovations incentivize players to buy virtual items such as virtual tractors, seed, or rare swords to build status, improve the gaming experience, or gain a competitive edge.