Analyst: Games Industry To Reach $49 Billion By 2011

According to a new PricewaterhouseCoopers report, the video game industry is set to see above-average growth, reaching $48.9 billion by 2011, with Asia leading all other regions, as in-game advertising spikes, and despite a decline in PC game sales. The new "Global Entertainment and Media Outlook" report, as summarized by entertainment publication The Hollywood Reporter, says the games market will see compound annual growth of 9.1 percent over the next five years, ahead of the 6.4 percent expected for the overall entertainment market. The report says online and wireless games, console spending, and in-game advertising will lead growth in the industry. By region, the report says Asia will see the highest overall spending to reach $18.8 billion in five years, followed by the combined regions of Europe, Middle East, and Africa, with the U.S. trailing to a respective $12.5 billion by 2011. The report also pegs the online and wireless sector to see the biggest U.S. gains from $1.1 billion in 2006 to $2.7 billion in 2011 for online, and a doubling from $499 million to $1 billion for wireless. Spending on console and handheld games is expected to jump over a billion dollars from $6.5 billion to $7.9 billion over the next five years, driven by the current generation of consoles, though the analyst group expects sales to slow 2 years from now. The PC game market will continue to decline, though, says the report from $969 million last year to $840 million by the end of the period. Finally, the report says in-game advertising will show dramatic growth from $80 million in 2006 to $950 million by 2011.