Study: Latin American Virtual Goods Sales To Reach $624M By 2014

Sales for in-game virtual goods in Latin America will nearly double from $336 million today to $624 million by 2014, according to a new report from digital goods analyst SuperData Research. The study, titled "Brazil’s Online Gaming Market", shows that Brazil accounts for over half of virtual good sales in Latin America, or around $165.5 million annually. SuperData predicts Brazil's virtual good sales will practically double by 2014, reaching $320 million. The group says it expects Brazil to be "a priority for game company executives" in the next 18 months, especially considering the increased attention the Latin American market is receiving from browser-based MMO publishers and social game companies. "Brazil is the crown jewel in Latin American market for online entertainment," says SuperData analyst Joost Van Dreunen, Ph.D. "Its preference for cash-based payment methods, for example, directly benefits publishers’ bottom-line by avoiding costly charge backs." Van Dreunen adds, "With declining margins between acquisition cost and average revenue per user in more developed markets, Brazil presents a financially sound opportunity for continued growth." Behind Brazil, SuperData ranks Colombia ($44 million annually), Mexico ($42.5 million), Argentina, ($19.1 million), Peru ($15.4 million), Chile ($13.3 million), and Venezuela ($11.9 million) as the six biggest revenue-generating countries in the region right now. For the study, the research firm surveyed some 500 online gamers in Brazil, and measured almost 200,000 unique virtual good transactions across massively multiplayer online titles, first-person shooters, social games, casual games, and virtual worlds.