Social games are gaining popularity and witnessing increased demand across different application sectors such as Web, smartphones, tablets and phablets, among others, according to a 2014 Research and Market report.
The report states that due to the continuous growth in sales of smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices, global market for social gaming was valued at $5.4 billion in 2012 and is expected to reach $17.4 billion by 2019, growing at a compound annual interest of 16.1% during the forecast period from 2013 to 2019.
Individuals and console based game manufacturers and designers have started recognising the potential and importance of social networking sites, which is, in turn, contributing to the growth of social games, says the report.
On average, it adds, 200 million active users play games online and the number is expected to increase with each passing year. With the increase in social network users, the number of people likely to sign up for social games is expected to increase.
The approximate number of monthly active users in 2012 was over 200 million and it's expected to double by 2019. Social game publishers, according to Research and Market, are in a constant mode for development and redesigning the games as users tend to get bored playing the same game over and over again.
It points out that to meet the demands of the users, organisations are designing games of different genres, such as casino games, virtual villages, sport role playing games, social role playing games and ownership games, among others. Casino and virtual village games are quite popular among the gamers, notes the report.
Women and people of age group 19 to 25 years are the largest end-users of social games, with Asia Pacific named the largest regional market for social gaming as it is the region with the largest population and the demand for mobile devices is on the rise.
It is expected that, in 2014, one third of Internet users are likely to take to social gaming and that free games on the Net will also drive growth in social gaming market.
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