Worldwide Online Gaming Community Reaches 217 Million People

    LONDON, July 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- comScore (Nasdaq:   SCOR), a
 leader in measuring the digital world, today released the results of a
 global study into online gaming, showing the number of unique visitors to
 these sites to have reached almost 217 million worldwide -- a year-on-year
 growth of 17 percent.
     The comScore World Metrix study took into account all sites that
 provide online or downloadable games, excluding gambling sites. The sector
 attracted 28 percent of the total worldwide online population in May and
 recorded an average of 9 visits per visitor. Said Bob Ivins, EVP and
 managing director of comScore Europe:
     "With one in four Internet users visiting a gaming site, playing games
 online is extremely popular. The fact that these websites are pulling in
 over a quarter of the total worldwide Internet population shows what a
 global phenomenon gaming has become. The potential of the online gaming
 arena should be especially appealing for advertisers, as the average online
 gamer visits a gaming site 9 times a month."
     Yahoo! Games was the largest property, attracting 53 million unique
 visitors. MSN Games followed in second place, having grown by 16 percent
 since May 2006 to reach 40 million unique visitors in May 2007. Both
 properties provide a mixture of strategy, trivia, arcade, and board games,
 with puzzle and card games proving to be the most popular choices for
 gamers in both cases.
     The fastest-growing Top 10 gaming property was WildTangent Network, a
 US company that makes online and downloadable games, which grew by 398
 percent year-on-year to attract 11.5 million unique visitors in May 2007.
 The site also attracted an average 12.2 visits per visitor, notably higher
 than any of the other top 10 gaming properties.
     Regional Breakdown of Top 10 Worldwide Gaming Properties
     Ranked by Worldwide Unique Visitors
     May 2007 vs. May 2006
     Total Worldwide, Age 15+ - Home and Work Locations*
     Source: comScore World Metrix
 
                               Total Unique Visitors (000)        May 2007
           Property
                                                                       Average
                                                      %          %   Visits per
                               May-06     May-07    Change     Reach   Visitor
 
        Total
         Internet :
         Total Audience       705,644    771,997      9.4      100.0     54.8
        Online Gaming         185,992    216,715     16.5       28.1      8.9
     1  Yahoo! Games           52,969     52,796     -0.3        6.8      4.2
     2  MSN Games              34,915     40,335     15.5        5.2      2.5
     3  MINICLIP.COM           25,554     30,249     18.4        3.9      3.8
     4  EA Online              30,525     21,220    -30.5        2.7      9.3
     5  Shockwave.com Sites       N/A     15,689      N/A        2.0      2.5
     6  FREEONLINEGAMES.COM    10,050     13,660     35.9        1.8      2.3
     7  ADDICTINGGAMES.COM        N/A     13,161      N/A        1.7      4.7
     8  RealArcade Sites       15,950     12,520    -21.5        1.6      2.7
     9  Zylom                   7,271     12,471     71.5        1.6      5.7
     10 WildTangent Network     2,329     11,584    397.5        1.5     12.2
 
     *  Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access
        from mobile phones or PDAs.
     The popularity of individual properties varied significantly between
 geographical locations. Yahoo! Games dominated the North American and
 Asia-Pacific continents, registering 18.7 million and 20.9 million unique
 visitors respectively. In Europe however, the Yahoo! property proved to be
 the fourth-most popular gaming site with 8.6 million unique visitors. MSN
 Games, the second-most popular gaming site in the world, was more
 consistent in geographical take-up, proving to be either the most or the
 second-most popular site in every geographical location.
     Regional Breakdown of Top 10 Worldwide Gaming Properties
     Ranked by Worldwide Unique Visitors
     May 2007
     Total Worldwide, Age 15+ - Home and Work Locations*
     Source: comScore World Metrix
 
          Property                     Total Unique Visitors (000)
                                                                        Middle
                                              North    Latin    Asia-    East -
                          Worldwide  Europe  America  America  Pacific  Africa
 
        Total
         Internet :
         Total Audience    771,997   222,924 177,455   53,042   283,519  35,058
        Online Gaming      216,715    66,371  61,498   13,539    65,230  10,077
     1  Yahoo! Games        52,796     8,607  18,680    2,598    20,920   1,990
     2  MSN Games           40,335    13,833  12,304    4,853     6,822   2,522
     3  MINICLIP.COM        30,249    13,430   7,150    2,554     5,332   1,782
     4  EA Online           21,220     5,663  11,533      773     2,683     568
     5  Shockwave.com Sites 15,689     4,818   5,353    1,514     3,267     738
     6  FREEONLINEGAMES.COM 13,660     6,111   2,568      996     2,972   1,013
     7  ADDICTINGGAMES.COM  13,161     2,873   8,663      167     1,185     273
     8  RealArcade Sites    12,520     2,934   6,174      515     2,361     537
     9  Zylom               12,471    10,398     819      552       484     218
     10 WildTangent
         Network            11,584     3,615   5,940      384     1,457     188
 
     *  Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access
        from mobile phones or PDAs.
     About comScore
     comScore, Inc. (Nasdaq:   SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the
 digital world. This capability is based on a massive, global cross-section
 of more than 2 million consumers who have given comScore permission to
 confidentially capture their browsing and transaction behavior, including
 online and offline purchasing. comScore panelists also participate in
 survey research that captures and integrates their attitudes and
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 www.comscore.com.
 
 

SOURCE comScore