Internet Gaming Surges In Economy Slump
According to figures released Friday by industry tracker comScore, U.S. videogamers are adapting to the rough economy by turning to low-cost online play.
About 87 million U.S. Internet users visited online videogame websites in May, which is a 22 percent increase from the year before, according to comScore.
The surge in online game play was attributed to people opting for "cheaper entertainment alternatives" during the economic slump.
Online play has grown 10 times as fast as the overall U.S. Internet population, according to comScore gaming solutions director Edward Hunter.
"Online gaming continues to be one of the top gaining categories over the past year," Hunter said.
"Growth in the category is occurring not only at the top gaming destination sites, but also through viral distribution platforms, including widgets and applications."
Yahoo Games was ranked the top spot for online play with a six percent climb than the year before, with traffic now showing 19.4 million visitors in the month of May.
Electronic Arts had visits to EA Online soar up 34 percent to 18 million, according to the industry tracker’s report.
Similar gaming sites, such as GameNinja.com, Y8.com and GSN Games Network, also saw similar surges in traffic.
Over two million people in North America have registered to play online first-person shooter game Combat Arms since its launch a year ago, according to game’s producer Nexon Corp.
"Nexon’s ‘Combat Arms’ reflects the continued growth of the free-to-play landscape and its potential in the North American marketplace," the company said in a statement.
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