The Scale of Impact - Social Games Online [Infographic]

Social games have witnessed skyrocketing global growth in recent years and are nicely cruising to capture almost 50% of video games market by 2016.  According to a market study by Transparency Market Research, social gaming market is expected to reach US$17.40 billion by 2019, up from US$5.40 billion in 2012. 

Most online social game genres, like social casino, role-playing, fall in the category of freemium games - free to download and register. The most popular monetization method used by Freemium game developers to monetize their social gaming apps or websites is In-App Purchases. In this method, players earn/buy virtual credits using real-world money to quickly reach advanced levels or to accumulate power-ups or buy virtual gifts/goods to share with fellow players.

Apart from developers inclining more towards the Freemium model, a clear trend in the industry is the shift towards Mobile. Number of mobile internet users have already surpassed the numbers of PC internet users. Following this trend, mobile gaming has also emerged as a game changer in social gaming market and is enticing many game developers to make hefty investments in mobile social gaming ventures.  

Check out the infographic below for some significant stats.