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Advertising in Video Games Facts and Forecasts Released Forecasts Call for $800 million Advertising in Games Market in 2009, $1 Billion in US by 2010 (April 18, 2005) The Game Initiative announced today that 250 executives from advertising agencies, game developers and publishers participated in the first annual Advertising in Games Forum on April 14, 2005 in New York City. The audience consisted primarily of advertising agency executives seeking to understand the market opportunities and expectations. Earlier in the week Massive Incorporated announced its game advertising network and IGN Entertainment signaled its entry into the advertising in games business.

A number of key facts, figures and estimates were provided to the audience by leading industry experts at the Advertising In Games Forum.  Highlights include:

* The Yankee Group forecasted advertising in games is expected to rise to $800 million in 2009 from nearly $120 million in 2004.



*  $266 Million, or more than one-third of advertising in games in 2009, will come from "advergaming," when advertisers create a game around a product rather than place their brands within a well-known title, according to Yankee Group senior analyst Mike Goodman at the Advertising In Games Forum.

*  Mitch Davis, chief executive of video game ad network Massive Inc., told the audience video game advertising would top $1 billion in the United States by 2010, and approach $2.5 billion worldwide.

*  There are 100 million game capable cell phones are currently in the marketplace. 65% of the population owns a cell phone.  And the turn over or replacement rate of cell phones is every 16 months, reported Anita Frazier, Entertainment Industry Analyst, NPD Group, at the Advertising In Games Forum. Every cell phone being sold on the market today is game capable. So within 16 months all cell phones in the marketplace should be game capable.

*  The top selling 2004 game titles according to the NPD Group: 
1.  Grand Theft Auto San Andreas – 5.5 million sold since launch
2.  Halo 2 on X box – 4.5 million units sold since launch
3.  Madden NFL 2004 on PS 2 – 3.5 million units sold since launch
4.  ESPN NFL 2K5 –1.6 million units sold since launch
5.  Need for Speed Underground 2 –1.7 million units since launch

*  Top selling PC title of 2004:  Sims 2 with 750,000 units sold., reported NPD Group at the Advertising In Games Forum

*  Best selling game title of all time:  Grand Theft Auto Vice City with 6.5 million units, followed very closely by Super Mario 64 on the N64 which is about 6.0 milllion units, according to Anita Frazier, Entertainment Industry Analyst, NPD Group, at the Advertising In Games Forum.

Advertising in Games Forum was the first conference where advertisers, publishers and game makers will come together to outline the opportunities and challenges of ads in games, and explore together the most effective way to take advantage of games as a platform while benefiting the consumer.

The Advertising In Games Forum East was sponsored by Massive, Inc., Alias Systems, Microsoft Game Studios, WildTangent, Mary-Margaret.com, GameSpot, GameDev.net, Moby Games, The Bohle Company, XFIRE, Inc., and Business Wire.

About The Game Initiative

The Game Initiative is a leading producer of conferences and events for professionals in the computer and video game industry. The Initiative is chartered with the growth of the industry through events, public awareness, information and supporting programs and serves the needs of companies and people involved in producing interactive entertainment software and hardware for video game consoles, handheld devices, personal computers and the Internet. Game Initiative events include the Austin Game Conference, the Women's Game Conference, The Advertising In Games Forum, The Casual Games Conference, Game Technology Association Meetings and the How to Break into the Game Industry national conference series. More information about the Game Initiative can be found at http://www.GameConferences.com

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