Of course, this is a reference to the Universe chart, our virtually Read more]]> ‘But where is World of Warcraft?’ is something we get asked a lot.

Of course, this is a reference to the Universe chart, our virtually famous visualisation tool for the virtual world and MMO sectors. The Universe chart focusses mainly on social worlds as opposed to roleplay-driven 3D environments.

However, as we know, the lines are increasingly blurred between these categories. So, often people see the Universe chart and assume World of Warcraft would be included because of the high levels of brand awareness and generalist classification view that it’s a virtual world. But, to date we’ve steered away from role-play worlds and therefore the older demographics playing these games in massive numbers.

We’re delighted to announce that we’re putting the finishing touches to the RPG Galaxy chart. This chart (and segments) will show cumulative registered accounts for the following game types:

• MMORPG: Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game
• FPS: First Person Shooter
• ARTS: Action Real Time Strategy
• MOBA: Multiplayer Online Battle Arena
• MOR: Multiplayer Online Racing

Each game/world is shown in terms of account totals and the average player age. If you’ve not seen the Universe chart before, here’s some background:

• We show cumulative registered accounts and not active users or subscriptions. The latter two are in most cases sensitive data and companies are understandably reluctant to publish or provide the numbers (unless they’re chest-beating)
• We strive to obtain data directly from the companies or from approved press releases / articles
• In some cases we estimate the account totals
• The charts are updated quarterly

The full Radar chart can be ordered here.

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KZero on Read more]]> KZero Radar Q1 2012

The KZero Radar Read more]]> Here we go folks, we’re delighted to announce that we’ve updated the Radar chart based on Q1 2012 data, sponsored by vWoGo.

The KZero Radar chart tracks virtual worlds and kids MMOs by genre and operational status (live, closed beta or closed). As ever, it’s a busy chart due to continued signs of strong growth in the sector.

Shown below is the segment covering education/development, fashion/lifestyle and music. The educational sector in particular is extremely hot right now both in terms of new entrants prepping for launch, existing worlds expanding their user bases and importantly, improved monetization both in terms of paying user conversions and ARPPU’s.

The full Radar chart can be ordered here.

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Created by a company called ILoveRobots, Read more]]> Following the trend to link toys and virtual worlds together, here’s a new example of exactly that called Mechatars.

Created by a company called ILoveRobots, spun out of Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute, Mechatars is a toy line consisting of three different robots (Alpha, Wrexx and Kodar). The price point is $39.99. And, clearly the company is keen to promote the different ‘attitudes’ of each toy because they even have their own twitter accounts.

Accompanying the physical toy range is a virtual world called the Mechaverse. Progression through levelling within the virtual world opens up and enables additional features from the real world toy. CEO Martin Hitch states:

“We’re the first company that has successfully connected physical products with virtual environments,” he said. “We’re the first company that has been able to make our product evolve over time.”

The play mechanic is primarily ‘battling and fighting’, similar to UK property Fight My Monster. Here’s one of their launch videos and a link to the full press release.

Our latest report – The Golden Triangle, explains the opportunties available for toys and virtual worlds. Here’s an extract from the report highlighting the strategies.

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