Brain Hood

Analysts at DFC Intelligence estimates that revenues for the online gaming market worldwide will reach $ 29 billion in 2016, up 84 percent from $ 15.7 billion reported in 2010.

His final report on the online games market estimates, the majority of revenues ($ 23 billion in 2016, or 88 percent) remains to be PC games online. About $ 17 billion coming from subscriptions, online, and the use of virtual goods, with consumer acceptance of the latter is said to be increasingly “fast”.

The firm has raised its overall online game industry forecast slightly, though it has lowered its console forecast in the process. While dedicated game consoles are expected to embrace online business models more in the coming years, growth in this sector is slower than the firm expected.

“The Wii U is the only new console system on the horizon and Nintendo has never had a major focus on online games,” said DFC analyst David Cole. “More importantly the short lifecycle and fragmented nature of console hardware can make it hard for companies to try creative new business models.”

The recent attacks on the PlayStation Network from Sony can also be caused by console manufacturers to “take a more conservative attitude” towards online gaming, according to DFC.

Adult entertainment company Playboy has decided to step into video gaming scene. Fiercely popular for its adult-content centric magazines, websites and videos, Playboy is going to launch a new video game label later this year. Paul H. Lee, Playboy’s managing director for new digital ventures, told paidContent that this game label is a part of the wider digital strategy to make the Playboy brand a more mainstream concept. The company has currently tied up with German online games developer Bigpoint whose crime fantasy game Poisonville is featured on Playboy’s website.

Playboy intends to get into massive multiplayer online game (just like Farmville and not Dungeons & Dragon Online) and the game label will be launched before the end of this year. “According to Playboy user feedback, we know our audience is interested in online videogames…so we’re thrilled to launch a formal videogame label later this year that will meet their needs,” Lee added.

At this moment, Playboy will be promoting MMO action game Poisonville that is set in a fictional U.S. city. The gamer is required to complete a series of missions to gain respect and fight against corruption, just like in GTA or any crime-corruption game. During these missions, the protagonist will have close encounters with women who have full Playboy potential (you know what we mean…). Lee added that, “Playboy’s gaming interests included a few licensing deals and some editorial in the form of gaming reviews. But there was no clear, over-arching strategy in place. With Bigpoint, we’ve established a clear path in terms of where we want to go.”

This is a big step for Playboy who’s widely popular for adult and explicit content to foray in gaming for masses. You can start playing the new action game Poisonville right now. Note that this game is currently in its beta stage.