Influence of Digital World Creating Seismic Shift In Game Consoles, Says New Digital River White Paper

“2013 Game Changers” reveals how unboxed game market, mobile platforms and new options for publishers and developers are disrupting the game industry

(Graphic: Business Wire)

MINNEAPOLIS & NEW YORK--()--Digital River, Inc. (NASDAQ: DRIV) today announced the availability of its new white paper report, “2013 Game Changers: How will the next generation of consoles affect your business?” The free study provides a revealing look at the factors that are driving a fundamental shift in the games industry, led primarily by the growing influence of the digital world on platforms, distribution and game play.

Prepared for Digital River by SuperData Research, a leading provider of digital games research, “2013 Game Changers” provides a variety of actionable insights for businesses involved in the games industry. The findings are based on SuperData’s syndicated digital games sales data from 2.8 million monthly paying online gamers as well as its customized survey of 1,105 respondents conducted earlier this year. Highlights of the study include:

  • Unboxed versus boxed games—The surge in interest in digital distribution and browser-based game play has transformed gaming, as evidenced by the growth of unboxed sales from just $1 per capita (U.S.) in 2000 to $14 in late 2012.
  • Reversal in game devices—In 2008, just a few short years after the Xbox 360®, PS3 and Wii were released, consoles reigned supreme with 42 percent of gamers using them as their primary gaming device. Today, half of gamers use versatile PCs as their primary device. Handhelds and mobile devices have undergone a similar shift in popularity.
  • Publishers face multiple choices—With the impact of physical versus digital sales as well as new platforms like OUYA and Valve’s Steam Box influencing the market, publishers have to make bigger decisions than ever before. The wrong strategy can spell failure not only for individual titles, but devices and consoles as well.

“With so many factors impacting both gamers and industry participants, it is no surprise that platform, distribution and sales considerations—particularly game construction, monetization and consumer engagement—also are transforming,” said Jeff Hemenway, Digital River’s group vice president of global gaming. “We’ve been fortunate to support very successful transitions to the new digital and global age with some of our industry’s largest publishers and developers. We are constantly driven to help our clients plot and execute strategies to grow in this fast-paced environment.”

Click here http://bit.ly/19Hsfv1 to explore the next generation of the games industry with a free download of “2013 Game Changers: How will the next generation of consoles affect your business?”

About SuperData
SuperData is the leading market intelligence firm on the online, digital and mobile games industry.

SuperData collects digital point-of-sale data directly from publishers and developers to give customers unparalleled monthly insights into the unboxed games market. This allows the company to identify key trends, evaluate marketing spend, establish accurate revenue estimates and analyze market changes for popular digital games, including MMO, FPS, casino, digital console, virtual world, mobile and social games.

SuperData publishes industry-relevant key performance indicators. Using proprietary data set on 2.85 million paying online gamers, SuperData establishes monthly benchmarks such as monthly active users, conversion rates, ARPPU and revenue estimates for markets, genres, and titles. Customers use the data to evaluate their performance, identify key growth opportunities, assess revenue potential, optimize their efforts, and better understand their audience’s wants and needs. Clients include Activision/Blizzard, EA, Konami, Namco Bandai, Zynga, Wargaming and major Wall Street firms.

About Digital River, Inc.
Digital River, Inc. builds and manages online businesses for software and game publishers, consumer electronics manufacturers, distributors, online retailers and affiliates. Its multi-channel commerce solution, which supports both direct and indirect sales, is designed to help companies of all sizes maximize online revenues as well as reduce the costs and risks of running a global commerce operation. The company’s comprehensive platform offers site development and hosting, order management, global payments, cloud-based billing, fraud management, export controls, physical and digital product fulfillment, multi-lingual customer service, advanced reporting and strategic marketing services.

Digital River is headquartered in Minneapolis with offices across the U.S., Asia, Europe and South America. For more details about Digital River, visit the corporate website, follow the company on Twitter or call +1 952-253-1234.

Digital River is a registered trademark of Digital River, Inc. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners.

Twitter Tags: @DigitalRiverInc, #games, #whitepaper, @_SuperData
Tweet This: New @DigitalRiverInc #whitepaper by @_SuperData says the digital world is creating huge shifts for #games consoles http://bit.ly/19Hsfv1

Contacts

Media Contact:
Digital River, Inc.
Kristin McKenzie, +1 952-225-3718
Associate Director, Corporate Communications
publicrelations@digitalriver.com
or
SuperData Research
Sam Barberie, +1 646-375-2307
Director, Business Development
sam@superdataresearch.com
or
Investor Relations Contact:
Digital River, Inc.
Melissa Fisher, +1 952-225-3351
Vice President, Corporate Development, Investor Relations & Treasury
investorrelations@digitalriver.com

Contacts

Media Contact:
Digital River, Inc.
Kristin McKenzie, +1 952-225-3718
Associate Director, Corporate Communications
publicrelations@digitalriver.com
or
SuperData Research
Sam Barberie, +1 646-375-2307
Director, Business Development
sam@superdataresearch.com
or
Investor Relations Contact:
Digital River, Inc.
Melissa Fisher, +1 952-225-3351
Vice President, Corporate Development, Investor Relations & Treasury
investorrelations@digitalriver.com