An estimated 1.4 Billion US Dollars have been spent for massively multiplayer online game subscriptions across Europe and North America together.

A Screen Digest report has shown that last year, Europeans and North Americans had spent an estimated $1.4 billion for MMO subscriptions in total. That is a 22% increase from year 2007. Experts at Screen Digest say that despite the increased growth of the Asian online games market, where players instead of paying monthly fees buy items for money, the market still has five more years of growth.

Screen Digest’s senior analyst and head of games Piers Harding-Rolls had this to say:

Industry commentators have for some time been using the example of the Asian online games market to proclaim the death of subscription business models in the West, praising the accessibility and flexibility of free-to-access games that generate revenue by encouraging players to make micro-transactions as part of the gaming experience.

Source: SK Gaming