Euro digital market to hit $4.2b by 2015 - report

A new report authored by DFC Intelligence has pinned the expected digital revenues from the European games market as $4.2 billion by 2015, representing growth of 89 per cent over the $2.2 billion generated in 2010.

The report, entitled Monetizing the European Market for Virtual Currency, also features input from Skrill Holdings and Live Gamer, and examines transactions from 300,000 consumers across 27 countries - with "surprising" activity in some of the less developed online gaming nations.

"The European market is actually underserved when it comes to digital content," said DFC analyst David Cole. "We are finding that performance often comes down to how well a company is able to tackle the many local idiosyncrasies of consumer preferences for distribution and payment.

"When looking at the transaction data, one thing that stands out is the surprising activity from certain countries such as Romania," he went on. "However, when you understand that consumers in Romania have a sophisticated broadband and payment infrastructure in place it starts to make sense."

Of 2800 PC gamers surveyed, three-quarters had purchased and downloaded a full game, while in Romania alone the average consumer makes five purchases each year, with an average transaction cost of $24.