Game ads to hit $7.2 billion by 2016

DFC Intelligence anticipates that video game advertising will increase in prominence in coming years, reaching $7.2 billion in revenue by 2016.

The forecast comes care of DFC's new Advertising and Video Games report. The report states that "as an advertising medium, video games are underutilized" when compared to other forms of media.

According to the report, advertising in the North American video game market totaled $1 billion in revenue in 2010. This total consists of in-game advertising, around-game advertising, and advergame. By 2014, DFC expects advertising revenue for the market to exceed $2 billion by 2014 and $7.2 billion by 2016.

Advergames, referring to games which are used to advertised a product, organization or viewpoint, are expected to be a major contributing factor to the increasing level of advertising revenue. DFC anticipates advergaming will account for about 78% of total game advertising revenue in 2016.

"Video games have reached beyond adolescent males into a mainstream entertainment medium that touches every segment of the population," According to Michael Goodman, DFC analyst and lead researcher for the report. "Despite this, advertisers continue to under utilize video games as an advertising vehicle. This is slowly changing as more games go online."

"Video games, with their high degree of immersion and interactivity, are a natural solution for building brand awareness and influencing purchase decisions."

Thanks, IndustryGamers.