comScore today have released figures showing big increases in the number of people playing PC games online. Not the Crysis/Counter-Strike kind of online gaming, though. The Newgrounds kind of online gaming.

Wait, casual games? Yes, casual games. Sit down, you're about to learn something. Seems the number of Americans playing games on casual online gaming portals is up from 67 million in 2007 to 86 million in 2008. Besides more people playing, those playing are playing longer, comScore's research also finding that the total time spent is up 42% from 2007.

As for the most popular game portals, I know I said Newgrounds to ground you on the subject at hand, but it didn't make the top 10. Instead, the most popular sites were:

Still awake? Great! Last bit of news from the data is that, as the number of players increased, so too did the advertising presence/spend, with ad views up 29% to 8.6 billion.

OK. You can go now.

Game On! Online Gaming Surges as Gamers Seek Out Free Alternatives in Tight Economy [comScore, via VentureBeat]]

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