Market research firm In-Stat have gazed into their crystal ball, rolled some goat's knuckles and spilled some blood in a turtle shell to gaze into the distant future.
And in gazing, they have found not a cure for cancer, nor a blueprint for a viable flying car or plans for a Demolition Man sequel, but a picture of how much money is to be made from online gaming subscriptions and digital download revenue on the three major home consoles and two major handhelds.
Awfully specific, isn't it? Yet that's where the knuckles landed and the blood pooled, so that's what we're destined to know.
According to their findings, between 2005 and 2013, this combined market will increase in size by around 20%. Doesn't sound like much, but it does when you consider that, as part of that forecast, In-Stat believe that, by 2013, Xbox Live should be raking in over $1 billion a year. That's a lot of money to pull in through Xbox Live Gold subscriptions and digital download content.
Here's hoping Microsoft (and the rest of us) live to see that kind of money, and aren't trapped in underground salt mines toiling away for our new alien overlords, or fighting for our survival against an army of machines bent on our ultimate destruction...after all, 2013 isn't "soon", it still sounds like it's the distant future.
Online Gaming Subscribers to Increase 20%, While Game Console Equipment Sales Fall [In-Stat]