This fits nicely with Hunter's bold prediction for 2009: Gaming is going to become like movies and television. 'A' titles will exist that people are still willing to pay for--just like movies at the box office.
Companies that have 'A' title aspirations will send their games straight to DVD--cheaper pricing tiers. The rest, like television, will be subsidized by advertising. The games industry in general will have more ad-supported titles, and publishers will adopt a mix of monetization strategies.
Retail sales are slipping, according to e-commerce sites, reports Hunter. People are buying fewer $50 boxes. There is evidence of slight audience declines in World of Warcraft. Digitally delivered, ad-supported games are where the legions of unemployed or underemployed are spending their time.
And because of that, growth in online game players is currently surpassing the growth of Internet users by 22 percent.
Because of that, there is a need to measure everything, everywhere. No longer will companies be able to skirt by, claiming they have X amount of traffic. They'll need to prove their metric via third parties so that advertisers know how many impressions in-game ads receive.
That's because at this point, in-game advertising isn't only accepted, it is expected, says Hunter. "Monetization has changed," he declared. Gamers are highly engaged and valuable to advertisers.
Total ad spending is only a fraction in games as it is the rest of media, but traditional advertising's growth has fallen 23 percent year over year. In-game ad spending has increased 8 percent.
All these factors, says Hunter, have contributed to the explosion of free games. The browser is a fast way to deliver content to consumers, and digital, he says, is even becoming a consumer preference.