AMSTERDAM/SÃO PAOLO, November 7, 2012 – Since the IPO of Zynga and Facebook, investors have questioned the growth potential of “social games”, or rather games played on social networks such as Facebook. Recent research and analysis of Newzoo confirms that spending on Facebook games in the US has stabilized. Despite a year-on-year growth of 17% in terms of players, the number of paying American social gamers has not grown and remains 19 million. On a global scale, the market continues to grow,  fueled by Asian and other growth markets such as Brazil. In terms of players Brazil shows year-on-year growth of 20%. The number of paying players has grown 26% to 8.1 million boosting total spending with 25%. Investors criticizing the potential of “social games” also seem to overlook the fact that social networks play a crucial role in the current games market, connecting games and gamers across all platforms or screens.

Infographic

Key findings related to social gaming in Brazil (versus the US) are depicted in an infographic:

English: http://www.newzoo.com/infographics/social-network-gaming-in-brazil-vs-the-us/

Portugese: http://www.newzoo.com/infographics/redes-de-jogos-sociais-no-brasil/

Social Gaming in Brazil

Almost half of the 200 million Brazilians now have access to the internet. Of those consumers, 60 million can be considered active users, going online at least several times a month. This is 17% more than a year ago. Most newcomers to the web use social networks as starting point. Also, most Brazilians have friends and family members outside of Brazil stimulating them to keep connected via social networks. Therefore, it is not surprising that gaming on social networks is so popular and growing at a faster pace than the internet penetration.

Moacyr Alves Júnior, president of ACIGAMES comments: “Our partner Newzoo gives us direct access to data on the continuously changing Brazilian games market. With this, we always an updated monitor of the Brazilian online and mobile games market, which will help even more in the development of this sector in our country".

Key Facts on Social Gaming in Brazil and the US

·         In 2012 the number of social network gamers in Brazil increased by 20% to 29.0m compared to a 17% in the US (88.9m social network gamers)

·         When it comes to paying players, Brazil saw an increase by 26% to 8.1m compared to the US that saw no increase, remaining at 18.9m “payers”

·         28% of the social network gamers in Brazil spends money on social network games, higher than the 21% share in the US.

Key Facts on Demographics & Preferences of Brazilan Social Gamers

·         Players consist of an equal amount of men and women (49% v 51%)  but when it comes to payers, males dominate (56% v 44%)

·         In Brazil, 21-35 year olds makeup the largest portion of players (47%) and payers (50%)

·         86% of Brazilian social network gamers play on Facebook and 31% plays on Orkut

·         38% of social gamers in Brazil social games developer Zynga, making it the most recognized international publisher brand, followed by GameHouse (19%) and King.com (17%)

·         Strategy is the most popular genre in both Brazil and the US

·         “Core” genres make up the top three in Brazil with action/adventure and race games in 2 ^nd and 3 ^rd place compared to “Casual” genres Puzzles and Quizzes/Trivia in the US.

Research

The research and analysis performed by Newzoo is partially based on a consumer research effort this September in the US and Brazil. This was part of a larger consumer research effort involving a total of 33,000 respondents across key Western and Emerging markets. Newzoo and its partners also involve transactional data on online and mobile games to provide the total picture. Newzoo clients cross-analyze over 200 topics on the Brazilian games market using the Newzoo Data Explorer.

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Newzoo ( www.newzoo.com), founded in 2007, is the international research and analysis firm focused purely on the global games market. It provides its clients with consumer, transactional and financial data to keep track of the total picture and put changes in the marketinto perspective. Newzoo’s clients include Wizards of the Coast, Plantronics, SEGA, Konami, Blizzard, GlobalCollect, EA, GameHouse, Microsoft and SpilGames. www.newzoo.com. Contact: Peter Warman, CEO Newzoo, peter@newzoo.com, +31 20 6635816, www.newzoo.com

ACI Games ( www.acigames.com), is a Brazilian association created with the objective of representing and regulating the electronic games industry and trade, as well as encouraging culturally the sector of games in Brazil and the debate about its role in the society, education and economic development. Contact: Moacyr Alves Júnior., President ACI Games, moacyr@acigames.com.br, +55 11 98704-7350, www.acigames.com