That doesn't seem too farfetched too, considering that as of 2009, it's already gone past the US$ 5 billion mark. Blizzard is deemed responsible for "the slowly growing US and European markets".

Said Martin Olausson, Strategy Analytics firm director, "Faced with fierce competition from social games and console video games, MMORPG in the Western market has already shown signs of a slowdown. The traditional subscription model that most western MMORPGs adopt has lost traction and growth momentum."

Meanwhile, Asia remains to be the main hub for MMORPG market growth, thanks to Shanda, NetEase, Nexon and NCsoft. Noted Jia Wu, the firm's analyst:

"Contrary to the flattening Western market, the Asia MMORPG market has grown immensely since 2007, due to the successful virtual items-based revenue model. As more Asian online game companies target US and European markets, they will become a formidable force in the global gaming industry."

Via [Big Download]

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