According to digital experts, online games provide a form of escapism for people during the difficult times, plus the internet provides near-free entertainment when disposable income is low. The number of visitors to online game sites rose by 29.9 per cent during the last quarter of 2008, compared with a 0.3 per cent decline during the same period the year before, according to data from ComScore. Miniclip, one of the largest free games website, has seen a rise in the number of its users to over 4.1m in UK and 50 million per month worldwide. The company which has just announced a partnership with Microsoft, claimes its major users are older net surfers who enjoy puzzles, satirical and political games. Rob Small, chief executive of Miniclip.com said: "Online games have grown so rapidly because they are accessible to everyone, predominantly free and fun to play. The potential audience is huge - anyone who has an internet connection. "In recent months we have seen accelerated growth as online games become a fun and cost effective alternative to expensive console games and other leisure activities during an economic downturn." It appears that online, ad-supported gaming is one of the activities that has benefited during this economic downturn,” said Edward Hunter, comScore director of gaming solutions. “Not only have consumers turned to outlets such as gaming to take their minds off the economy, but as they curtail their discretionary gaming-related purchases they are turning to free alternatives.” Miniclip gets over a billion gameplays a month. The most popular games are:
1. Commando (600m+ gameplays)
2. Trials 2 (460m+ gameplays)
3. Quick Fire Pool (220m+ gameplays)
4. Snow Line (200m+ gameplays)
5. Bloxorz (200m+ gameplays)
( www.telegraph.co.uk )
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