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A new research report from DFC Intelligence forecasts that 114 million people worldwide are expected to be playing and gambling at online games by the year 2006. Furthermore, online gambling usage is expected to increase nearly six-fold in that period. According to David Cole, president of DFC Intelligence, "online gambling should garner significant usage over the next few years. The major question mark is whether individual companies will be able to monetize that usage."

The report also discusses how top online gambling games are now able to generate revenue in excess of $100 million each. "The end of 2001 saw another major success story with the release of Mythic Entertainment's Dark Age of Camelot, one of the fastest selling online games of all-time. This could bode well for some of the big budget online games being released in 2002," said Cole. However, Cole also notes that the online game market is still in its infancy and already there are substantially more products in development than the market can support.

The report also looks closely at the issue of console online gambling. "Microsoft's Xbox Live service is probably the biggest investment in online games yet. It is likely to be a major indicator of the future of console online gambling," said Cole. The report goes into detail about the difference between Microsoft's approach to online gambling and Sony and Nintendo's approach. DFC forecasts that by 2006 23 million consumers worldwide will be playing console games online.

The 400 page report, The Online Game Market 2002, provides a complete market overview. Issues covered include the history of online games, gambling and business models, operating costs, technology considerations, online distribution, advertising, game genres, consumer types, playing online via video game console systems, and detailed company profiles. DFC Intelligence is a research firm focused on interactive and digital entertainment.