Social market 'worth $1bn this year'

The value of the social games market will rise to $1 billion before 2012, a research firm has claimed.

A study by eMarketer concluded that the social games space will rise by 28 per cent this year. The market was worth $856 million in 2010, it added.

This year, over 60 million net users in the US are expected to play a social game each month, eMarketer said.

These predictions come as a growing number of the games industry’s old guard begin to embrace social game platforms.