Online gaming to post double-digit growth

Level Up! Philippines expects the local market for MMOGs (massively multiplayer online games) and MMORPGs (massively multiplayer online role-playing games) to grow with world demand.

“Being an industry still in its infancy, we expect double-digit growth in the market in the next year. The landscape has changed. A few years back it was only Ragnarok dominating the online games market. Content selection is much wider now so there will be more options for different types of gamers,” says Mary Jane Cruz-Walker, chief executive officer of Level Up! Inc. and first vice president for Internet Gaming in ePLDT, PLDT’s Internet arm.

MMORPGs are very popular throughout the world, with combined global memberships in subscription and non-subscription games exceeding 15 million as of 2006.

Park Associates expects US revenues from online gaming services to increase from $1.1 billion in 2005 to over $3.5 billion in 2009.

MMOGs and MMORPGS are expected to account for almost 50 percent of these expected revenues.

Level Up! has two business models: pay-to-play and free-to-play. For pay-to-play games like Ragnarok, RF Online, and Khan, players need to purchase Level Up! prepaid cards to extend or top up more game time.

Level Up! prepaid cards even allow players to convert credits to their game’s currency and purchase items like premium weapons and gears in the Level Up! Item Mall. 

Level Up! games like Pangya, FreeStyle, Flyff, Silk Road, R.O.S.E., and Perfect World are all free-to-play-games.

“Players will not be charged with any subscription fees and can enjoy playing these games for countless hours. The only time players need to purchase Level Up! prepaid cards is if they wish to buy more items from the Item Mall or make in-game transactions — like in Silk Road online, wherein one of the game’s main features is the acquisition of silk to trade or barter for premium weapons and items,” explains Walker.

She describes Level Up! clients as “casual and hardcore gamers, from teenagers to young adults.”

Casual gamers are those who play occasionally and simply just want to have a great time playing the game.

Hardcore gamers are much more dedicated to the game and are very competitive. Yet, there are also older gamers out there, 50-year olds who love and enjoy playing Level Up! games.

Walker says, “Level Up’s mantra has always been: Everyone’s a gamer, some of us just don’t know it yet. Being the pioneer and leader in the industry, we take it as our responsibility to grow the playing community by bridging the gap between the average Joe and online entertainment that are truly world class.”

Level Up! Philippines is a subsidiary of ePLDT, which has a 60 percent majority share. Level Up! International Holdings Pte. Ltd. with stakes in Level Up! Brazil and Level Up! India, remains to have a 40 percent ownership in the Philippines. Level Up! International Holdings is led by chief executive Aloysius B. Colayco who founded the company in 2002.