Health e-Games Market Report: - Physic Ventures

The $6.6 billion estimate reflects a bottom-up analysis
detailed in the Market Profile section below.
Health e-games leverage the easy-to-use, highly engaging
and interactive nature of electronic gaming to increase
health literacy, empower behavior change, and promote
professional education. The health e-games market is
comprised of four consumer categories and one professional,
including:
• Exergames
(e.g. fitness, coaching, health promotion)
• Brain Fitness
(e.g. cognitive fitness, brain training)
• Condition Management
(e.g. diabetes, asthma, cancer, pain management)
• Healthy Eating
(e.g. weight management, obesity)
• Professional Training
(e.g. simulations for training surgeons, pilots, soldiers)
Growth of the overall video gaming industry is expected
to be significantly impacted by the non-traditional gaming
markets which include serious games, casual games
and health e-games. The growth of the health e-games
segment is being fueled by two primary market forces:
(i) the popularity and commercial success of Nintendo’s
interactive exergames Wii and Wii Fit and (ii) the growth
of the casual gaming market. In fact, Nintendo’s guiding
corporate strategy driving their innovation is what their
executives call “productive entertainment.” Productive entertainment
is an experience that is fun, family oriented,
socially connecting and delivers a benefit. 3 The four
consumer health e-game categories would fall within the
definition of productive entertainment.
• Wii and Wii FIT EXERGAMES: Nintendo reports that
29.6 million Wii consoles have been sold worldwide
in just 19 months from the November 2006 launch
through June 2008, equating to approximately $8.9
billion in sales assuming a $300 average selling price,
or $5.6 billion annualized. Wii Fit sold 4.6 million units,
or approximately $622 million, in the 7-month period
December 2007 through July 2008 despite not
being released into the United States until May 2008.
Together, these exergaming products have generated
approximately $6.2 billion in annualized sales for
Nintendo and have forever changed the video gaming
industry. The Wii is so popular there is a website,
www.wiialerts.com, which alerts perspective buyers
to Wii availability.
• Casual Gaming: Another significant growth factor
is the mass acceptance of casual gaming which is
expanding the video game industry in new customer
segments. In particular, casual games are unlocking
market demand among women aged 30-50; driving a
20% annual growth of this $2.2 billion market.
Nintendo’s Brain Age and Brain Training, casual games
which are brain fitness health e-games, have sold 13
million units and generated approximately $260 million
in sales over the 34 month period May 2005 to
March 2008.
Product and Services
Health e-games include three primary product types: (i)
video games, (ii) immersive learning simulations and (iii)
virtual worlds. This report will primarily focus on consumer-facing
video games and will largely omit discussions
of professional-focused immersive learning simulations
and virtual worlds, which are used for training, military
preparation, 3D visualization of medical information and
other instruction. Health e-games are presented to users
through multiple platform types including consoles, computer,
online, and mobile (e.g. iPhone, Nintendo DS and
other mobile internet devices). More than 300 health
e-games are currently offered across multiple platforms.
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