A new study released today by Adobe Digital Index shines light on a massive market that most marketers have yet to tap into: The gaming industry.

1. GAMING TRENDS 2015
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX

2. Table of contents
Report
03 Key insights
04 Gaming visits on the rise
05 E3 expo spurs growth, and strong social engagement
06 Pre-Orders increasing pressure on developers to deliver
07 Games generating more blockbusters than movies?
08 Is VR really the next big thing?
09 Apple sets sights on younger gamers
10 eSports overtake traditional sports
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | Gaming Trends 2015 2
Appendix
11 Methodology
12 Glossary
13
Tables

3. Examining insights around the Gaming Trends in 2015.
Analytics
• Gaming visits are up 8% year-over-year, tablets visits are up 23% year-over-year.
• Gaming revenue reaches near holiday number in June, just 13% shy.
• Gaming revenue is up 4% year-over-year.
• Major game titles orders are up 24%, and revenue is up 33%.
Social
• Video Games social mentions on release day are nearly double that of blockbuster movies.
• Facebook's Oculus takes 62% of Q3 VR device social mentions.
• Gaming was only 4% of Apple TV's Sept 9th announcement Social Mentions, Siri and iPad Pro took the lions share.
• Guitar Hero Live (32%) and Crossy Road (26%) received the most social mentions of the game titles mentioned announcement day.
• MOBA's have surpassed the NFL, NHL, MLB in Facebook Official Page Likes.
3
Key insights
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | Gaming Trends 2015

4. Gaming visits on the rise
Gaming visits are up 8% year-over-year as of August,
tablet visits are up 23%.
Higher powered tablets are freeing gamers from a
desktop only experience.
4ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | Gaming Trends 2015

5. E3 expo spurs growth, and strong social engagement
Gaming revenue generated from E3 (Electronic
Entertainment Expo) in June, was only 13% shy of
November 2014 (holiday shopping.)
Comparing August 2014 to 2015, revenue is up 4%.
E3 generated 3.5M social engagements (6/14-6/18).
5ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | Gaming Trends 2015

6. Pre-Orders increasing pressure on developers to deliver
ADI compared 5 major game titles of 2014, to the 2015 titles (June–August).
6
2014
Destiny
COD: Advanced Warfare
Halo: Master Chief Collection
Assassin’s Creed Unity
Far Cry 4
2015
Call of Duty: Black Ops 3
Fallout 4
Assassin’s Creed Syndicate
Halo 5: Guardians
Rise of the Tomb Raider
Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 lead pre-orders this year, followed by Fallout 4.
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | Gaming Trends 2015

7. Games generating more blockbusters than movies?
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain sold just over
179M in revenue its first day.
The highest grossing movie (of all time) in terms of
opening day revenue, Harry Potter and the Deathly
Hallows Part 2 brought in 91M.
7
Budget
250M
80M
Opening Day
(Globally)
84M
179M
Over/Under
Opening Day
(156M)
99M
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Metal Gear Solid V
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | Gaming Trends 2015

8. Is VR really the next big thing?
Microsoft’s Hololens is focused on
bringing gaming into reality. The HTC
Vive, Sony Morpheus & Facebook's
Oculus are all aimed at immersing you
in a virtual world.
VR devices have not hit the retail market
yet, but they are gaining ground socially.
8ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | Gaming Trends 2015

9. Apple sets sights on younger gamers
Apple is aiming to bring gaming apps to the small screen. We analyzed the Sept 9th announcement mentions, and found
that the term “gaming” took 4% of social buzz.
Guitar Hero Live received the most mentions (32%) of all the titles that were mentioned during Apples announcement,
Crossy Road (26%) nipping at the heels in second.
Skylanders and Disney Infinity both carry an ESRB Rating of “Everyone 10+”, Crossy Road an E rating, and Guitar Hero Live a
Teen rating, which is generally suited for ages 13+.
9ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | Gaming Trends 2015

10. eSports overtake traditional sports
The monthly players of League Of Legends would fill the Dallas Cowboys
stadium 603 times over, the monthly players of DOTA 2 100 times over.
I hope people car pool!
10
Game
League of Legends
DOTA 2
Unique Players
67M
11M
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | Gaming Trends 2015
The average age of the top MOBA's is only
3 years (League of Legends, DOTA 2,
Smite, and Heroes of the Storm.)
Each title is free-to-play, but have their
own nuances, For example:
DOTA 2 gives you access to all 110 Heroes
for free.
Smite expanded game play to consoles
this year.

11. 11
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX
Methodology
Based on consumer data comprising of 4B+ global visits between 2014 and 2015. Composed of
aggregated and anonymous data from visits to websites in multiple industries and segments.
Report based on (20)+ million engagements (mentions, likes, shares, “official” page likes and followers.)
Blogs, Facebook, G+, Reddit, Twitter, Dailymotion, Flickr, Instagram, Tumblr, VK, Disqus, Foursquare,
Metacafe, Wordpress, and YouTube. Social engagements is publically available based on a aggregate total.
Data from Adobe Marketing Cloud Solutions leveraged: Adobe Social, Adobe Analytics.
Visit our website: adobe.ly/digitalindex
Read our blog: adobe.ly/digitalindex
Follow us: @adobeindex
Ask a question or make a suggestion: digindex@adobe.com
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | Gaming Trends 2015

12. 12
• Gaming: Web related visits and revenue related to gaming websites.
• MOBA: Multiplayer Online Battle Arena.
• Pre-Order: Purchasing a game prior to it's release.
• VR: Virtual Reality.
• E3: Electronic Entertainment Expo.
• Social Mentions: The volume of comments, from a particular word or phrase.
• eSports: Competitive video game tournaments.
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | Gaming Trends 2015
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX
Glossary

13. 13ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | Gaming Trends 2015
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX
Tables
Gaming visits by device
Jun-14 Jul-14 Aug-14 Sep-14 Oct-14 Nov-14 Dec-14 Jan-15 Feb-15 Mar-15 Apr-15 May-15 Jun-15 Jul-15 Aug-15
Smartphone 100.00% 95% 104% 112% 109% 101% 82% 91% 107% 96% 106% 117% 101% 101% 94%
Desktop 100.00% 103% 109% 105% 103% 96% 85% 94% 112% 110% 116% 115% 116% 110% 118%
Tablets 100.00% 93% 96% 113% 114% 103% 92% 100% 117% 112% 126% 130% 129% 121% 119%
Average 100.00% 97% 103% 110% 109% 100% 86% 95% 112% 106% 116% 121% 115% 111% 111%
Gaming revenue growth
Jun-14 Jul-14 Aug-14 Sep-14 Oct-14 Nov-14 Dec-14 Jan-15 Feb-15 Mar-15 Apr-15 May-15 Jun-15 Jul-15 Aug-15
Revenue 100.00% 118% 148% 132% 121% 175% 151% 147% 142% 136% 100% 121% 163% 110% 151%
Major game titles pre-orders
2014 2015
Orders 100% 124%
Revenue 100% 133%
Social emotions around pre-orders
Joy 18%
Admiration 18%
Fear 1%
Surprise 9%
Sadness 33%
Disgust 16%
Anger 3%
Anticipation 2%
Social mentions on release day
Avengers: Age of Ultron 41,326
Metal gear solid V 78,684
VR device social mentions
Mentions
July 209,599
August 225,813
September 364,021

14. 14ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | Gaming Trends 2015
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX
Tables
Q3 VR device share of social mentions
Mentions
Facebook’s Oculus 62%
HTC Vive 2%
Sony Morpheus 14%
Microsoft Hololens 22%
Apple TV announcement social mentions
Gaming 4%
iPad Pro 14%
iPhone 6S 5%
Siri 11%
App 9%
Remote 6%
Watch 5%
Live Tv 4%
iOS 3%
Pencil 2%
Upgrade 1%
Other 28%
Apple TV share of game social mentions
Skylanders 5%
Disney 17%
Guitar Hero Live 32%
Beat Sports 11%
Geometry Wars 3%
Rayman 7%
Crossy Road 26%
How MOBA’s measure up to traditional sports
Facebook Likes 30 Day Avg Mentions
MOBA 18,953,910 944,813
NFL 12,374,729 7,393,000
NBA 27,360,686 2,888,497
NHL 3,843,682 3,843,682
MLB 6,261,371 6,261,371