To be totally transparent here, I wrote a very similar article for an internal blog here at Publicis Modem a couple weeks ago. This isn’t the same article copied and pasted, rather I took the logic and arguments I used there and applied them to the blog post below. As that blog is not a public blog, I’d like to continue spreading my findings in public arenas. Thanks!

PopCap Games, of many fames including my favourite Bejeweled 2 and the awesomely titled, Plants vs Zombies, recently released their “2010 Social Gaming Research” report.

There were several surprising findings – at least to me – in this report. Among them was the fact that your typical social gamer was more than likely: female, possessing only a high school degree, with an annual income of under $50,000, and over 48. Coloured me surprised! I did not think that Farmville really extended beyond those college kids looking for the next distraction from studying. (The more I thought about it, though, the more it made sense.)

However the really big shock to me from this report was that, according to PopCap’s research, just under 33% have said they’ve spent real money on virtual currency or virtual gifts.

So I decided to put my Math Hat on. And for those that know me well, know I rarely – if ever – wear this hat. I mean, c’mon, math is the reason I’m in advertising and not accounting! (And for that I am eternally grateful every day to my 10th Grade Calculus teacher.)

So, as of February 26, 2010, the Farmville application has 82,565,873 active monthly users.

The minimum amount of money you can spend on anything in Farmville is $5.

So to be conservative, let’s say 30% of Farmville users spent $5 on something once a year. Highly doubtful that it would be a one time annual purchase but roll with me, folks. This, my friends, translates into annual sales for Zynga, the makers of Farmville, of over $123,848,810!

That’s just a little ridiculous, don’t you think? And these profits are just for the 82 million Monthly Active Users (MAU) that play Farmville! Think of all the other social gaming properties Zynga owns.

In fact, according to AppData.com, Zynga has over 241,429,522 MAU across all their gaming properties.

Based on our earlier assumptions, that’s easily over $362,144,283 in annual sales for the company!

No wonder they are one of the fastest growing social gaming companies in the world: Farmville? Pure cash cow, my readers.

Much like the cow I gave my roommate as a present back in my Dark Days (TM) of playing Farmville. But, you know. Without the cash part.