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December 19, 2001
ON FIRST ANNIVERSARY, BEJEWELED REIGNS AS KING OF CASUAL ONLINE GAMES
Players Log More Than 81 Million Hours, Crowning Zone.com's Bejeweled 2001's No. 1 Online Game
One year ago today, Zone.com quietly launched "Bejeweled," a casual online game where players clear away clusters of three gemstones to advance -- and a phenomenon was born. From modest first day numbers of 8,671 unique players to an average day of 405,700 games executed, "Bejeweled" proved to be wildly addictive, and easily the most popular game on the Internet. In fact, during its first year, players logged more than 81 million hours, or the equivalent of 9,315 YEARS of game play. Not bad, considering each game lasts an average of five minutes.
While "Bejeweled" is the hottest of the hot, it is only part of a growing trend. Statistics show that online games are exploding in popularity, and casual games play a major role in regularly attracting 58.4 million Internet users-more than 50 percent of the Internet's total user population-to games sites such as Zone.com. Players spend an average of 107 minutes per month on game-related Web sites, the highest for any online category, beating out e-mail, adult content, news and online trading sites (see graph below).*
As Zone.com's diamond in the rough, "Bejeweled" attracted new and diverse players and helped catapult casual online gaming into previously-untapped audience segments, including: women, 8-to-5ers, and entertainment seekers. In particular, the easy-to-execute and simple-to-learn free** casual games attract the 8-to-5 crowd by offering a quick "at work" diversion. Confirming that "Bejeweled" is the favorite "lunch break game," peak play hours are between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday thru Friday, with heaviest traffic at 1 p.m. PST.
Go ahead, take a break from the daily grind with a quick game of "Bejeweled." Or sample one of the other popular online games such as "Atomica" or "Alchemy," all of which are played at www.zone.com. We won't tell the boss.
Categorical Monthly Online Usage
*Source: Jupiter Media Metrix Digital Media Report, October, 2001
**Connection time charges may apply.