Display and 3D specialist market research company Insight Media has published its latest report on the state of the 3D gaming market, predicting that there will be over 40 million 3D-capable displays in gamers homes' worldwide by 2014.
The estimate is important – as it is one of the first concrete bits of independent research that seems to be in agreement with the TV and gaming industry's own estimates about the growth of stereoscopic 3D gaming.
40 million 3D displays in 2014
Insight Media confidently states that the 3D gaming market is poised to grow from "a handful of 3D-capable displays and a few thousand gamers, to an expected worldwide market of over 40 million 3D-capable displays by 2014."
"We have played Stereoscopic 3D games for hundreds of hours and can report that the latest technology does not result in eye strain or fatigue," said Dale H. Maunu, lead analyst on the report.
"Our experience leads us to believe that S-3D gaming is more immersive and compelling than traditional gaming on a 2D screen, and it will help drive 3D adoption."
Sony claimed earlier this year that existing PS3 titles could be made playable in 3D form through the release of a system firmware update, though there are no immediate plans to make the move.
Andrew Oliver, co-founder and CEO of Blitz Games, is the UK industry's leading proponent of stereoscopic 3D technology, and he explains his own predictions for the growth of the market in this guest post he wrote for TechRadar earlier this year.
Expected market explosion
We spoke with Insight Media's PresidentChris Chinnock this week about the current state of the 3D TV and gaming industry, following the publication of the above-mentioned report2009 Stereoscopic 3D Gaming Report: A Comprehensive Analysis of S-3D Technology for Gaming.
"We have spent considerable time on our forecasting methodology and believe we have created something that is truly groundbreaking," said Chinnock.
"Our forecast approach is unique in its transparency; we provide all of the underlying assumptions and details that went into creating the forecast. After reviewing our forecast methodology, one of the leading display makers in the world called it, 'the most compelling forecast methodology we have ever seen.'"
Insight created three forecasts for the growth of the 3D TV market - Expected, Optimistic and Conservative forecasts. You can see more on the report on their website, but be warned, the whole thing will set you back a cool $5000.
