Analyst Colin Sebastian has estimated that online game revenues represent a quarter of the total worldwide video games market.

According his latest analyst note on this year’s E3 Expo, the Lazard Capital Markets analyst predicted that online titles such as World Of Warcraft will yield $11 billion as part of the overall revenues of $44 billion taken by the world’s games companies.

“Video games account for the largest portion of paid online content, well ahead of other forms of content, such as movies/video and newsprint,” he said.

“We estimate that online video games will generate more than $11 billion in revenues this year, up from £3 billion in 2005, and account for roughly 25 per cent of industry game sales worldwide.”

Sebastian also predicted 2009 may be the year in which “the pace of change in media consumption accelerated”, with 2010 and 2010 bringing “improved monetization and mass market adoption of web-based applications and digital content”.

“For video game publishers, the Internet platform not only provides room for additional revenue streams and higher ARPU, but also greater operating leverage and economies of scale,” he added.