London - One in four Internet users worldwide are online gamers, or a total of nearly 217 million people, according to a new report from Internet measurement firm comScore.

The study included all destinations -- excluding gambling sites -- that provide online or downloadable games, which collectively showed audience growth of 17% from a year ago.

The online gaming sector attracted 28% of the total worldwide online population in May, and recorded an average of 9 visits per visitor.

"The fact that these websites are pulling in over a quarter of the total worldwide Internet population shows what a global phenomenon gaming has become," said Bob Ivins, managing director of comScore Europe.

"The potential of the online gaming arena should be especially appealing for advertisers, as the average online gamer visits a gaming site 9 times a month."

Among online gaming sites, Yahoo was the largest, attracting 53 million unique users in May, followed by MSN Games, which counted 40 million users; puzzle and card games were the most popular titles at both sites.

WildTangent was the fastest-growing Top 10 gaming property, registering 398% year-on-year growth to hit 11.5 million users in May; the site also led the pack with an average 12.2 visits per visitor.

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http://www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=1521