According to a pair of new surveys released by IDC and IDG Entertainment (IDGE), the booming market created by online-capable consoles means that online console download revenues will triple from $133 million in 2006 to $583 million in 2007, with bigger increases expected in the future.

Billy Pidgeon, IDC’s program manager for games research presented his report analyzing the booming popularity of online capable video game consoles, and projected that by 2008 the North American installed base of such consoles will be over 37 million units.

“By the end of 2007, over 31 percent of online capable video game consoles in North America will be in active online use by 14 million online console gamers,” said Pidgeon. “The increase in revenue derived from the online use of game consoles, including subscriptions (mostly Xbox Live), downloadable content, and advertising represents the largest growth in the console software sector. In North America alone, online console revenue will triple from $133 million in 2006 to $583 million in 2007. Consumers are increasingly purchasing games by non-traditional means such as downloads or subscriptions.”

LINK (via Gamasutra)