Gaming industry is boosting the economy.

LOG · Aug 10, 2010

So says the ESA.
Three separate articles:
Original/source (My Adobe Reader doesn't like it, keeps getting errors.)
Summary
Condensed

AUGUST 10, 2010 - WASHINGTON, DC - The computer and video game industry added nearly $5 billion to the U.S. economy in 2009, according to a new study released today by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA). The study, Video Games in the 21st Century: The 2010 Report, also found that the entertainment software industry's real annual growth rate from 2005 to 2009 exceeded 10 percent, more than seven times the growth rate of the U.S. economy as a whole.

Though the US gaming industry took a turn for the worse in 2009, it still generated heaps of money for the businesses involved. According to the NPD Group, total 2009 retail hardware, software, and accessory sales amounted to nearly $20 billion in the US. Factoring in used games, online sales, downloadable content, and mobile sales, NPD's software figure alone ballooned to more than $15 billion.

The report also found:
Texas ranked second nationally in computer and video game personnel in 2009, with 13,613 direct and indirect employees;
Washington's entertainment software companies directly and indirectly employ 11,225 individuals;
Virginia's computer and video game industry continues to experience tremendous growth, expanding by 77 percent from 2005 to 2009; and
The six states with the greatest number of entertainment software industry employees were, in order, California, Texas, Washington, New York, Massachusetts and Illinois.

Although the report deals pretty strictly with the US, I imagine the gaming industry has similar impact in other countries.

CACTUSWENDY · Aug 10, 2010

Peace out.

That's what it is.

W00t!

Lhun · Aug 10, 2010

That's completely impossible. We all know the gaming industry stands before an immediate collapse because of rampant piracy.

Zoombie · Aug 10, 2010

The biggest output of America is media. I think.

SPMiller · Aug 10, 2010

Lhun said:
That's completely impossible. We all know the gaming industry stands before an immediate collapse because of rampant piracy.

Lol. Win.

There's not much else to say on the matter.

Mara · Aug 10, 2010

Virginia has a computer and games industry? Really? Must be northern Virginia. :tongue

William Haskins · Aug 10, 2010

we launched our game in september of 2008 and have now amassed more than 10 million registered users.

the industry has had its upheavals throughout the recession, but it's stayed relatively strong.

thothguard51 · Aug 10, 2010

Mara said:
Virginia has a computer and games industry? Really? Must be northern Virginia.

Yeppers... and it would be larger if other companies didn't buy them out and then move operations to their headquarters in another state. ESA has raided several Virginia companies and relocated them...

Shadow Dragon · Aug 10, 2010

But they're all murder simulators that are turning the kids into killers. Who cares about the economy when morality is on the line.

Somewhere Jacik Thompson is shaking his fist, saying "Curses. Foiled again by locial reasioning."

thothguard51 · Aug 10, 2010

In reading all three articles...the numbers do not add up. This feels to me like a Vanity report on Self Publishing...

I am not saying gaming does not have an impact on the economy, but I don't see the numbers as significant when balanced with other industries as a whole. Right now, its less than 1% of the work force, a lot less.

The articles also do not talk about how many of these employees are low wage employees such as janitors, window washers, warehouse employees, etc. They also don't mention how many are temporary contract workers, which is a big thing in the gaming and media industries. Meaning hire as needed, limited or no benefits, and release at end of project...

You have to remember, the Gaming industry is a secondary industry, based on the main game counsel industry. If the game cousels are doing bad, or computer companies are doing bad, can the gaming industry survive?

Torgo · Aug 10, 2010

thothguard51 said:
You have to remember, the Gaming industry is a secondary industry, based on the main game counsel industry. If the game cousels are doing bad, or computer companies are doing bad, can the gaming industry survive?

Nah, the hardware's secondary to the software, actually. Sony were selling the PS3 at a loss for years and years; they wanted the user base because then they can sell them games at £40 a pop. Rockstar have sold 70 million copies of the Grand Theft Auto series alone, at that sort of price point.

LOG · Aug 10, 2010

thothguard51 said:
You have to remember, the Gaming industry is a secondary industry, based on the main game counsel industry. If the game cousels are doing bad, or computer companies are doing bad, can the gaming industry survive?

...what?

Gaming consoles and computer gaming are part of the gaming industry, not the other way around. That would make no sense.
As long as people are buying the games for the systems, the systems will do well by proxy since they are required.
The gaming industry as a whole is still taking off, it's only just making its way into places like India.

Besides that, the report never made a claim that the gaming industry is somehow keeping the economy afloat or anything along those lines, only that it has a noticeable impact. That wasn't always the case.

The article also did make the point that it has indirect employees as you mentioned. 32,000 are direct employees, as in hired to make games. The other 90,000 or so are indirectly employed, and take care of all those other jobs you mentioned.

It's not just jobs that the gaming industry creates, it's the economic boost from people continuing to buy their products.

William Haskins · Aug 10, 2010

there is a significant interplay between software and hardware, but games can do a lot to drive hardware sales.

SPMiller · Aug 10, 2010

Yeah, so-called killer apps. Where would the Xbox be (in the US) without Halo?

But that only supports the argument that it's the games, not the platform.

And the Wii loses in both areas. Zing.

LOG · Aug 10, 2010

SPMiller said:
And the Wii loses in both areas. Zing.

The decision to make the next LoZ game a Wii-exclusive is one of the worst gaming decisions I've heard recently.
I would take it with the Gamecube if they would just make it compatible. I still play LoZ:TP on the GC because it's fun. I don't have a Wii, and after trying it out, I don't want one either.

kuwisdelu · Aug 10, 2010

I wonder if all the small, independent game developers that have emerged through the iPhone and iPad app stores are counted in this?

Kaiser-Kun · Aug 10, 2010

I thought the industry was getting damage because the new technologies make producing games more expensive. I sure have seen less games than in previous generations.

LOG · Aug 10, 2010

Kaiser-Kun said:
I thought the industry was getting damage because the new technologies make producing games more expensive. I sure have seen less games than in previous generations.

That's not necessarily a bad thing.
If it costs more, it means they're going to be more careful with their decisions. Hopefully it will mean less of an era full of a lot of so-so or crap games, and more staggered releases of good games. Blizzard's had the right formula since its inception, "Don't release it until it's ready."

I paid $20 more for Bethesda's Oblivion than Reality Pump's Two Worlds, but it was infinitely better, even on the Xbox console. Hell, one of these days I'm going to buy it again for the PC, just for the mods.
How Two World's got a sequel I will never know...

mario_c · Aug 10, 2010

Zoombie said:
The biggest output of America is media. I think.

Dunno if there is a set division between "Hollywood" and the videogame world - lots of movies are made from videogames and vice versa, both fields require a melding of tech and creative trades - but without a doubt, entertainment is (currently) our last big money export and the "biz" is (currently) our last robust industry.

Torgo · Aug 11, 2010

Kaiser-Kun said:
I thought the industry was getting damage because the new technologies make producing games more expensive. I sure have seen less games than in previous generations.

Yeah, I mean a AAA title now seems to cost the same to make as a Hollywood blockbuster and take in similar amounts in receipts. However there is a whole stratum of cheap casual games also making money - look at Popcap for example - and a whole slew of digital distribution services hosting indie games for PC, Xbox arcade, WiiWare etc.

William Haskins · Aug 11, 2010

Kaiser-Kun said:
I thought the industry was getting damage because the new technologies make producing games more expensive. I sure have seen less games than in previous generations.

if you chase the new technology, you can spend serious amounts of both time and money (and, really, aren't they the same thing?) developing a game.

but torgo makes a great point: if you properly design and execute on a casual game that doesn't go nuts on system requirements, you may well find a huge market for it.

Lhun · Aug 11, 2010

Kaiser-Kun said:
I sure have seen less games than in previous generations.

Then you're looking the wrong way. Numbers are rising, not falling.

Kaiser-Kun · Aug 11, 2010

Lhun said:
Then you're looking the wrong way. Numbers are rising, not falling.

I definetely did when I got myself a PS3. Oh glorious days of the triumphant PS2, how long have you been gone...

Maxinquaye · Aug 11, 2010

Torgo said:
Yeah, I mean a AAA title now seems to cost the same to make as a Hollywood blockbuster and take in similar amounts in receipts. However there is a whole stratum of cheap casual games also making money - look at Popcap for example - and a whole slew of digital distribution services hosting indie games for PC, Xbox arcade, WiiWare etc.

I don't know if that's entirely true. I play an online game called Eve Online. It doesn't have that big requirement list. You can run it on a fairly oldish laptop like mine without problems. When I play I even have two clients running at the same time for it.

Anyways, I think the future of gaming is in the online world, and CCP (the makers of Eve) is the proof of that. It's an icelandic garage-startup that brought its game online in 2003 or 2004, and have built a customer base that's now bigger than the population of Iceland. 350k users paying $15 per month makes for a lot of dosh.

Torgo · Aug 11, 2010

Maxinquaye said:
I don't know if that's entirely true. I play an online game called Eve Online. It doesn't have that big requirement list. You can run it on a fairly oldish laptop like mine without problems. When I play I even have two clients running at the same time for it.

Anyways, I think the future of gaming is in the online world, and CCP (the makers of Eve) is the proof of that. It's an icelandic garage-startup that brought its game online in 2003 or 2004, and have built a customer base that's now bigger than the population of Iceland. 350k users paying $15 per month makes for a lot of dosh.

I don't think we disagree at all - what I was getting at is that there are all kinds of games with all kinds of budgets and price points; it's an industry that is growing and getting more diverse, especially if you compare it to Hollywood. The blockbusters have definitely been getting more expensive to make and are now comparable with blockbuster movies, but in contrast to movies there's also a burgeoning indie games scene, and garage-launched success stories like EVE.

(I tried playing EVE once and found it kind of impenetrable, but then I am allergic to MMOs as it is; but there aren't many games that produce better news stories.)

Gaming industry is boosting the economy.

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