The Australian Interactive Games & Entertainment Association (IGEA) has released a report stating that consumer spending on video games reached $4 billion in 2018, showing a staggering increase of 25% from the previous year.

In a trend that shows no sign of slowing, digital sales took the bulk of those sales at $2.85 billion while physical retail sales amounted to $1.17 billion. Similar trends of growth are appearing all over the world, and the IGEA is pressing the current Australian government to act now and invest in the industry of game development or risk missing out.

Via: Youtube.com

IGEA CEO Ron Curry said in a statement that he hopes the Federal Government will recognize the gaming industry in Australia as an “integral part of the overall screen industry, thereby allowing the sector to access screen support programs available such as refundable tax offsets.”

The summary of the IGEA proposal towards developing an interactive games industry is publicly available and presents the argument for why such an industry is needed, a blueprint to foster a strong Australian development presence, and a fiscal and economic case for supporting such long-term investment.

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While the numbers are enticing, there is much to consider in terms of risk assessment when looking to invest in video game development. One point that is more relevant now than ever, and likely to remain so, is oversaturation of the market. One could argue that there will always be room for another top-tier game, but as competition is fierce, simply investing in an industry may not be enough.

While the IGEA presents the numbers associated with consumer spending on video games in the past few years, it does not mention other pertinent information, such as the total number of games released into the world-wide market. On Steam alone, which focuses purely on computer gaming, over 9,000 games were released in 2018. This is a 23% jump from 2017, and points to a level of competition that at some point must be considered as too saturated to enter.

Perhaps, then, the IGEA needs to consider further if its proposal for the development of the gaming industry would be better off focusing on attracting existing AAA-title developers to Australia, rather than on the creation of new studios. This is a double-edged sword, as there is always the possibility of a new studio forming and creating excellent content, but the sheer volume of content released yearly may not justify such an investment on the part of the government.

Regardless, it is clear that the future holds substantial growth in the video games industry. It is now a matter of properly interpreting the best way to become involved to avoid missing out.

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