Aussie games industry now worth A$1.57 billion a year

Australian game hardware and software sales rise 52.9 percent in last financial year.

The last time the Interactive Entertainment Association of Australia (IEAA) unveiled sales figures for the local industry it showed that Australia was on a strong growth curve. That strength seems to have continued through the first half of 2008, with figures for the '07-'08 financial year revealing that Australia recorded A$1.5 billion ($1.5 billion) in hardware, software, and peripherals sales, an increase of 52.9 percent over the previous year.

Game hardware in particular had impressive growth, with figures from data trackers GfK Australia showing sales growth of 74 percent from the previous financial year (Australian financial years run from July 1 to June 30). Software sales grew by 55 percent.

IEAA CEO Ron Curry says the strong growth shows that games are now being enjoyed by more Australians. "It is clear that interactive entertainment is now firmly entrenched as a mainstream activity. More people of all ages and all walks of life are now choosing video and computer games as a regular form of home entertainment," he said.

17 Comments

  • jumpnjackflash0

    Posted Jul 12, 2008 12:46 pm PT

    I just cant believe australians actually pay over $90 for video games. If they cost that much in the U.S. I think I'd find another hobby.

  • Gifted_One

    Posted Jul 12, 2008 2:30 am PT

    That's impressive considering how hot it is there!

  • Silicon_Noob

    Posted Jul 11, 2008 8:52 pm PT

    To all the people complaining about there not being an R 18+ rating YOU NEED TO EMAIL YOUR LOCAL PARLIMENT MEMBER, MICHAEL ATKINSON (the SA attourney general) AND LODGE A COMPLAINT ON THE OFLC WEB PAGE. It is only through lodging strong complaints with these people and causing their offices the extra work of processing our complaints that these people will ever be able to quantify our dissatisfaction with the status quo.

  • ObiKKa

    Posted Jul 11, 2008 9:13 am PT

    Beautiful! That's very cool. Now, that should help the local Aussie developers to have an even greater rate of survivability. Very nice! Meanwhile the GameOn exhibition in Melbourne, which demoes the old arcade and puzzle games of the 80's is going to end this Sunday, and I reckon that I'm going there with others tomorrow (Saturday). So, have fun gaming!

  • Stabby

    Posted Jul 11, 2008 8:00 am PT

    Which will drop if the dam gov keeps banning everything slightly offensive.

  • Eaz-TK

    Posted Jul 11, 2008 5:07 am PT

    R18+!!!!!!!!!!!!! wake up government

  • mjcowley Site moderator

    Posted Jul 11, 2008 3:50 am PT

    Great news. I hope it continues during this economic slump.

  • Mattyrock

    Posted Jul 11, 2008 2:22 am PT

    Well, Does the government see a problem by not giving support to the video gaming assiociation of Australia? Yeah I thought so.

    This is impressive, if only now people can take responsibility and add the R18+ rating.

  • Nintendo_Man

    Posted Jul 11, 2008 2:07 am PT

    Those people who think we are irrelevant have been sent a big blow.

  • camian69

    Posted Jul 11, 2008 2:02 am PT

    Yeah....good to hear, but let's get the R+ rating........that would be great news.

  • the-very-best

    Posted Jul 11, 2008 12:43 am PT

    It would be worth even more if they registered an R rating for games.

  • monkeyd_93

    Posted Jul 10, 2008 10:55 pm PT

    and i think if they gave us more decent prices for games, the figure would be much higher, hopefully sony,microsoft and nintendo see this and say wow we under estimated these guys we owe them a good offers

  • Marka1700

    Posted Jul 10, 2008 10:15 pm PT

    Djynen, Not many games would earn the 18+ rating, only the 2-3 games that make the RC ratting each year. Those game been sold under the counter will make more money then them not been sold at all.

  • djynen

    Posted Jul 10, 2008 9:52 pm PT

    Not necessarily. I had heard unsubstantiated (and hopefully false) rumors that the IEAA actually opposes the R18+ classification because it would result in decreasing revenues (yep, you heard right). The argument goes that if R18+ games have to be sold "under the counter" rather than displayed on the shelf for people to see, that'll mean less games sold which leads to lost revenue.

    My argument against is that, according to the IEAA's own website, the average age of gamers is 28. This means a large proportion of gamers are above the age of 18 anyway. And an R18+ rating can be a good guide for parents on what games to buy for their kids. And hopefully games like Fallout 3 won't be banned for realisitc drug use, as such usage could be deemed allowable under an R18+ rating.

  • choasgod

    Posted Jul 10, 2008 9:00 pm PT

    WoW -- hopefully the larger the industry gets here the closer we will get to a R18+ rating.

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