The Australian game industry generated AU$118.5 million in 2016-2017

The Interactive Games & Entertainment Association (IGEA) has just released their survey of the Australian game industry. The report has great news about revenue.

Where the industry is at

The good news is that the Australian games industry is not just doing well, it’s flourishing. Over the 2016-2017 financial year, the national industry generated AU$118.5 million in revenue. 80% of this revenue was from overseas with only 18% of revenue being generated locally.
IGEA reports that this overseas revenue is primarily coming from an overseas market dominated by the US, followed by Europe. In addition to this, the global interactive media market reached the US$100 billion milestone last year (SuperData, 2017). So, there’s plenty room for further growth in overseas market share for Australian developers and publishers.
The report surveyed respondents on IP as well. 55% of respondents exclusively develop their own IP. In addition to developing games and providing services for clients, 37% of respondents are developing their own IP.

Employment statistics

In Australia, there are currently 928 full-time roles within the games industry. The breakdown for these roles are as follows:

  • Programmers (33%)
  • Artists (25%)
  • Management, marketing, admin (12%)

Looking at demographics, the report notes that 81% of employees are male, showing that the industry is still heavily male-dominated.

What the local industry needs to help grow

Government support

As highlighted in the report, there are many challenges facing the Australian games industry. Respondents to IGEA’s survey noted the need for strong government support.
According to respondents, 76% of them are expecting growth with 38% expecting significant growth. So, developers and studios will need as much support as they can get to respond to this growth.

Investment

Another challenge developers face is attracting early-stage development funding and investment.
With a majority of the market based overseas, there’s clearly a huge opportunity in the games industry to contribute to the Australian economy.

High-speed internet

Despite being highly ranked on livability, digital life and prosperity, Australia’s internet doesn’t meet the needs of businesses looking to compete on the world stage. In fact, the disparity between Australia and its neighbour New Zealand is stark.
High-speed internet is especially important for the local games industry with a majority of development focusing on mobile. 55% of respondents develop for iOS and 49% for Android.

Sources

Image: ESL