Australian video games industry now worth $2.46bn

The Australian music industry, which increasingly looks at the video game industry for lucrative sync opportunities, would be pleased with figures released this week by the Interactive Games and Entertainment Association (IGEA).

The Australian video games industry is worth $2.46 billion, according to figures collected last year. It is not known how much royalties Australian composers made from games in that period. But it was a year where games like Shovel Knight, Transistor and Divinity: Original Sin were acclaimed for their soundtracks, more Australian composers began writing exclusively for games (the amount of composers doing so in America showed a 150%), Pandora teamed with Xbox and Playstation got into streaming.

The IGEA figures for Australia marked a 20% increase from the year before, “led by next gen launches and growth in digital,” said IGEA’s Sydney-based CEO Ron Curry. “Platform holders, publishers and developers continue to see strong demand for their products and are positioning the industry for further growth into the future.”

The rise in console gaming was marked. Sales of PS4, Xbox, and Wii U consoles hit 47%. In fact, the new consoles had the best sales within the first 12 months of launch of any console hardware.

The survey, conducted by NPD Group Australia, saw traditional retail sales up 7% to $1.214 billion and a 39% jump in digital sales to with $1.248 billion. The release of PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One created a buzz at retail.

According to Curry, the 32% increase in hardware to $440 million “pushed the industry forward in 2014. Bricks and Mortar retailers have seen a boost in demand for the current generation consoles which in turn has led to an increase in demand for new console software and accessories and items such as game cards. The tremendous growth in digital sales shows that publishers and developers are effectively catering to the purchasing habits of an increasingly connected customer base.”

Additional research by analyst firm, Telsyte, revealed mobile was up 56% to $703 million, digital downloads up 25% to $455 million and subscriptions up 69% to $90 million. Last year, accessories were up 5% to $152 million, and game cards up 16% to $7 million.

Telsyte Managing Director Managing Director Foad Fadaghi commented, “The digital, subscription and mobile games market grew almost 40% in 2014, and continues to be solid growth engine for the industry. In 2014, a number of factors improved the mobile gaming experience, including larger screen smartphones, faster graphics processing and wider availability of premium games and titles. Clearly tablet and smartphone gaming has gone beyond being just a casual gaming platform”.

The only decline was in software, down 5% to $615 million. But the IGEA was quick to point out that this was offset by software growth across all new current gen platforms like the 3DS and the Wii U.

In terms of volume, Action was the #1 game and 61% of all games sold received an unrestricted classification.

Originally a digital only game, Minecraft had an extraordinary 2014. It increased in value by 114%, and more than doubled its sales in the previous year. Not only was Minecraft well received by 8th Generation gamers, the purchase of Minecraft PC game cards at bricks and mortar stores also increased year on year.

Two new franchises Watch Dogs and Destiny entered the Top 10 titles sold in 2014.

The strong sales for 2014 continued the sector’s recovery. In 2012, it shrunk by 23% and had a slight rise in 2013.