Kotaku
The U.S. computer and video game industry's annual growth rate from 2003 to 2006 outpaced the US. economy's growth by 13 percent, according to a new study released today by the Entertainment Software Association.
The industry as a whole employees more than 24,000 people with an average salary of $92,300 in 2006, according to the Video Games in the 21st Century: Economic Contributions of the U.S. Entertainment Software Industry study.
"Computer and video game companies play an ever increasing role in our nation's growing economy," said Michael Gallagher, CEO of the ESA, which represents U.S. computer and video game publishers. "These companies and their colleagues across the nation are making entertainment software one of the fastest growing industries in the United States."
The report goes on to list a potpourri of interesting factoids:
The computer and video game industry's value added to U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2006 was $3.8 billion.
In 2003-04 and 2005-06, the industry's contribution to real growth exceeded its share of GDP by more than four to one.
The entertainment software industry directly and indirectly employs more than 80,000 people in 31 states; and, U.S. industry employees received total compensation of $2.2 billion.
Wait, the average salary is $92,000? Full release after the jump.
U.S. Video Game Industry's Growth Outpaces National Economy
New Study Details Industry's Contributions to State Jobs and GDP
NOVEMBER 27, 2007 - WASHINGTON, DC -The US computer and video game industry's annual growth rate from 2003 to 2006 exceeded 17% according to a ground-breaking study released today by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA). This far outpaces the US economy as a whole which only grew at 4.0% during this same period. According to the study, Video Games in the 21st Century: Economic Contributions of the U.S. Entertainment Software Industry, the US entertainment software industry directly employs more than 24,000 individuals and indirectly supports, with an average salary of $92,300 in 2006. The economic impact report was conducted by Economists Incorporated for the Entertainment Software Association (ESA).
"Computer and video game companies play an ever increasing role in our nation's growing economy," said Michael Gallagher, CEO of the ESA, which represents U.S. computer and video game publishers. "These companies and their colleagues across the nation are making entertainment software one of the fastest growing industries in the United States."
Video Games in the 21st Century, is the first economic study to outline the specific contributions of the entertainment software industry on the U.S. economy. The report concluded that:
The computer and video game industry's value added to U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2006 was $3.8 billion.
In 2003-04 and 2005-06, the industry's contribution to real growth exceeded its share of GDP by more than four to one.
The entertainment software industry directly and indirectly employs more than 80,000 people in 31 states; and, U.S. industry employees received total compensation of $2.2 billion.
The report states that California is the largest employer of computer and video game personnel in the nation, accounting for approximately 40 percent of total industry employment nationwide. These companies provided over $1.8 million in direct and indirect compensation to Californians last year. California's computer and video game industry grew by 12.3 percent last year, nearly three times faster than the state's overall growth, and added $1.7 billion to the state economy.
Other specific state findings include:
Virginia's computer and video game industry grew by 552 percent in 2006, more than 172 times as fast as the commonwealth's overall growth;
Washington state ranked second nationally in computer and video game personnel in 2006, with 9,284 direct and indirect employees at more than 59 facilities across the state; and,
New York's entertainment software companies directly and indirectly employ 4,415 individuals at more than 25 facilities across the state.
Comments
I wouldn't expect our economy to grow that much anyways since we import so much more than we export.
Good to hear that average salary marker. Means my degree in engineering would pay off if I skipped into the gaming field.
Its been awhile since I've seen that Bugs Bunny.
Of course, that could just mean that the American economy is doing very badly as a whole, and it just hasn't hit the gaming sector yet.
Hassan chop!!
"I'm Rich ! I'm Rich!"
Well yeah if you charge everyone 10 dollars more for everything then on top of that you nickel and dime them for DL content. No wonder that videogames are the new market for growth. Meanwhile you got Nintendo that did the exact opposite and they still make growth because of it. Growth all around. MS and Sony with 4 and 600 dollar consoles with 60 dollar games to boot. And Nintendo scooping up everyone else with smaller wallets. It's like Hungry Hungry Hippos out there! It's all being eaten up and noone is left out.
Growth? Duh!
Off topic: How's that Duck Amock game for DS.
"I'm rich! I'm a happy miser!"
ROFL at the average salary being 92k a year.
@NeoAkira: it doesn't necessarily work that way, but it does mean our inflation will be a problem at some point if we don't stop it. The only thing that saves us is our crazy amount of spending (go consumer whorism!) and our (mostly because of the military) advancements to technology.
But along with inflation we get to have a super duper weak US dollar...boo! But we may get some kind of upside (if we ever fix our spending and trade deficit) when people invest in the US because it is so cheap due to the weakened dollar.
OK. Econ rant over. Go Video game industry!
thats my future job...but i don't expect anything like 90k a year more like 30-40k, i just want to make games
Wait, you get paid for making games? Sweet!
The video game industry is starting to have an impact on the economy and on the entertainment habits of at least some of the population, young men. I hope this means they clean up their act a little. EA's reprehensible treatment of their employees and Bethesda's selling Oblivion without patching the infamous animation bug that strikes after 200-400 hours of gameplay which means its most devoted fans cannot finish the game are just two issues which aren't going to go over well with the general public, particularly with the high cost of many consoles and games, the expensive video cards and upgrades needed if one is a PC gamer. All this means the game industry is posed to give itself a huge black eye if it doesn't grow up fast and treat employees and customers well.
@anthrax_man: Depending on your discipline, but yeah, don't expect that $90K to come in your first few years (or even decade).
I wonder if that $90K figure includes benefits, stock options, and profit sharing.
Check out the salary surveys in Game Developer, they seem to be more accurate.
[www.gamasutra.com]
@TRAMS_AM: Well the GH charts are self reporting, I suspect this study might be based on more accurate numbers, but I'm checking to be sure.
@crecente: Make that GD
@crecente: I'd understand if it's the average cost to the company, including medical, stock, bonuses, and holiday parties.
@crecente: Hell, whether it's 50K or 100K, it's still a shit ton more than I make. I really need to get off my ass and start working on my HL2 level pack again.
TV sucks, movies suck, video games rule. No wonder people are turning to the third for entertainment.
Between Nintendo's expanding of the target audience, Microsoft's heavy online push and Sony's hardware combination (even though it backfired at first), the games industry is evolving and many of these experiments are paying off.
@crecente: And the Game Developer surveys don't include bonuses in their salary figures. Those are listed separately.
@anthrax_man: Here is an online reprint of a portion of the Game Developer article:
[www.gamasutra.com]
Yeesh... $92k? Maybe if the average number of years in the business is 5+ years...
Fully aware you don't START at 92K. Then again, I have internships which equate to 40K a year, so I can't imagine what a full time position would be.
There is no way the avg salary is 92K, not even those with 5+ years. Unless the CEO's are making hundreds of millions and that boosts up the "average"
$92K hahaha -- they must have averaged in EA execs and their bonus / stock option plans... And anyway, $90K in LA is ~= $45K in Chicago, or $30K in Des Moines.
You had a story about wealth and you wanted to illustrate it with a duck. 95% of us would have thrown Scrooge McDuck up there, but you went the extra mile to find a relevant Daffy pic, and for that I tip my hat to you, sir.
Wait, the average salary is $92,000?
ahem..
HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! (breathe)
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAH!!
Everyone look at the definition of the word "average". That means it takes the aggregate of the total number of people and divides it by the total amount of salary.
People thinking that the average video game employee makes that are deluding themselves.
The top, top people skew the average enormously (those making 500k to 1 million + a year). Also programmers make FAR more than artists do.
Leads make MAYBE around 80-90k and that's with 7+ years.
Artists don't make close to that.
The Gamasutra site and annual salary survey described above should show you some real numbers. And NO bonuses aren't guaranteed at all. I've never make a bonus that was bigger than what I would of have been paid in overtime by hour. Not even close.
People thinking that the industry is a cakewalk with great pay are going to be in for a wide awakening.
I'm currently going on 4 months of 12-14 hour days 7 days a week to get a product out. No overtime (which is not standard yet for the industry) and I've been in the industry for 8 years. I'm doing this because I switched to a different role, proving myself again, and a hint of a bonus. The same would happen for anyone starting in unless they are extremely lucky.
As for the growth, that's great to see. Hope it keeps on going and I can still be in this field until I retire (instead of flaming out in mid-30's which is typical for the industry..but that's another story).
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