ESA releases video game economics study

by Alexander Sliwinski { Nov 27th 2007 at 4:15PM }

An economic study commissioned by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) found the industry continues to outpace US economic growth, but is that really that hard these days? The report titled Video Games in the 21st Century: Economic Contributions of the US Entertainment Software Industry found between 2003 - '06 the industry grew 17% annually, while the US economy grew 4%. The shocker in the report is that for the 24,000 individuals employed in the US, the average salary was $92,300 in '06.

There a lot of big numbers with billions attached to them speaking of the industry's economic impact on various states. California is currently the largest employer of industry professionals with 40% of the industry's population and a $1.7 billion contribution to the Cali economy. Of course, Washington state came in second with Microsoft and Nintendo's HQs located there. We're a little more curious about the mode salary rather than the mean. The $92,300 sounds peachy, but we're pretty sure that high-level executives screw up the average. We're guessing the quality assurance ground troops don't eat porterhouse every night and burn Benjamins on the weekends for fun.

Tags: economics, esa, gallagher, michaelgallagher, mikegallagher

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Speddy @ Nov 27th 2007 4:27PM

Pizza- #1 food of programmers.
Followed by anything in a bag.
Then anything in a bottle (Diet or who are you kidding!).

chispito @ Nov 27th 2007 4:40PM

"the industry continues to outpace US economic growth, but is that really that hard these days?"

I can never understand these mumbling asides to a poor US economy.

axt113 @ Nov 27th 2007 5:48PM

Its because of the falling housing values coupled with the losses in the credit market thanks to the subprime fiasco, and the dropping consumer confidence signal a contraction of wealth for the consumer, and since consumer spending is a huge engine of the US economy its expected that it will result in stagnation of economic growth in upcoming fiscal quarters

whatthehale @ Nov 27th 2007 4:48PM

"but is that really that hard these days?"

4% growth is higher then the average growth of 3.7% the US economy has had since 1970 and is better growth then 27 of 48 quarters between 1992 and 2004. Anything double-digit out paces US economic growth from anytime. Your statement is silly.

Gavin @ Nov 27th 2007 4:59PM

Studies also show that porting PS2 games to the Wii is extremely profitable to the point that's it is now like waggling fish in a barrel.

Edog Lost @ Nov 27th 2007 5:22PM

LOLZ!!!11!1

gonk @ Nov 27th 2007 5:06PM

yeah, the grunts barely beat minimum wage. my friends work at nintendo and haven't seen a pay increase in 2 years, it's stayed at $10 an hour with no benefits, and they have to take 2 months off each year to avoid being classified as full-time (and thus required to be given benefits)

Edog Lost @ Nov 27th 2007 5:25PM

It's nice to see as the film industry takes a dive the videogame industry is on the rise. Some people may disagree with me, but I think it would be nice to see this lead to bigger budget games, and publishers with the balls to try something new in a growing industry.