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10/05/07 - Game On in Seattle |
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Game On in Seattle
Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle) - by Becky Monk Assistant Managing Editor
Video games are now nearly a $10 billion industry nationwide, and more than a third of that total revenue is generated by video game companies in King County, according to a study by enterpriseSeattle.
The report shows that in Western Washington more than 150 companies or divisions and 15,000 workers are involved in the video game industry, which includes video games for the PC, handheld devices, mobile devices and consoles and multiplayer online games.
The companies generated revenue of more than $4.1 billion in 2006, according to the study. That represents more than a third of the $9.1 billion in revenue generated by the industry nationwide, according to a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
While not definitive, the local figure is probably conservative, said Chris Mefford, president of Seattle market research consultancy Community Attributes, which conducted the study for enterpriseSeattle. The groups will release the study Oct. 5 during the World Cyber Games competition at Qwest Field, an international "Olympics" of gaming that has attracted more than 800 top players from 70 countries.
The study is the first effort by entepriseSeattle, an economic development group, to draw a comprehensive picture of the size and scope of the nascent industry, which is experiencing explosive growth.
"When I started looking in 2003, there were only 37 companies that I knew about," said Kristina Hudson, business development manager of interactive media for enterpriseSeattle.
Seattle's figures benefit from the 800-pound gorilla. Of the more than 15,000 people employed locally in the industry in 2006, about 7,000 of them work at Microsoft's Gaming Studios.
Further findings that show the rapid growth include: § Microsoft's release of Halo3, which brought in more than $170 million in sales during the first 24 hours. § Big Fish Games' revenue has grown from $3.8 million in 2004 to nearly $8.6 million in 2005 and $24 million in 2006. § Gas Powered Games reported revenue of between $12 million and $14 million a year.
PricewaterhouseCoopers predicts that revenue for the industry will keep growing on the national level at a rate of 6.7 percent and should reach $12.5 billion in 2011.
The Seattle area ranks among the top areas in the nation for concentration of video game and casual game companies in a 30-mile radius. The larger San Francisco Bay Area ranks slightly ahead of Seattle in total companies, whereas Austin, Texas, ranks behind Seattle with 50 companies, Hudson said. The study did not examine the distribution of developers who create games for education, health care and military purposes, also known in the industry as "serious games." The East Coast is home to the largest percentage of these companies. The study also shows that Washington has the second highest average starting salary for employees in the field, at $77,000 compared with $79,000 in the Bay Area, which ranks No. 1. Hudson said salaries in Washington can jump to six figures because of the pent-up demand. "This is a hot bed of talent, but all of that talent is gainfully employed," Mefford said. Contact:
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• 206-876-5436
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