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In what could either be a commentary on the strength of the game industry or the weakness of the United States economy, the Entertainment Software Association recently published a paper revealing that, for the period of 2009-2012, the game industry grew four times faster than the U.S. national economy. At the end of the three year period, our explosive entertainment field had single-handedly contributed $6.2 billion to the United States GDP—so the next time someone tells you games are a waste of time, you can tell them games play a sizable part in economic growth.
Now, $6.2 billion is not all that much in the grand scheme of things, seeing as the United States GDP for 2012 was more than $16.2 trillion according to the World Bank, but its growth figures are nothing to sneeze at. During the three years between 2009 and 2012, the game industry grew at a rate of 9.7% annually, compared to the country’s 2.4%, and direct employment within the industry grew at a solid 9% annually, while the U.S. employment rate rose at the annual rate of 0.724%. The U.S. game industry directly employs more than 42,000 people in 36 states, and directly and indirectly employs upwards of 146,000 people, or 0.046% of the national population (in 2012, don’t forget, according to the U.S. Census Bureau). Average annual compensation (which includes things like wages, pension contributions, insurances, and salaries) was $94,747, with the total compensation within the industry breaking $4 billion.
These are all good numbers for the game industry, especially considering the software publishing industry as a whole actually had negative growth in both employees and number of software publishing companies during the same period. We can only hope the game industry continues to grow with such fervor.
Source: Video Games in the 21st Century, the 2014 Report
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